ENGAGE INSPIRE EQUIP

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Life Group Sermon Study

Posing: The Fine Art of Pretending September 7-8, 2013

Break the Ice:

EN GAGE

(A key part of healthy group life is to make sure your group gets to know each other and builds good relationships.)

• Hypothetically, do you ever wish you could be something you’re not? Or wish you had a skill or talent you don’t possess? If so, what? • Share a time you pretended to be something (or someone) else. • What did God teach you during the message this weekend? Did anything in particular stand out? Prayer: Take some time to pray for the group needs and for God to speak to your group through this week’s study. Questions:

INSP IRE

(There is a lot to unpack within each question. The group needs some time to process each question, so don’t let silence scare you. Don’t try to fill the silence with unnecessary explanation or move on from the question too quickly.)

Read Genesis 25:19-34. • What stands out to you about this family?

Read Genesis 27:1-13. Jacob clearly wants something that is not his own. Even his own mother is pushing and offering to help him take something that doesn’t belong to him. • Where do you see this kind of temptation show up today? Culture often takes after Rebekah’s cues and pushes us to act on our impulses. • What does culture say about the temptations you identified? • What does God say about those temptations?

Read Genesis 27:14-24. We all have selfish desires. If selfishness goes unchecked, it can lead us to do (and say) things that we never imagined. • Share a time when your selfish desires over took your actions. • How did this affect you and those around you? Read Genesis 27:25-45. • Do you think pretending affects our relationship with God? Why or why not? • How are our relationships with other people affected when we pretend to be something we’re not? • Do you think posing impacts those who don’t have a relationship with God? If so, how?

Read Genesis 33:1-4. • What can we learn from Esau’s response? Application:

EQUIP

(These questions will challenge your group members to apply the study to their daily lives. How can they live out what they take in?)

Read Romans 5:5-11. God reconciled Himself to us by humbly offering Himself as the sacrifice, even though our sin made us an enemy to God. If God can offer grace to an undeserving people who have sinned against Him, surely we can offer grace to those that have sinned against us. Reconciliation with God precedes reconciliation with others. Reconciliation with Jesus empowers reconciliation with others. Humility precedes reconciliation. • What action steps can you take in reconciling with those who have hurt you? • What action steps can you take in reconciling with those whom you have hurt? Prayer: Take some time to pray over each group member’s identified action steps and life issues. Equip Your Mind: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8, ESV)