Online Connect Group // Renewed // Week 4
Posted July 11, 2020 — Lincoln Berean
July 12, 2020 // Know Jesus: Part 2 // Various Passages
Introduction
For the last two weeks, we’ve explored what it means to know Jesus. Last week, Jeff challenged us to think of knowledge as more than knowing about someone. On Sunday, Ryan took the definition of knowledge to a deeper level, defining it as an interactive relationship.
This week, we will continue our journey to know Jesus in a new way.
We don’t provide a lot of space for your answers to these questions, so we suggest having a journal handy to write down your thoughts. You’re not expected to have time for all these questions during your online meeting, but we encourage you to reflect on them and jot down thoughts on your own.
Getting to Know Each Other (Suggested time: 30 min)
Begin your group time by learning more about each other. Open up and have some fun!
- If you could spend time with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? What would you want to talk about? What would you like to do together?
- What do you know a lot about (hobbies, subjects, etc.)? What did it take to gain that knowledge?
Getting Started
Begin to transition into group discussion.
1) Invite someone to open the group in prayer. Here are a few potential prayer items:
a. For God to reveal His truth and love for the group
b. For openness to each other and God’s voice
c. For friendships to deepen and grow
2) This week read the passages as you cover the corresponding question.
Study Questions (Suggested time: 40 min)
Please complete these questions prior to your group’s meeting time.
1) As you reflect on the message, what’s something that stood out to you?
2) Read Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 9:18-19. Having an interactive relationship with Jesus is more than going through the motions or checking things off a list. It’s not enough to know Jesus; He must also know you — it’s a relationship of mutual knowledge and interaction. As we’ve seen with the synagogue official, there were areas of his life he couldn’t fix on his own.
a. What areas of your life do you invite Jesus into (relationships with others, career decisions, hopes/dreams, pain, disappointment, etc.)? What impact has His presence played in those areas?
b. What areas of your life are you struggling to manage yourself? What might it look like to invite Jesus into those areas?
3) Read Matthew 7:7-8 and Matthew 9:20-22
a. What character traits do you see in the actions of the woman in this story? (pro tip: look at Matthew 7:7-8 again)
b. Sometimes, we forget the Father longs to be found and yearns to give. In what ways could you demonstrate faith and courage like the woman in Matthew 9:20-22?
4) Over the last couple weeks, we’ve learned there is a difference between familiarity with Jesus and an interactive relationship with Him.
a. Where are you with Jesus, familiarity or interactive relationship? If you’re willing, briefly describe.
b. If you don’t know Jesus as well as you would like, how could you begin to know Him more?
c. If you’re already experiencing an interactive relationship with Jesus, He always has more to offer. What could you do to deepen your knowledge and relationship?
Group Prayer (Suggested time: 10 min)
Take a few moments to prepare a prayer request. What did the discussion cause you to notice about your own relationship with Jesus?
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. Whether or not you choose to verbalize your prayer, everyone is a participant in sharing this time before God together.