Winsome – Study #9
Good News CARING for Others
Sunday’s Teaching: This week’s teaching explored the power of loving. Sacrificial caring for those who are being beat-up by the inevitable assaults of life (cf. Luke 10:25-37, the man who fell among thieves and the Samaritan’s response) can prepare a closed heart for the good news of the gospel. This study will explore the ASPECTS OF CARING which are found in the Winsome: Loving To Share the Good News devotional “Section 3”, Caring For Others.
Let’s get STARTED – discuss the following questions
What do you think it means to “care for” someone else? How would you describe it?
Have you personally experienced such care? Is receiving such care a part of your faith-story? Unpack this
What keeps us from taking the opportunities that come along in daily life to care for someone we don’t know, or who is clearly away from God?
Let’s Explore in the WORD
Listed below are the Scriptures found in the Winsome: Loving to Share the Good News devotional. Read the Scriptures together and discuss the accompanying questions.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
Do you think we Christian “insiders” have a tendency to judge non-Christians by our standards? How does Paul address this tendency? How should this reshape our attitudes, and the tone of our relationships?
Luke 5:29-31
Why do we Christians find it hard to “hang out” with non-Christians? What do you see in Jesus’ example?
John 4:6-9
Talk about how Jesus found common ground with the woman? What can we learn here?
Acts 2:42-47
What kind of “teamwork” do you see here among the new Christians in the young church? Could that be replicated through your Connect Group?
Ephesians 3:17-19
What is the Spirit of God, empowering in us, out to help us experience? How would you describe “knowing the love of Christ”? Why is it important for us to know this?
1 Peter 2:18-21
The Holy Spirit through Peter is calling for an extraordinary response when mistreated. What is the rationale for responding this way? Who’s our example? Would you describe this as a form of caring for an unjust boss? How so?
John 8:1-8
What kind of caring do we see in the Savior’s handling of this tense situation? What outcome resulted?
REFLECT: Do any of these examples of “caring” speak especially to you, or to a relationship you have with someone?
FINISH: Have each group member share, prompted by these passages, any personal steps he/she might begin regularly taking in order to extend care to someone who is currently not in God’s family.
Let’s Prioritize APPLICATION
If you have time as a group (and didn’t get to it last time), listen together to our Beyond the Sermon podcast, Episode #8. “What happens when someone trusts Christ?” You can find it on our CCC app!
As you finish,
REVIEW THE HOT SHEET…and then
PRAY: for what the Holy Spirit revealed to you through your time with your terrific CONNECT GROUP!!!