Sermon-Based Small Group Lessons
Frazzled: Experience Peace in Turbulent
Times
Les
Hughes
December
14, 2008
Coming soon… “Make it Personal” Emphasis
and building plans revealed in 2009.
The Point
“The
Big Idea” for Sunday:
God
provides peace through a relationship with Jesus Christ that is not dependent
upon life circumstances.
Focus Passage
Philippians 1:1-11 (New International Version)
1Paul and
Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ
Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
3I thank my God
every time I remember you. 4In all my
prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day
until now, 6being confident
of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion
until the day of Christ Jesus.
7It is right
for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for
whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share
in God's grace with me. 8God can
testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And this
is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of
insight,10so
that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless
until the day of Christ, 11filled
with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the
glory and praise of God.
Outline of Sermon (The Life
Changing Lessons)
This is for the leader’s use. You don’t have to read through
these for the group.
1. God included us in His plans to bring salvation
to the world.
2. God’s plan for my life is not defined
by my present circumstances.
3. God can place
stuff in my heart that wasn’t always there.
4. God has unlimited
ability to provide joy and peace.
What part of your future causes you the most anxiety
and why?
1. Les said that the most-prescribed drugs
are antidepressants. Why do you
think that is so?
2. Life doesn’t have to be that way. Have you found ways to find peace in the
midst of life’s turmoil? How?
3. The Christian life starts with grace. Real peace is found through reaching
peace with Christ. Someone tell
when you first found peace in Jesus Christ.
4. Lesson One says that “God
included us in His plans to bring salvation to the world.” God gave us the Good News and trusted us
with the spread of the Good News to others. Do we find joy in the fact that God gave
us salvation and desires to use us for His glory?
5. Paul said, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” How would you answer the question, “To
live is ____________.” Whatever goes in that blank is what will
make you happy. Some of you might
have it right (answering Christ), but have some close competition. Even if Christ is your first answer,
what challenges Christ for first place in your life?
6. Lesson Two says
“God’s plan for my life is
not defined by my present circumstances. It seems that if our happiness is based
on outside circumstances that we are like a ship dependent on the wind to blow
a certain direction. How can we recover
quickly when the wind of circumstances shifts in the wrong direction?
Consider
memorizing these verses: (read them together and choose one to memorize this
week)
Phlippians 4:6-7
Proverbs
3:5-6
James
1:2-5
7. Lesson Three
states, “God
can place stuff in my heart that wasn’t always there.” Have you ever experienced this? If so, tell about that experience in
your life.
8. Lesson Four states, “God has unlimited ability to provide
joy and peace.” Look in your
concordance and share some verses that contain the word “able”. Let it give you an assurance that God is
in control and can give us joy regardless of our circumstances.
9. The main idea for today’s sermon
is that God
provides peace through a relationship with Jesus Christ and that peace is not
dependent upon life circumstances.
On a scale of 1-10, where are you on reaching this point in your
life? Where do you want to be? What are some ways to make progress
toward where you want to be in this area?
What
is God calling you to do as a result of this message? How can the group keep you accountable
for taking action to grow in this area?
Close
in prayer thanking God for all He does or allows in our lives. Also thank Him that He uses our lives to
glorify Himself.