FOCUS – 4 Gifts to Enhance my Spiritual Life

Wednesday November 07, 2018 – Small Group Discussion

KEY SCRIPTURE: Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:15, Hebrews 4:9-10

INWARD PRAYER

GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What stuck out to you tonight in the devotional message?
2. Have you heard the word “sabbath” before? How would you define that word?
3. Is a “sabbath” just a day off, or is it more than that? Explain.
4. Have you ever taken a sabbath? If so, what was it like? What did you find good about it? What did you find challenging?
5. If you had a day where you did no work, you just played and prayed, what would that playing and praying look like to you?
6. What is one thing specifically that you could do to make the rhythm of sabbath happen more regularly in your life? (This question assumes that people don’t regularly sabbath, maybe some in your group do. If so, you can ask them how they make it happen regularly.)
7. How do you think your life would be impacted by a regular sabbath? What might that do for the rest of your week?

OUTWARD PRAYER – Prayer for others

FOCUS – 4 Gifts to Enhance my Spiritual Life

Wednesday November 07, 2018 – Devotional

WHAT’S THE POINT?

I need to take a day to pray and play.

WORD UP Eugene Peterson who created the Message paraphrase and wrote several Christian books, highlights the two times in the old testament where Sabbath is commanded. These two are below. He comments how the two reasons for sabbath are praying and playing.

Exodus 20:8-11 – Praying, because the reason for sabbath is that God himself kept the sabbath.

Deuteronomy 5:15 – Playing, because the reason for sabbath this verse talks about is that the Israelites never had a day off in 400 years of Egyptian oppression.

Hebrews 4:9-10 – This is a new testament verse that encourages Christians to continue to practice this as a way into entering the rest of God that he offers.

WAKE UP

Here are a few ideas for grabbing the attention of youth and pointing them towards the topic:

1. You can intro with this video titled “Are We Too Busy to Enjoy Life?” found at:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBWJJcIO28Q. It is a quick 1 minute that tells people to slow down and rest. If I made it, I might change “trust the process” to “trust God” but it asks a great question: “Are we too busy?” You could even start with this and then ask the group if they think they are too busy? What keeps them busy, and then lead into the topic.
2. Share a story of when you experienced a great day of sabbath or praying and playing
3. Alternatively, share a story of when you hadn’t had a sabbath or a day off in a long time and what that negatively did to you

WHY DO I CARE?

• God created weekends, maybe I should find out why
• People are not made to keep working and working with no pause, maybe that is why we can feel so distracted, anxious and unbalanced in life
• I am missing out on life when I don’t pause to pray and play

WHAT DO I DO?

• Choose the best day in my week where I can stop working and being busy so I can just pray and play
• Think through the regular rhythms in my week that would prevent me from having a day like that and come up with solutions for those challenges
• Try a sabbath… then try it again… then try it againFOCUS – 4 Gifts to Enhance my Spiritual Life

Wednesday November 07, 2018 – Small Group Discussion

KEY SCRIPTURE: Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:15, Hebrews 4:9-10

INWARD PRAYER

GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What stuck out to you tonight in the devotional message?
2. Have you heard the word “sabbath” before? How would you define that word?
3. Is a “sabbath” just a day off, or is it more than that? Explain.
4. Have you ever taken a sabbath? If so, what was it like? What did you find good about it? What did you find challenging?
5. If you had a day where you did no work, you just played and prayed, what would that playing and praying look like to you?
6. What is one thing specifically that you could do to make the rhythm of sabbath happen more regularly in your life? (This question assumes that people don’t regularly sabbath, maybe some in your group do. If so, you can ask them how they make it happen regularly.)
7. How do you think your life would be impacted by a regular sabbath? What might that do for the rest of your week?

OUTWARD PRAYER – Prayer for others