THREE THINGS TO KNOW
DON’T MISS THIS
Giving tables are a great opportunity to serve our community as a small group during this season. If you purchased something from the Giving Tables list, you can drop it off this week! You can also purchase and directly ship items to the campus and we will be sure to get them to the right place. Find lists and drop-off times online at adabible.info.
GROUP VALUES
In our uncertain times, consider spending some or much of your group time in the Spiritual Practice of prayer. Here’s a prayer guide to help you get started and lead you through some options.
GROW AS A LEADER
One of the best ways to grow is to learn from each other’s experiences. The Small Group Leader Facebook page is a great place to interact with other leaders, be encouraged and be equipped. You’ll find the page at facebook.com/groups/adasmallgroupleaders.
DISCUSSION GUIDE
This week we continue our fall series The Company of Christ. This conversation looks at how the disciples repeatedly missed who Jesus was and didn’t see him clearly.
What are some of the most beautiful places you have ever seen?
Open your journal to pages 67-68. Take turns reading through the passage of Mark 7:31-8:26. What are some things that surprise you or that you find interesting?
THE RETEST
The second feeding story helps us see that Jesus desires a relationship with not only the people who are like us but all people. The Jews despised the Gentiles, but Jesus had compassion for them. How do you think this story applies to our world today?
Pastor Aaron Buer encouraged us to remind ourselves that Jesus came for “them too.” How can this simple practice help us see others the way Jesus sees them?
Talk about someone in your life that you would be able to ask, “Would you ever be interested in talking about my faith?” Discuss around the group some respectful yet bold ways to share your story and your faith in Christ.
THE REVIEW
Jesus’s questions to his disciples help bring their attention back to the fact that God is their provider, and they can trust God no matter what. They only need to remember what he has done to know they can trust him now. How can recognizing and remembering the ways God has provided in the past build trust for us now?
“I can trust him now because he provided for me then.” What is your list of how God provided for you in the past that you need to keep reminding yourself of?
THE HALF HEALING
Read Mark 8:23-26 again. This miracle is a parable about the disciples’ process of seeing Jesus clearly. Jesus shows patience with the disciples’ continual failure to understand. How does Mark’s teachings of Jesus help you see that following Jesus is a process of seeing him more clearly?
Whatever confusing situation you face in your life right now, the solution is to see Jesus clearly. What are some practical ways to have a clear focus on God?
WRAP UP
This week, we discussed how Jesus wants us to see both him and others clearly. Turn to page 71 in your journal. Does anyone have anything they wrote down that they still want to discuss?
What part of today’s discussion challenged you the most, and what’s one way you want to apply it to your life? Share it with your group and write it on the bottom of page 71.
Download a printable PDF.