Hosts
Make sure to start off with prayer. Then choose one or more icebreaker questions to open up with.
- If you could choose one word to describe your life, what would it be?
- Would you rather have a dog or a cat as a pet?
- Which do you prefer: phone calls, texts, social media, or letters? Why?
Message Review
Main points and scriptures from this week's message.
John 11:25 (NIV)
I am the resurrection and the life.
In the text, Jesus is NOT introducing himself. He is identifying himself. He doesn’t say, "I AM Jesus of Nazareth." They already knew that about him. He says “I AM the resurrection and the life,” which is something they didn’t know about him.
Point 1: There's a difference in how you introduce yourself and how you identify yourself.
Maybe you’ve internalized not just what you know about you but what others have said about you.
Point 2: If you don’t know how Jesus’ story applies to you, you’re stuck with who you know yourself to be. Your identity is based solely and completely on you.
- You can’t let who you were on your weakest day have the last word about you!
Imagine if these people in the Bible let their weakest moment define the rest of their lives:
- Abraham lied under pressure.
- Moses stuttered and questioned God's judgement in picking him. He killed a man.
- David had an affair and had her husband killed.
- Jacob was a liar.
- John was prideful and self-righteous.
- Peter was a cursing hot head
- Samson lacked self-control.
- Paul persecuted and murdered Christians.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Point 3: Baptism is God's way of creating an experience—a point of reference—where we identify ourselves on the basis of who Jesus is.
Romans 6:3–5 (NASB)
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection . . .
Point 4: The cross changes the I AM of your life. We can choose to see everything through the cross:- I AM loved by God.
- I AM saved by grace.
- I AM strong.
- I AM an overcomer.
- I AM a child of God.
Point 5: The only way you're going to be who you're meant to be is to take on the "I AM" that describes who you are with God's power and purpose in your life.
Message Discussion Questions
Read the following guidelines before starting your group discussion.
- Answer the question specifically. Avoid tangents and try to stay on target.
- Limit your responses to 1–2 minutes per question.
- Use I, me, or we statements. This is a time for personal reflection, not a time to fix others.
- Each person is free to share without interruptions when sharing within the suggested guidelines.
The following questions will help guide your discussions and give your group some opportunities to open up and share.
- Think about some negative labels you have been holding onto. Have those labels changed how you introduce yourself?
- What have you done to move past a bad chapter of your life?
- How did hearing about all the people in the Bible not being perfect change your perspective?
- Based off of this past weekend's message, who are you?
- How does water baptism change our identity?
- How can you make Jesus' story, your story?
- What does it mean to you when Pastor talked about looking at your life through the cross?
Live It Out
Encourage your group to start doing. Commit to a step, and live it out this week.
- Make two lists this week: one of any negative label that comes to mind and the other that describes who you are in Jesus.
- Carry a cross with you this week whether on a necklace or on the background of your phone, and every time you see it, think to yourself the I AM's of this message (Loved by God, Overcomer, Saved by Grace, Strong, etc.)
Closing Thoughts
- Finish group with prayer requests and praise reports.
- More resources always available here: Small Group Resources