Life Groups // Spring 2025 // Week 1
Posted April 4, 2025 — Lincoln Berean
Learning to Live as the Family of God Pt. II // 1 Timothy 5:17-6:2
Introduction
Welcome to the Spring Session! We are back in 1st Timothy for two weeks and then after Easter we will start a new series called Everyday Disciples. During the week of Easter, there will not be Life Group questions, however we encourage your group to still gather for a meal or to do something fun together!
As we’re learning what it means to live in a family of faith, we’ve also come to realize that responsible leadership is critically important. In this week’s passage, Paul instructs Timothy about how a healthy church family should respond to matters of leadership in the church. It’s a reminder that time and truth are important factors for us to pay attention to as well.
We invite you to look over all the questions on the following pages and write your thoughts down before you meet with your group. Some people even use these questions to take notes during the sermon. The questions are meant to stir your thinking and prompt open discussion, and we do not expect you will cover every question each week.
Warm Up (Suggested time: 30 min)
1) During this 2-week break from Life Group, how did you fill your time on the day/time when your group normally meets?
2) Would you rather have to skip everywhere instead of walking or only be able to sing whenever you tried to speak?
Getting Started
Transition into group discussion.
1. Open group discussion with prayer. Here are a few potential prayer items:
a. For the Spirit of God to lead you in truth
b. For the fruit of the Spirit to be cultivated in your lives
c. For grace to hear and apply what the Spirit says to you
2. Choose someone to read the passage aloud for the group.
Study Questions (Suggested time: 40 min)
1) What did you most appreciate from the worship service this week?
2) In verses 17-18, Paul is helping us consider the value of spiritual leadership by using 2 Biblical examples (Deut. 25:4, Luke 10:7). How would you rephrase those examples to express modern day values?
How valuable is spiritual leadership to you and your family? In what ways do you express that value yourself?
3) Read Matthew 18:15-20 alongside 1 Timothy 5:19. What do these passages teach us about how to receive and respond to an accusation against another believer?
How might a careless accusation harm a person’s integrity?
How does 1 Timothy 5:19 give protection to a spiritual leader?
4) According to Paul, should spiritual leaders be above accusation and confrontation about sin?
What benefit would there be in making their unrepentant sin public?
Discuss what a proper response is among a church family when unrepentant sin like this is revealed. What might it look like to believe the best and not take sides, but love as Jesus loves?
5) Look back at 1 Timothy 3:10, 13. How do those verses inform us about what is being taught in 5:22?
What are some real-life consequences of “laying hands too quickly” on a spiritual leader?
6) One way to summarize Paul’s advice in vs.24-25 could be “time and truth will tell”. Can you think of a situation when that was true for you or someone you consider a spiritual leader?
How can you be encouraging each other in the group to be grounded in the truth of God’s Word as part of our church family?
Personal Spiritual Exercises
Just like physical exercises help strengthen and stretch our bodies for healthy living, these spiritual exercises are meant to move us spiritually in ways that may be new so we might experience inner growth. Since God longs for us to experience Him with our whole selves—mind, body, spirit—we invite you along each week to strengthen your souls with suggestions and prompts.
Scripture Focus: Romans 12 is a passage rich with encouragement for living a life of faith. Make a plan to read through the chapter each day and take note of the words that are most meaningful each time. When you get to the end of the week, journal a response to all that God taught you in that simple act of faithful reading. God’s Word is living and active!
Prayer Focus: Consider how you can pray specifically for the spiritual leaders God has placed in your life. One passage that relates to leading well is 1 Peter 5:2-3. Pattern a prayer for your leaders from these verses this week:
Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. (NLT)
Prayer (Suggested time: 20 min)
A significant part of “coming together” is being open and honest with our lives. Sitting in a group of people for prayer may be new or it may be familiar to you. If you would rather not pray aloud when it is your turn, feel free to pray silently and then say “Amen” aloud signaling the next person in the group to pray. Whether or not you choose to verbalize your prayer, everyone is a participant in sharing this time before God together.
Take a few moments to prepare a prayer request. What did the message, working through the above questions or the discussion cause you to notice about your own relationship with Jesus? Would you be willing to share your prayer request with the group?