12/16 - 12/20 Life Group Questions
^ Click Take A Note ^ Remember to write down some short notes for each of the questions below before heading to life group.
1.
Share 1 thing that stood out to you about Sunday's Message 🚨 OR FROM THE ATTACHED "BLAST FROM THE PAST" DOCUMENT BELOW. ⬇️ (1 minute max please) Also press play button in image above to listen to Sundays message if you missed it or just to refresh your memory. (Each Individual)
2. Portrait & Panoramic
Ephesians 5:28-33
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
On Sunday Pastor Vaughn started by encouraging married couples to get both members in the frame of the mirror so that each can see themselves and see their spouse as a reminder that the two are one and that decisions and blessings and victories and defeats are always shared. Later Pastor Vaughn had the mirror rotated from a portrait view of just the couple to a landscape view that grew to a panoramic view. We were told that a marriage is intended to be seen/evaluated/lived out with a view to the past of the first marriage between Adam & Eve, an understanding of the affect Jesus' cross has on all current marriages, AND a vision of the future impacts that the return of Jesus will have on marriages. Ultimately we were told that marriage is primarily about God and salvation and reflecting the person & love of God into the world. We were also told that marriages should bring about flourishing to all in proximity of a marriage as others are blessed by the fruit of Godly marriages. Those in proximity would include children, friends, coworkers, community, and the church.
Does this sound like a devaluing of the "couple" aspect of marriage? How are couples to navigate prioritizing and tending to the marriage while at the same time prioritizing reflecting God and helping others to flourish? What seems to be the way most people you know "do marriage" and is that working? Are the majority of married couples you know "happy"? Why or why not? If people don't have a vision for marriage or a clear purpose for marriage what are the results? (Group Discussion)
3. The Message & The Marriage
Revelation 19:7
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready
On Sunday Pastor Vaughn gave us 4 points and made the focus of our marriages more about every believer and the church as a whole being the bride of Christ.
1. The Greatest Of These Is Love: But Hope Can Do A Whole Lot For A Marriage
2. In Frame: Together, Unified, One, Undivided, Inseparable
3. Reflection Reflections: The “Marred” Filter
4. The Root & The Fruit: Past, Present, & Future Reflections
How Unrelatable or Relatable is the view of marriage that Pastor Vaughn presented on Sunday? Was the message and scriptures and props and perspective on marriage this Sunday right, wrong, biblical, possible, unrealistic, helpful, unhelpful, worth pursuing or not?
Please give your answers with your "relationship status" so that the perspective you share can be contextualized. Please also share your thoughts and beliefs and whether or not they align with what was shared in Sunday's message. You might frame your answer in this way:
"I'm single/dating/engaged/married/widowed/divorced and the message was... and my personal perspective on marriage is..." (Each Individual)
4. Connect The Dots (if time permits)
How do the Unrelatable Relatable relationships we've looked at so far interact with one another? How does a community or church or world of Friends, Singles, and Married Couples coexist? What does that look like and what would it feel like to be a part of that community, church, or world as a friend, a single person, or a married person/couple? (Group Discussion)
* Remember to pray for each other before heading home from life group and to stay in communication here in the app throughout the week on your life group messaging thread!