Glencairn MB Church

Going Deeper is designed for use with your small group, a friend or on you own. Its aim is to create time for you to spend with God and his word. Do as much or as little as you like. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact one of our pastoral staff.

1. Pray for the needs of your Life Group, for our church and our leaders, for personal and corporate renewal, and to allow God’s word to transform us.

2. This Sunday, the message in the Receiving God’s Grace series focused on Sustaining Grace. What thoughts or questions did the service raise for you? Which thoughts or points encouraged you or posed a challenge to you?

3. Share an opportunity to extend or to receive grace that you experienced this past week.

4. Read out loud 2 Cor 12:8-9. Have you ever (or are you now) living with an experience like the one Paul is describing? What were then or are now your means of accessing God’s sustaining grace? Note the purpose of this trial in Pauls’ case. Are you able to discern a purpose in your trial? What thoughts do you have about God answering Paul prayer for relief with “My grace is sufficient?”

5. How would you explain your or another Christian’s on-going suffering to someone who does not know God and is questioning God’s goodness or his lack of power to answer your prayers?

6. Read Isa 40:21-31. List at least 10 characteristics of God evident in this passage. What do these have to do with his power to sustain you in trial? Focus on verse 31 and read it in several translations. The Hebrew phrase is “Those who wait on the Lord…” How would you explain what this waiting looks like? Is it a passive wait or are we to wait in a way that would make soaring eventually possible?

How would you instruct a young believer to “wait on the Lord” productively?

Can you share an experience that proved in your life that those who wait on the Lord will eventually soar?

7.Share your favorite scripture regarding God’s sustaining grace with the group.

8. Take a moment of silence as you consider how God is speaking to you. Do you sense an invitation to something new? What concrete steps of response do you want to take? How can your group support you in these steps?