Faithfulness: Week 22 (Mar 27 - Apr 2)
Faithfulness Practice: Week 22| March 27 - April 2
Communities @ Grace
Goal for Week: We will look at God’s character trait of Faithfulness.
Lesson 1 of 4
45 minutes: Welcome, Pray, Eat + Mingle
Do you have a relative or friend you can count on to support you?
How do they support you?
Has anyone helped you reach a goal? How did they help?
15 Minutes : Review of last week’s practice experience
Review:
List 2-3 things you are hoping for (expecting) from God? Take time to reflect on and pray whether these are in line with God’s character.
Read some of these passages to expand your view of hope, write them down and pray over how you can follow them.
Romans 12:12
Colossians 1:27
Romans 8:24-25
1 Corinthians 15:17-20
Find your own passages on hope, pray over how you apply hope in your life and write about what God shows you.
If just a few of your group has completed the practice from the previous week talk through these questions:
What is hindering you from practicing during the week?
How can we support each other?
45 Minutes : Introduction of Practice + Discussion Questions
How does faithfulness impact your relationship with God?
Watch the “Bible Project” video on Faithfulness - (5 minutes)
Go to either:
https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/faithful/
GCC website, Communities, then Community Resources tab
In the video what caught your attention about God’s faithfulness? Was anything new to you?
Why did God choose to make covenants with his people?
What does the Bible tell us about God’s faithfulness? Let’s read the following passages.
Psalm 91:4 (RSV version “buckler” - portable shield)
Deut. 7:9 (keeps covenants)
2 Timothy 2:13 (he stays true to his character)
2 Thes. 3:3 (he will strengthen you from evil)
Isaiah 41:10 (support from the Lord)
Will a few of you share a time when you experienced/felt one of these attributes of God’s faithfulness?
Faithfulness is one of many facets of God’s character. His character is set, it
is“immutable”, which means it can’t be swayed or changed. God is not influenced by culture, situations or individuals. He is reliable, trustworthy and consistent. We rest our hope in his unwavering quality of faithfulness. There is no compromising on his part, what he promises he remembers and fulfills.
If you believe God is always faithful, how does that impact your life?
How do the influences of culture, situations, friends, affect our view of God’s faithfulness?
How do they influence your other relationships?
5 minutes : Practice Together
Take 2 or 3 minutes individually to jot down times you struggled to believe God is faithful
or times when you experienced God’s faithfulness. Let a few people share what they
wrote.
See next page for Practices for this unit on Faithfulness, give a copy to each member.
They are available for you to print or at the kiosk in the lobby.
10 Minutes : Pray for One Another + Close
Consider praying as a whole group or in triads for personal prayer requests.
End on time in order to honor everyone’s time.
Faithfulness - Weekly Practice
The practices for the next 4 weeks will be the same. You can choose to use one option
all 4 weeks or try several.
1. What feelings come up when you consider if God is always faithful? Think deeply about where you might harbor doubts. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal how he is faithful in your life. Ask him what he wants you to do in response to his faithfulness. (Trust deeper, release something, change a behavior or habit, or share your thoughts with someone). Record what you learn and how this changes your prayers and thoughts.
2. Sometimes cynicism can keep us from experiencing God’s faithfulness. Cynicism is the attitude of “I’ll believe it when I see it?”, not expecting much to happen or to feel disappointed when you don’t feel God is helping you. Take time each day to think about your thought patterns and conversations. What do they reveal about your belief in God’s faithfulness? Talk with God about it.
3. Faithfulness is a “Fruit of the Spirit.” A fruit of the Spirit can be defined as a character quality that we are growing in as we are transformed by the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus. Consider God’s attribute of faithfulness - He is reliable, trustworthy and consistent. How can you strengthen the attributes of faithfulness, reliability, trustworthiness, and consistency in your life?