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Questions:

Words Affect our Relationships and one BIG way they do is through us lying to others.  Lying can damage and divide our relationships.  When we lie we don’t show people a right view of who we are, we put on masks and give people false ideas.  This also gives people a false idea of who we think God is and can hurt our witness for Christ.  Take some time to go through the daily devotionals we have on our personal and group study guide.

Here is the group discussion questions and daily bible verses for you to look through!

Connect with Others

1. Have you ever been caught in a Lie?  Share a story.
2. Why do you think people your age lie? Take a few minutes and discuss some examples and reasons why people lie.
3. Do you think lying helps a bad thing go away?  Why or why not?

Dig Deep in God’s Word

1. Read Genesis 3:1-13, Why did Eve choose to eat the fruit even when God told her not to?
2. What did Satan actually say that was deceptive? Did Satan tell an outright lie when he said they would not surely die? What did he mean by that? What did God mean when he said they would surely die?
3. Read Genesis 3:14-15. How did Satan’s deceit of Adam and Eve affect their relationship?
4. Read the quote by Thomas Jefferson. He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.
5. What does this say about what lying does to you? What are the long-term effects?
6. Is life more or less complicated when you are honest? Why?
7. Is life more or less stressful when you are honest? Why?
8. Have you ever tried to lie to God? About what? How did that feel?
9. How do you think lying to God affects your relationship with Him?

Transform and Apply

1. How would your relationships be different if you had never told a lie? How would they be different if you had never been lied to?
2. What would need to change about your view of God and/or other people that would cause you not to lie? Are you willing to work on that change?
3. Take some time and pray for God to enable you to recognize when you are lying and how it hurts others.  Pray for each other that God will guide each of you in His truth.

Memory Verse:

MEMORY VERSE

4 Week Verse

*Memorize Highlighted portion each week, so that at the end of the series you will have all of it memorized. We will add to the highlighted section each week.

Ephesians 4:25-32

New International Version (NIV)

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

*Memorize highlighted parts!

Daily Reading:

Monday:

Psalm 19:14

What do you think is meant by the meditation of my heart?  What is the meditation of your heart today?  What would people say it would be based on the words you say around them?

Pray for God to show you clearly what the meditation of your heart is and how you can please Him with your words.

Tuesday

Matthew 12:36-37

What do you think it means by “every empty word you have spoken?”  How uncomfortable would you feel if your whole family had to sit down with you and watch a video of every thing you said over the last week?  

Pray for God to remind you today of how important the words we say can have on our relationships.

Wednesday

Ephesians 4:25

Think about the last time you said something that was not true.  Why did you lie?  How does it affect your friendships and relationship with God when we speak falsehoods?

Pray for God to remind you to speak truthfully when you are tempted to lie.

Thursday

Romans 16:17-18

Do you know people who are smooth talkers?  What do people really think about them?  Why would it be good not to be associated with them?  Do you notice when people tell people something good just to get them to do something they want them to do?  How does that make you feel?

Friday

Psalm 34:11-14

Why do you think us having a good life is directly related to not telling lies according to the Psalmist?  Are there people in your life that you are not pursuing peace with?  What can you do to resolve any lies you have told recently and restore peace in your relationships?

Pray for God to show you how your lies have affected your relationships and seek to pursue peace today.

Having a Lopsided Christian life can be very frustrating.  This week we are looking at how our pursuit of a happy life can be a stumbling block to having fulfilled Christian walk.  Don’t be Lopsided! Check out our personal and group study guide.

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Click here for the Personal & Group (family) study guide:  Lopsided_part4_prayer_pfv

Why Should We Pray?

One of the greatest ways we can strengthen our relationship with God and not feel like our Christianity is Lopsided is by spending time with God in prayer.  One of the biggest reasons people don’t pray is that they don’t know why it is important to pray or they struggle with how to pray.

When we think about why we should pray, as Christians one of our key motivations should be that God designed prayer to be a way for us to have a more intimate relationship with Him and empower us to do the ministry of Christ for His Glory.  Here are 4 things about prayer that helps us gain a better perspective on why we should pray:

1) Prayer does not inform God, it involves God,  2) Prayer does not change God, it changes us,  3) Prayer does not get our will done in Heaven, it gets God’s will done on earth,  4) Prayer is not because God needs us, but because we need God.

