# Small Group Meeting
**``` Feel free to edit! =D```**

## 08.06.2021

### Overview

It's been a while since we've had a simple straightforward Bible study. I think it's important that we do that together sometimes. Sometimes we can end up focusing on what each other is saying instead of what God is saying when we meet together. Hopefully focusing on a Bible passage helps us get back to basics.

### The Passage

We'll read out of Colossians. I kind of chose it at random. There's no such thing as a bad Bible passage, right?

### What's the context of Colossians?

Wikipedia to the rescue. Colossians is not mentioned in the book of Revelations, but they were really close to Laodicea, which was mentioned. The church of Laodicea was criticized for incorporating pagan elements into their faith. Colossians covers a topic related to this criticism - the supremacy of Christ.

Some other main topics include:
* Praising the church for loving each other
* Urging them to grow in wisdom so their love was more than sentimentality
* The promise that we will be united with Christ
* **A call to good behavior.** (This is in Colossians 3)

### Colossians 3

This is what we'll be reading. We're going to pray for God to speak to us as we read, spend a couple minutes reading silently, and then discussing what we read.

### Some questions worth asking yourself

* Why does this passage come in this particular place in the book? How does it connect with what comes before and after?
* What does it say about God?
* What does it say about people?
* How should it affect me?

### Timeline

* Start by 7:45
* Start reading by 8:00
* Wrap up discussion by 8:30
* Finish completely by 8:45

### Announcements

Nothing concrete, but church is going to start planning summer events. If you have ideas or want to be involved organizing something please let us know :slightly_smiling_face:.

## 25.05.2021

### Overview

The sermon from two weeks ago was about **identity**. What do people think about their own identity? How would you define a person's identity?

### Opening

My other connect group talked about why our identities are so important for a whole night, but we never actually addressed the topic: **What is our identity?** I want to spend as much time as possible trying to get to bottom of this question. We probably won't get too far, but that's fine.

### Questions

- What is an identity in general?
- Does knowing your identity affect your actions?
- There are lot of Bible verses about identity, so it seems like God wants us to know about this topic.
- Hot take: if knowing our identity doesn't affect our actions (including our thoughts), then there's no reason to think about your identity.
- Is there a part of your character where if someone took it away you would be a different person?

### Obligatory software analogy

Just about every piece of data that gets stored in a DB has an identifier. In fact, items often have multiple IDs that are used in different contexts. Items need to be recognized by different systems, so different IDs are needed. I'm not totally sure where I'm going with this :man-shrugging:.

>> Nice! Love the analogy! We can talk that the ID itself in the database should be unique, so that we can get the data that we want. What makes us unique?

### Some Bible verses about identity
I got these from [here](https://connectusfund.org/60-powerful-bible-scriptures-on-identity).

> **2 Corinthians 5:17**
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

> **1 Peter 2:9**
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

> **1 Peter 3:15**
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.

> **Colossians 3:12**
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

> **1 Corinthians 12:27**
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

### Announcements

* MyHillsong accounts

### Prayer requests
* Joshy - general school stuff
* Anru - praise report for Tandem language partner, prayer request for mom (dental stuff)
* Nadia - less contentious relationship with her boss, more patience, better attitude
* Malvin - Prayer for his 2-month trip to Indonesia to deal with his father's passing. Smooth travel, negative test results, and peace for his family.
* Matthew - energy, particularly for new church projects.
* Ruben - Ruben's grandmother got some teeth pulled. Prayer for a smooth recovery. Prayer that we would all remain strong during our challenges.

## 12.05.2021

### Recap
> Dirty hands deserves soft soil.

> 3 And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them: 5 and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth: and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them: 8 and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He that hath ears, let him hear.
\- Matthew 13 3-9 ASV

> “We cannot selectively numb emotion. If we numb the dark, we numb the light. If we take the edge off pain and discomfort, we are, by default, taking the edge off joy, love, belonging, and the other emotions that give meaning to our lives.” – Brene Brown in “Dare to Lead”

### Questions
> 1 “Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—
> all who seek the Lord!
>Consider the rock from which you were cut,
> the quarry from which you were mined.
>2 Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor,
> and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation.
> Abraham was only one man when I called him.
> But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.”
>3 The Lord will comfort Israel[a] again
> and have pity on her ruins.
>Her desert will blossom like Eden,
> her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord.
>Joy and gladness will be found there.
> Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.
> Isaiah 51 : 1-3 (NLT)

- Have your heart ever felt numb because of disappointment? (I will go first and hopefully other will be also more open to talk about it.)
- How do we usually handle our emotion when something's not right?
- How can we remove the shield in practice?

### Backup questions
- What does it mean to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves, when what God actually wants from us is our vulnerability?

> “Listen carefully: I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves [have no self-serving agenda].
\- Matthew 10:16 AMP

- (The craziest question of all): Have you ever disappointed by God?

