Simple (Part 4): Simple Commitments

TO START

This week, our Lead Preaching Minister, Zane, invited us into a part 4 of a series called Simple, a series that challenges us to simplify our lives so that we can hear the good news and invitations of Jesus. This week, we talked about the stuff that makes its way onto our calendars and how so many things try to give us advice about time. The sad thing is that those things might just lead us to miss the invitation of Jesus with our time.  

  • What did you give away or set aside this week? OR what did you decide this week to give more of your time to?

TO DISCUSS

To begin Zane’s sermon, he pointed us to the ways that the ways we fill our calendar with thing after thing has a tendency to choke out the invisible work of God in our lives. 

  • What messages do you tell yourself and carry with yourself about your time? What messages do others tell you about your time? Who do you tend to listen to the most about your time (social media, influencers, spiritual leaders, your boss, your spouse, your parents, etc.)? Why?

To get to the heart of the way Jesus invites us to be aware of the ways we struggle to utilize our time. .Read John 7:1-9.

  • How often do you find yourself driven to use your time only for things that enable you to gain recognition, status, influence, etc.? How often do you give up time in a sacrificial way instead?

So often, we would rather say yes to an opportunity when anything comes our way because we don’t want to take time to actually think about the purposes that God desires for us. We miss out on the fact that God doesn’t ask us to say yes to everything that comes our way because that might just continually lead to us missing the “One Who Gives Us Purpose”

  • What are some of your external commitments/stuff on your calendar that have silly, worldly maybe even selfish internal motivations?

To close, Zane reminded us that Jesus makes it clear that there is a right time for things. A time for yes and a time for no. And he reminds us that sharing life with Jesus means we must examine if how to use and protect our time speaks to a different reality that we live into as followers of Jesus that might not jive with the world. 

  • What is one thing in your life that you want to give more of your time to (prayer, presence, play, rest, etc.)? And how are you going to do it?

TO CLOSE

We want to invite your group to close by praying for the Holy Spirit to call us to ask the question, “is it time?” in every aspect of our life as we wonder how we can give away our time so that we and others around us can experience the fullness of Christ. Close with this prayer: 

God, help us to live simply,

We long to control our time,

So much in our world teaches us to be selfish with it,

But that is not Your way,

Jesus, train us to be attentive to Your Spirit,

Enable us to be people who sacrifice our time so that the world sees You,

God, help us to live simply.

Amen. 

Matt DeLano