4/26/20
1. CALL TO WORSHIP (HAVE SOMEONE READ ALOUD):
To all who desire an encounter with God,
To all who are weary and need promises of peace,
To all who are discouraged and long for an end to this crisis,
To all who feel afraid of the future and wonder if God is present,
To all who are frustrated and desire patience,
To all who have sinned and need a Savior:
Our Father opens wide His arms with a welcome from Jesus Christ,
the Strength of the weary,
the Keeper of His promises,
the Healer of the sick,
the Friend of sinners.
2. SHARING THE DETAILS OF OUR LIVES: (15 minutes)
What are you currently thankful for?
What is your stress coming from?
Who needs our help and how can we help them?
3. PRAYER: (10-15 minutes)
Let the subjects brought up in your conversation lead you to prayer. (When the group falls silent, anyone can say amen and close the group prayer.)
Best Practices:
Spend a few moments praying conversationally.
Pray in sentences, not paragraphs.
Ask God, the Holy Spirit, to help you understand and apply His Word to your lives.
Allow the prayer of others to stimulate your prayers.
Invite any kids with you to pray.
4. have someone read PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11 (10 minutes)
At a slow to medium pace, read the passage two times outloud. Allow the content to sink in and become familiar. As a group, try to recall and piece together—from memory—what you read. This helps cement the content in our memories.
5. OBSERVE & interpret (30-35 minutes)
Observation answers the question: What does this passage say? Interpretation answers the question: What does this passage mean? (NOTE: The field of biblical interpretation is complex and immense…similar to the field of world history. However complex and immense either subject might be, both are accessible and can be meaningfully engaged by everyday people on a quest for understanding. The key is to start simple and small and then grow in understanding as you go.)
OBSERVE: Have someone set a timer for 10 minutes. Then begin making as many observations from Philippians 2:1-11 as you can in that time. State the obvious. State the less obvious. Notice repeating words and themes.
INTERPRET: After you’ve made observations, begin asking questions of your observations and seeking to identify the author’s main point in this passage of Scripture. Identify and categorize the themes you see. Remember to answer your questions FROM the passage. Try to keep your conversation anchored in Phil. 2:1-11.
Are there major themes and minor themes?
Who is the focal character in this passage and does that have implications for the other characters?
Ask how the Philippian’s way of life is meant by the author to be motivated by Jesus’ way of life?
APPLY: Application answers the question: What do I do?
Consider one way the God (the Holy Spirit) is asking you to obey this passage. Be specific. Do you have a sense there is something you should do, change, think, or otherwise take action on?
Share this with your group along with how/when you plan to follow through on what God is saying to you. (This provides accountability for us to obey God)
(These are the typical four questions we ask in our House-to-House groups. Many of them have likely already been answered through the exercise above so don’t feel the need to cover them separately this week.)
What does this passage teach us about God?
What does this passage teach us about humanity? (Christians and/or non-christians)
In light of what God teaches me in this passage, what am I ready to believe, think, do?
Who do I know who needs to hear this? How will I go about sharing it with them?
7. BENEDICTION:
Have someone read this out loud to the group:
“Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you…The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” —2 Cor. 13:11, 14