### Side Note
- We should invite new people to have a Hillsong account.

### Praise Report and Prayer Request
Joshy: relatives in India
Matthew: visa
Jethro: relationship with God
Neil: good sleep for Neil and peace
Malvin: wisdom for writing essay and experimenting in bachelor thesis
Ruben: patience at work
Nadia: more open with her Dad

## 27.04.2021
Topics from two sermons: Managing our thoughts and building our faith.
Some questions to ask ourselves:
* Do we have a healthy diet?
* Do we have a healthy exercise routine?
* Do we have a healthy social life?
* Do we have healthy thought patterns?
*We probably instantly know the answers to the first 3, but I don't know if we spend much time thinking about this one.*

What do you think it means to "set our minds on things above"?
> "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."
\- Colossians 3:1-2

Paul is a good example of someone with a healthy mindset.
> "I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
\- Philippians 4:12-13

Circumstances didn't affect his mindset.

The sermon focused on healthy habits. "Taking every though captive" was one of the main ones. I think it's important that we acknowledge that our faith rarely changes through God flipping a switch. It's a process.

**What separates the "healthy thoughts" aspect of Christianity from a secular worldview? Can't anyone think positively and look on the bright side? Why does God need to be involved?**
I'm not even going to write anything here. Let's see where the discussion takes us.

Ok, maybe I'll write a little. Our healthy thoughts are rooted in our faith. We believe that God is in control of everything, that He loves us, that He has a plan for us, and that the best thing we can do with our lives is live according to that plan. If we want to pursue a healthy thought life, then we should focus on building our faith. This Sunday's sermon had a lot to say about faith. We probably won't have time to get into it, but if I had to summarize one of the main points I would say that

God performs miraculous works so that we can learn to trust Him more.

## 13.04.2021

### Bible Verse

You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food — catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.

2 Timothy 4 3-5 (MSG)

### Main questions
- How is your soul right now? What are you currently looking forward right now? What is your next step?
- Do you feel like you're in a fight right now because of what you are trying to achieve?
- How are you holding on if the situation seems to be not in favor? How to keep our faith alive? How can we finish well?
- The preacher said : Hard times can reveal your God's character in your life. Do you think hardship reveals who we trully are?

### Songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fA35Ved-Y

### Another bible verse, just in case

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Ezekiel 37:4-8 NIV

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

Daniel 3: 17-18 NIV

### Announcement
Leadership Night on Thursday! (On Youtube)

## 30.03.2021
### Are you being shepherded?
God uses the name "I AM" to refer to himself in a particular way. It is used to indicate self-sufficientness and completeness. There are 7 places in the bible where Jesus uses "I Am" to refer to himself. One of them is in John, where Jesus talks about being the Good Shepherd.

> I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
**- John 10:11-15**

* When we are God's we recognize him
* When we are God's we are led by him
* We go astray "like sheep". It's in sheep's nature to need to be lead. A sheep isn't a bad sheep because they don't know where to go - they are a bad sheep when they don't listen to direction. (Isaiah 53:6)

**What should our lives look like when we are being shepherded?**
* Ask people for answers and read Psalm 23

**Main questions**
* What's one way that your life resembles Psalm 23?
* What's one way that your life doesn't resemble Psalm 23?
* Why do you think that is?
* Are we aware of God's guidance? How can we be more aware?
* Are we ever afraid of guidance? Why or why not?

**Announcements**
* Easter stuff (community outreach, see group chat)
* Easter service (It would be really to see everybody in person!)

## 15.03.2021
May I lead the conversation this time? :)

Den Sorgen die Macht nehmen (Overcome the worries)

Philipper 4 6-7
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Worries exists in our lives.
Hand it over to Jesus and God will be give you peace.

# Overcoming worries by asking for help
Matthew 6 11
"... give us today **our** daily **bread**"
- We are allowed to ask to God what we need. Bread represents God's provision.

- there's a power in unity when we pray together

** Asking for help is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.**

# Overcoming worries by remembering
Matthew 16 8
The disciples forgot to bring the bread and they were worried. But they didn't remember that Jesus had performed a miracle with 5 bread and 2 fishes. As human we tend to forget what God has provided us.

**Remember miracles that God has done for us. **

# Overcoming worries by holding on His promise
John 6 35
Remember God's promise.
He will never forsake you.

### The Flow:
  - Catch up
  - Discussion
  - Prayer request
  - Announcement
  
### Discussion
- What is our *default mode* when we are worried about something?
- Do you actually know why were you worried at that time?
- How should we handles our worries? We can use Philipians 4:6-7 to trigger our conversation.
- Have you experienced God's provision when you are worried?
- **Idea from Matthew**: What happens when we let God overcome our worries? I read James 1:12 which talks about God giving the crown of life to those who remain steadfast during trials.

(Can we share this song towards the end? =D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8SPwT3nQZ8)

### Study outline for the chat
- What is our *default mode* when we are worried about something?
- Do you actually know why were you worried at that time?
- How should we handle our worries? 
- Have you experienced God's provision when you are worried?

### Announcement
4️⃣ Leadership Night  ✍🏻
We keep moving forward together. Our heart is to equip and empower everyone in our sphere - join us with your small group, your team or a friend from church. 
18th March, 8pm on Youtube

KINGDOM BUILDERS
It's currently ongoing. If you are in a position financially and spiritually where you can cheerfully pledge money to this fund for expanding the church, we encourage you to pray about it and see if God wants you to sign up to donate.

