Tough Talks (Part 3): Giving Tough Words

A NEW SMALL GROUP FORMAT

For this series, Tough talks, we invite your group to a choose your own adventure of sorts. Each week we are inviting your group to choose 2 of the multiple options below. First pick questions from either the STUDY or PROCESS. After that, choose either PRAY or PRACTICE with your group to culminate into your group discussion. Our hope each week is you “talk it out” and “live it out” in a way that makes sense to your group. 

  • If you could choose 1 form of communication for the rest of your life, what would it be (Text, Phone Call, Email Or Zoom/FaceTime)? Why?

We are jumping into a new series this week called Tough Talks. It centers around the reality belief that if we follow Jesus, seeking reconnection is part of the journey of discipleship. Therefore, if we identify ourselves with Jesus, our lives should be marked by cultivating thoughtful approaches to others because of how God has been thoughtful in approaching us in Jesus Christ. This week we are talking about giving tough words.

TALK IT OUT AFTER READING EPHESIANS 4:10-15 (PICK ONE)

STUDY 

  • What does Christ's descent into our world tell us what he asks of us in our relationships with others? 

  • Paul seems to point us to the reality that giving tough words is a healthy way of discipleship. Do you live in a way that supports this hypothesis?

  • Have you struggled with an immature faith? What’s one thing in your life right now that you feel God is calling you to grow in, an area that you need to be equipped in if you’re honest with yourself?

PROCESS

  • Do you find yourself willing to dwell with a person in order to actually speak truth into their life?Are you willing to let God use you to give constructive feedback to other believers?

  • How often do you confront someone you’re frustrated with based on an opinion you hold rather than an actual concern for them? Have you ever mistaken speaking with speaking the truth?

  • Do you struggle with the reality that you have no control over how a person will respond to you?

LIVE IT OUT (PICK ONE)

PRACTICE

  • What forms of communication do you fall into instead of face-to-face in order to avoid tough conversations?

  • Share a time where you were more concerned with being right in an argument than loving the person you were speaking with. What would you do differently if you were put in that situation again?

  • Share a time of when God enabled you to be a part of someone else's flourishing through truth-telling. 

PRAY

  • Spend time in prayer asking God to help you answer this question as you perceive a need to be a truth-teller, “Is there a clear way for this person to grow in Christ from me sharing these observations?”

  • Spend time praying for the Spirit to create space in you to have a posture of speaking love over the tendency of being more concerned with being right.

Matt DeLano