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 Liberating 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 a personal account of new freedom you found in any relationship in your life from performance-based acceptance.

4. Read Eph 2:8 and Gal 2:19-3:7 out loud. Define the problem that Paul is addressing (:3) in your own words, in contemporary terms. Though we come to faith by grace, in our humanity we tend to earn God’s approval by effort. Share whether this has ever been your experience. Carefully analyze Gal 2:20 for clues on how the grace-filled life is lived.
What questions does this verse raise for you?

5. Read Rom 8:12-17 out loud. What do you see in this text about your status with God, the role of the Spirit and the role of the flesh (unredeemed/earning aspects of you)? How does this relate to grace-based rather than performance-based relationship with God?

6. Read Matt 11:28-30 and John 15:4-5 out loud. What was the yoke in Jesus’ day? What is the yoke to you today? What do you consider as your key religious duties? Based on these two texts, what is the easy yoke – the light religious duty – that Jesus offers? Are you choosing to carry a heavier yoke than that?

7. How does James 2:20 fit in the discussion of working for our approval from God versus living out of an approval with God?

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?