Hosts
Make sure to start off with prayer. Then choose one or more questions to open up with.
- What was your worst habit as a child?
- What is your all-time favorite song?
Message Review
Main points and scriptures from this week's message.
- God is calling us onward in one way or another.
Job 17:9 (TLB)
…the righteous shall move onward and forward; those with pure hearts shall become stronger and stronger.
- When God beckons us onward it will always involve some sort of habit change.
Example:
Author Catherine Marshall told about a time when God was calling her to fast from talking critically of others. “For the first half of the day, I simply felt a void almost as if I had been wiped out as a person. This was especially true at lunch…I listened to the others and kept silent…that afternoon, a specific positive vision for life was dropped into my mind. Ideas began to flow in a way I had not experienced in years. My critical nature had not corrected one single thing. What it had done was stifle my own creativity”
- Investing small amounts of time over time is cumulative.
5 minutes every day = 35 minutes a week = over 2 hours a month
15 minutes every day = 1 hour 45 minutes a week = over 6 hours a month
Luke 4:16
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue ,as was his custom
- New Habits are the pathway to New Life.
Your spiritual development is connected to your habits.
- Don't focus on breaking habits, focus on creating new ones.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
- When you change habits by improving them you literally change and improve your life.
Message Discussion Questions
The following questions will help guide your discussions and give your group some opportunities to open up and share.
- Tell us about your best habit.
- What area of your life do your worst habits exist? Financial, Relational, Spiritual, or Physical?
- Do you think you could go one week without speaking critically? Why or why not?
- Do you currently have a habit of reading the Bible daily? If so, what does that look like for you? If not, what is holding you back?
- We all have church habits, good or bad. What are some of your church habits.
- On a piece of paper, write down three new DAILY habits you want to start?
Live It Out
Encourage your group to start doing. Commit to a step, and live it out this week.
- Take your piece of paper that has your three new habits, and setup a time to share with your accountability.
- Schedule a time for in your calendar for each one of these habits.
- Track your progress on these habits every week, and talk about your progress in a follow-up meeting with your accountability.
Closing Thoughts
- Finish group with prayer requests and praise reports.
- More resources always available here: Small Group Resources