MICROCHURCH at Isarpost
Please note that we have new service times 
Doors open: 3:15 PM 
Start: 3:30PM 

## 02.03.2021

### Review from last time
We talked and prayed about restoration. What have we seen? How were exams? How were vacations? How has Ruben's thesis been going?

### Opening context
- One of the main takeaways from Sunday's sermon was that we should "live called". Does anyone remember any more details about that?
- What is a calling? Ask someone to look up a definition and read it out.

### Discussion

Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your
God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so
that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord
and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple
that will be built for the Name of the Lord.”

1 Chronicles 22:19

- Do we treat what we do for church as a calling or a job? Is there a difference?
- Do we need to figure out God's calling in our lives? If so, how do we do it?
    - Examples of callings in the Bible: Abraham, Moses, Jonah, the Disciples, Paul.
    - My hot take: We **don't** need to spend time figuring out God's calling for our lives. It's more important that we live ready for God to speak. We don't actively try to think of what God's calling is. We wait for Him to make it clear. I don't know of a single Bible verse where somebody sat and thought and figured out God's calling. The closest thing I can think of is the story of the still small voice speaking to Elijah.
- 2 Chronicles: Do not be afraid, do not be dismayed. I didn't take very good notes. Does anyone remember what this had to do with our calling?
- How do we handle the balance between God's calling and our normal life? (Dont share this: In practice there would be challenges. How do we handle this challenges? We can compare this with the story of Salomo. I think at the end Salomo Kingdom falled. => compared it with 1 Chronicles 22:10)

...And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.

- I think we can talk about something from this passage:
2 Chronicles 22:5

David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced,
and the house to be built for the Lord should be of
great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of
all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for
it.” So David made extensive preparations before his
death.

### Announcements


## 16.02.2021

# Restoration - Release - Rescue
Psalm 23 3 => God restores your soul.
Psalm 51 12 => He will give you joy
Joel 2 25-26 => God's promise
Ezra 9 9
Isaiah 43 19
FYI: I wish we could read the whole second chapter of Joel. I think there's so many things that we can discuss here.

Can we focus on the restoration and God's mercy?

Related topic that comes to my mind:
- The story of Job in the bible
- Psalm 13 ("How long, O Lord?")
- Heart of God lyrics ("Your kindness leads me to repentance.")
- Restoration => Finding true purpose again

### The Flow:
  - Catch up
  - Discussion
  - Prayer request
  - Announcement
### Discussion
- Read Joel Joel 2:25-27. **<-- Let's summarize 2:18-27 and read 25-26**
- What does restoration means to you?
    - **Matthew read a Bible study**: "Restoration" in the Old Testament usually refers to the nation of Israel having been torn down, but once again being equipped to fulfill their divine purpose.
- What's the church's purpose?
- What are you waiting for? 
(Do you think that God is able to restore whatever that has been taken from you? **<-- This question is going in the right direction, but I think we can improve it. People might just answer "yes", and that'll be the end of it. How can we set this up so that people feel like they have something worthwhile to share?**)
- What should we do while waiting for God's promise?
- Anything else?
- **Comment from Matthew**: If we talk about restoration, I would also love to talk about Psalm 40 (the chapter we studied this morning). I think it has a lot to say about what we do while we wait for restoration.

### Study outline for the chat
Theme: Restoration
Bible passage: Joel 2:25-27
Restoration
- What is restoration?
- What kind of restoration are we personally waiting for?
- What should we do in the meantime?

### Announcement
1️⃣ LEADERSHIP NIGHT, February 18th
8pm - on Youtube
Live Translation via Zoom will be available

The Topic: >>  Personal Leadership << 
• Relevant for all - not just leaders
• Topics like Time Management, Stress Management, The “inner me”

Invite everyone in your connect to join ✨

2️⃣ Sisterhood United for our Ladies 💁🏼‍♀️💁🏽‍♀️
February 26th, 8pm on Youtube
Live Zoom Translation will be provided

Pastor Joanna will share a message with us that Friday evening that will speak to us and encourage us to discover the oasis in our lives. And of course there will be no lack of fun elements, glamour, refreshment and depth!

## 02.02.2021

##################### JUST BETWEEN YOU AND ME MATT :wink: #####################
Paralyzed man
John 5 1-9
Jesus was not asking "do you want to feel better?" but he was asking "do you
wanna be healed?" - It implies big changes.
But the pool becomes excuse for the paralyzed man.
MESSAGE: Changes happens when you get up from your excuses.
It's like when you are climbing a ladder. You can only keep going
when you let go and hold something new ahead of you.
###############################################################################

### The Flow:
  - Catch up
  - Discussion
  - Prayer request
  - Announcement

### Discussion
- What are the obstacle that you face so far during the corona *or the new year*? (Are you waiting for a breakthrough?)
- How are you dealing with it?
- *What obstacles did you overcome last year?*
- Let's take a look at ~~John 5 6-9~~ *John: 5:2-14*. What stood out to you?
- What causes the paralyzed man to walk?
- What can we learn from this story? 

### Announcement
- No announcement