Connect (20 min):
1. If there are any new people in your group, take time to introduce yourselves to each other
2. Allow time for each person share any significant personal events that have taken place since you were last together as a group. Be sure to note them for your closing time of prayer.
3. Have someone offer a brief prayer of thanks for bringing you together as a group, and ask for God’s blessing for the journey ahead.
Grow (30 min):Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13.
1. In the first message of this series, Kevin introduced the term, “haqqaton,” which is Hebrew for “youngest,” or “insignificant.” David was seen as insignificant by his family, yet God saw him differently.
a. Reflect on how that word relates to your own family situation? In growing up, did you or someone else in your family play that role?
b. Have you ever felt like a “haqqaton” in a ministry situation—where perhaps you felt out of place, insignificant, unqualified etc? What does this passage teach us about being in a place of perceived weakness?
2. Eugene Peterson writes: “David’s life is the premier biblical instance of what’s sometimes called ‘the priesthood of all believers.’ …There are a variety of offices in the community of faith—prophet, priest, wise person, elder, apostle, deacon, bishop and so on—but throughout the church, the primary emphasis is on people.” (Leap Over a Wall, 19)
a. How do each us of do the work of a priest, that is, how do we represent God to people and people to God?
b. Read 1 Peter 2:5, 9-10. What does it look like for a church community to function as a “kingdom of priests?” What does it look like for a Small Group?
c. Do you see any connections with the message that Martin gave this morning?
d. Do you see any connections with our FIA/Alpha experience?
Share (30 min):
One of the goals for our Faith in Action (FIA) and Alpha project was to help us to discover how God can use each of us for His purposes.
1. Take some time for those who participated in FIA or Alpha to share how God worked through the experience and what they learned about themselves in the process.
2. As you listen to each other, try to discern if there are themes/ideas/learnings that you can apply to your own Small Group as you move ahead together. Is there something that God is saying to you as a group? Do you feel led to open your group to some new people or to multiply? Do you feel led to pursue a service project of some kind? Something else?
3. Without drawing conclusions, write down your ideas and commit to praying about this for the next few weeks. Is there anything that you would like to share with other groups (ideas, questions etc.)? Feel free to post them at the Small Group Cafe blog.
4. Perhaps it would be helpful to review the Small Group Covenant together.
Worship (10 min)
Close your meeting with an open time of prayer, lifting your group before God, asking for His leading. Give thanks for the way you have seen God at work in the lives of your group members. Pray for each others’ needs.
Don’t forget to connect with each other in between your meetings!
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