Sessions

Welcome to our The Next 20. This series is all about how God is moving and changing the church; how this new movement involves each of us; how WE’RE called to BE the movement.

If this sounds urgent, that’s because it is!

The message of God’s love has been poorly communicated, misunderstood, and even weaponized, causing many to renounce and ignore the love that would ultimately set them free. God is moving and changing the church right now, and we are the plan.

Every week there will be Scriptures, thoughts, questions and videos to help you facilitate a discussion with your group. Everything on here is a tool for your use; but don't feel like you have to stick to the script! The goal is for meaningful conversation and growth to happen organically as you and your group gather.

Also, don't sacrifice relationship building for the sake of "diving deep" into your faith - true relationship building will greatly increase the quality of your gatherings and your group's ability to grow in their faith!

Send me your feedback as the series develops; it's my goal to help us all find and follow Christ through all that we do.

- Tim Beehler

Getting Started:

Q: Have you ever felt like God was calling you to do something very uncomfortable?

WATCH A CLIP FROM SUNDAY'S SERVICE

See the full message HERE

Q: Have you ever had a “prayer shawl” in your own life?

• A religious\spiritual practice\belief where personal observance was more important than consequence for others?

RE-READ: Mark 3:1-6 NLT

“Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, ‘Come and stand in front of everyone.’ Then he turned to his critics and asked, ‘Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?’ But they wouldn’t answer him.

He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, ‘Hold out your hand.’ So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.”

• What religious rules do you think are\are not important (are “old” and\or “heavy”)?

  • How might breaking these rules upset others?

  • How might breaking these rules help others?

• How do we, as a church family, make the world a better place?

  • How do we make our neighborhood\jobs\communities\relationships better places?

• How might doing these things be uncomfortable?

  • What might happen if you stepped outside your comfort zone (for the sake of the church)?

    • Who might benefit?

• Why do we choose to stay comfortable?

if we can change (our) hearts, we can change the world

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Commit as a group to being open and gracious with one another as you journey together through series, and pray that together you will be open to God’s vision of the Kingdom, and how we all can participate.

 Getting Started:

Q: Have you ever met someone you didn’t think you could like who turned out to be a friend later?

WATCH A CLIP FROM SUNDAY'S SERVICE

See the full message HERE

Q: Have you ever felt unequal?

• Have you ever made someone else feel unequal?

RE-READ: Acts 10:9-23 NLT

Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.” But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven. 

Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there. Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.” So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?” They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.” So Peter invited the men to stay for the night.

• What is something you’ve had to rethink?

  • How has it changed you?

  • What would you say to others struggling through that same journey?

• How do we, as a church family, create a space where everyone feels valued and welcome?

  • How do we help others, and ourselves, have open conversations?

• Who\what do you struggle with accepting (culture, diversity, status, gender, sexuality, etc)?

the vision of the church is radical inclusivity

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Do you have the courage and will to be changed by God - whatever the change may be?

Commit as a group to being open to God’s Spirit as it moves us through series, and pray that we can all take steps toward understanding God’s love for everyone and extending that love in how we live.

 Getting Started:

Q: What are some reasons to go to church? (WRITE DOWN YOUR ANSWERS)

• What are some things churches emphasize other than attendance?

WATCH A CLIP FROM SUNDAY'S SERVICE

See the full message HERE

Q: What does it mean to “Spiritually fit”?

• How do you exercise your Spiritual self?

RE-READ: Galatians 5:22-25 CEV

“God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. God’s Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit.”

• How are Paul’s 9 “fruit” similar or different from the list you made earlier about reason to go to church?

  • What does this tell us about what we value, as a church culture, and what God values?

    • Are they aligned?

• How can you use these “fruit” as a measuring stick for our lives and the church?

• Do you feel God (or Orchard Grove) is stretching you?

  • If yes, how?

  • If no, why not?

the faith journey should stretch you; stretching should produce some discomfort

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

There is a trajectory to faith growth: no one has “arrived,” nor will any of us fully get it in this life.

Knowing this, can you accept your current knowledge and understanding of God as simply a mile marker on the journey of faith that will continue as long as you live? God is not done with any of us, let’s keep on journeying together.

Getting Started:

Q: How would you describe Orchard Grove to others?

WATCH A CLIP FROM SUNDAY'S SERVICE

See the full message HERE

Q: Why is it uncomfortable rethinking your stance to position on a given subject?

RE-READ: John 13:34-35 NLT

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

• What is it about the idea of love that seems weak or insufficient?

• Why is it difficult to love your enemy?

  • Why is it difficult to love yourself?

RE-READ: Matthew 22:35-40 NIV

“An expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’

Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

• The word “hang” in the last sentence means “subservient.” In other words, all the law and prophets are subservient, or second, to the command to love.

  • How does this change your approach to what the Bible says?

  • How does it change your approach to life in general?

• How do you live out John 13:34-35 in practical ways?

what is the loving thing to do?

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

What is an “old” way of thinking\doing\acting that you\we need to move away from, and what is something “new” you\we can move towards, especially as we head into the Next 20 at OG?

Getting Started:

Q: In what ways throughout your life have you been a “non-conformist” - going against conventional wisdom, the popular trend, or the status quo?

• What did it cost you?

• What did you gain?

WATCH A CLIP FROM SUNDAY'S SERVICE

See the full message HERE

Q: What “fruit of the spirit” do you most resist?

RE-READ: James 1:2-4 NLT

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

• Why do we resist so much, especially when James tell us that trials are “joyful”?

  
  

• How does resistance work to strengthen our faith and make us “complete”?

  
  

• What kind of resistance is there to this kind of message that the Bible is a progression of understanding; that God is continually reworking our understanding?

  • What kind of resistance do you feel toward this message?

    
    

• How can conversation help us embrace our natural resistance?

  • How can it help others?

a little resistance is good for us

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

What can we do as an OG family to help each other endure resistance?

Both when we experience resistance to the things we want, and when we become resistant to God’s Spirit as it tries to change us.

 Getting Started:

Q: What is some technology that has changed your life for the better?

• How resistant were you to this new technology before adopting?

• Why were you so resistant?

WATCH A CLIP FROM SUNDAY'S SERVICE

See the full message HERE

Q: How do you feel about the idea of “throwing out” pieces of Scripture?

• Does it make you uncomfortable or relieved?

• How would you go about determining what stays and what goes?

RE-READ: Matthew 13:52 NLT

“Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”

• How might letting go of things/people/ideas/etc. moves us towards something better?

  • Something that we haven’t been able to experience because of the weight of the old?

• What is something old you can replace?

• How can you embrace the “what would Jesus do” mantra to find what is essential in Scripture?

Doing the loving thing always trumps the “rules”

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

What do you want to say, or be able to hand on to the next generation?

Getting Started:

Q: What is your number one question about the Bible?

• Why is this question so pertinent to you?

WATCH A CLIP FROM SUNDAY'S SERVICE

See the full message HERE

Q: How does your view of God effect your relationship with others?

Q: How is sin it’s own consequence?

RE-READ: John 13:34 NLT

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.”

• What is the practical difference between love and judgement?

  • I.E. what does love do vs what does judgement do?

• How is love the fulfillment of all the laws/rules/regulations/scriptures?

“i desire mercy, not sacrifice”

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

As we wrap up this series, what aspects of this next 20 vision are you struggling with?

(write down answers - anonymously - and give to Gina and/or Jill)