CONVERSATION STARTERS
Conversation Starters help us dig deeper, connecting Sunday’s sermons with our Monday lives. These prompts have been designed to help Community Groups grow in their relationship with God, with one another, and with their neighbors. Please know that these questions are meant to be a resource to you. You do not have to follow them verbatim or get through them all. We trust you to know your group and to ask the questions based on your group needs.
1) What stood out to you in the sermon?
2) In this parable Jesus explains what is needed in order to understand His teaching and be His disciple. In verse 8 Jesus says “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” What do you think Jesus means?
3) Jesus identifies four different kinds of soil: a path, rocky ground, thorny ground, and good soil. With the exception of the good soil, each type of soil shows us different ways we could be prevented from truly listening to Jesus’ words. What has made it hard for you to hear what Jesus says?
4) Jesus says that people who are “good soil” hold fast to His Word with an honest heart, and they bear fruit with patience. Good beginnings do not guarantee a faithful finish. How have you seen the importance of patience in connection to personal growth?
5) Jesus says that “the seed” is the Word of God. Seeds are small, puny, and seemingly insignificant, yet with the right conditions they have the potential for exponential growth and change! When you think of the Word of God, what images and thoughts come to mind? What conditions do you think help the Word of God bear fruit in your life?
6) What steps could you take this week to cut out distractions that make it difficult for you to hear from God?