Remember, God loves you and wants you to have a close relationship with Him.  Since He designed prayer to be a way for you to do that, just ask Him to show you how.  Start your prayers by being honest with God and asking Him to teach you to have a passion to pray and to know how to pray.  Go through each daily verse and then take time to pray afterward.  The message this Sunday is designed to help us take a BIG step forward in knowing “How to pray.”  Hopefully after this study you will gain a better understanding on “How to pray.”

“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”  ~ John Bunyan

“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” ~ Oswald Chambers 

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Lopsided_part3_maturity talking points

Do You Recognize Jesus?

Have you ever noticed that Jesus’ followers had difficulty recognizing Him when He appeared to them after His resurrection?  He appeared to Mary and she thought He was a gardener. (John 20:14, 15) He appeared, walked and talked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and they did not realize it was Him. (Luke 24:13-32) He yelled to the disciples in the boat fishing and they did not recognize Him. (John 21:4) Why couldn’t they recognize Him? Did their grief blind them? Human pain and suffering can do that. It can give the illusion that we’re all alone and we do not recognize those around us, even our closest friends. Could it have been their lack of expectation? Jesus had died. They knew death was final, so they did not expect to see Jesus again. Even if this man looked like Jesus, it could not be Him. He was dead. Or could it be that they were kept from recognizing Him?

What are the things in your life that seem to be keeping you from Growing and moving toward maturity in Christ?  When we are not recognizing Jesus in the daily moments of our life we can feel like our Christianity and pursuit of God is Lopsided.  Each and every person can grow and mature in Christ.  This week we are going to look deeper into how we can do that.  Take some time and dig into God’s word each day using the verses on the left.  Also, take the questions on the back and discuss them with your family, small group or a friend.  Don’t be lopsided in your Christian Growth!

*Check links above for your weekly dig into God’s word and group study.

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Student Personal and Group Study Guide (TP/WP) - Lopsided Christianity (Part 2)  and our Printer Friendly Version Lopsided Christianity (part2) pfv

Life today is so much more complicated and fast paced than it was just a generation ago. And that means we have more roles and more responsibilities these days, but we still have the same amount of hours in the day. It’s tough to keep up with all the demands let alone make all the different areas of our lives balance. Even more, we want to find a life that balances with Christ . 

As we look at week 2 in our Series, Lopsided Christianity, we will address our need for Balance and what that looks like using 1 Peter 2:1-17.  There are 3 main areas we need balance in our relationship with God:  

1. Balance the individual and corporate aspects of the Christian life, 
2. Balance worship and witness in the Christian life, and 
3. Balance our call to separation and our call to involvement.  

Each of these 3 areas has 2 aspects to living out truth.  When one of these aspects are not in line we find ourselves out of balance and lopsided.  Please use these verses to the left each day to help reinforce each of these truths and enable us to live in a way that is not lopsided and out of balance.  

On the back we encourage you to take the group study with your family or community group and begin to apply the truths from the message  to your daily life.  How does not living in balance affect your family, friends, school, job, life? 

Take some time and read 1 Peter 2:1-17 and meditate on it this week.  

By going through our talking points and reading the daily verses we can help keep Balance in our life and allow us not to be Lopsided in our Christianity.

Join us Sunday Jan. 1st as we look at Christ’s Call to Freedom and how knowing more about this freedom we can live a life that is not Lopsided.  We have national freedom. We enjoy great civil and economic liberties and yet despite these great liberties, many Americans feel personally frustrated, unfulfilled, and unfree.  If this sounds like you then I have good news for you.  By having personal freedom with a relationship with Jesus, your life will not be Lopsided to how God created for you to live.  Jesus came to give you personal freedom. He came to set you free!  Check out our Talking Points Walking Points Personal & Group Study Guide for part 1 – Lopsided 1 Online Version and Lopsided 1 Printer Version.

Do you feel Lopsided in your Christianity?  Do you feel like you are not living the way God Created you to live?  Then join use for this series that helps us see how our out of balanced lopsided life can come together the way God designed for us.  We will be doing the same series as in our Main Service but we will have a Student Ministry twist to engage our students.  See all Middle School Students at 9:30am in the student Center and High School at 11:15 am.

Check out the Study Guide to our Lesson From Sunday.  We have included reading each day leading up to Christmas Eve that shares the Christmas story.  Follow this Link (He Came Study Guide 3) to access the devotion and daily verses!