Breaking Ground
Which family member or positive role model showed you the most affection growing up? How did that shape your relationship with that person?
The Dig
This Sunday, we continued our series on the New Testament Book of Galatians.
In the previous chapter, Paul appealed to both the Galatians’ personal experience & Scripture to argue that one’s inclusion in the Church & identity as a child of God is based solely on trusting in Christ’s love, grace, & faithfulness (as opposed to human effort or rules). As such, there is nothing else that one can do to earn (or lose) their status as God’s beloved child. With this in mind, continue Paul’s letter by reading Galatians 4:1-7.
What stands out to you the most about this text? Why?
What does Paul mean by slavery? How did God free us from it? What does this reveal about God & His desires for humanity?
What does it mean to be “adopted” into God’s family? How should this change our thoughts about ourselves, others, & God?
What does it mean to be God’s “heirs”? What have we received as an inheritance? How is that intended to impact & reshape us?
Close by reflecting on your life right now.
Where do you feel like you’re living in some form of bondage? How have you tried to engineer your own freedom from that bondage? What’s been the result of those efforts?
Where do you most often try to earn your belonging in God’s family or God’s promises? Why is it hard to accept that we can call God Abba (a personal name for father in Aramaic) without doing anything to earn it?
What would it mean to accept that your identity as God’s child & heir is spoken over you as an act of grace? How would accepting this truth impact both the experience of bondage that you identified & your attempts to earn your belonging in God’s family or world?
Getting Out of the Hole
Take time each week to reflect upon the Sunday sermon.
- Read Galatians 4:1-7. Highlight & make of any language, images, or ideas that stand out to you from the passage.
- What does it mean to be God’s child? How about God’s heir? What does this ultimately free us to do? What inheritance do we gain?
- Where have you tried to earn your belonging in God’s family? How has this negatively impacted you & your understanding of God?
- How might Paul’s teaching help you better accept your God-given identity in this season?
Journal, reflect, & pray on how God might be speaking to you through each week’s teaching. Share your experience with your growth group next week!
Additional Resources*
Centered Set Church by Mark D. Baker
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
TheBibleProject.com
Coming Up This Week:*
March 1st: Join us as we continue working through the New Testament Book of Galatians!* Please see mye3.org for details.