Tough Talks (Part 6): How To Move Forward...

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 had to give your younger self one piece advice about how to manage tough talks, what would you say?

We are continuing a series this week called Tough Talks. It centers around the 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. In the final week of the series, we will focus on how to move forward after having a tough talk.

TALK IT OUT AFTER READING PROVERBS 18:1-8 (PICK ONE)

STUDY 

  • Are you proactive in listening for the sake of understanding? OR is your default to create space only for your own opinion in conversations?

  • The author of this Proverb says, “the words of the mouth are deep waters”, how does that reality speak to our tough conversations?

  • How does a fool’s words affect his or her life? 

PROCESS

  • When have you used talking as an act of love? Is there a time in your life when you restarted a relationship that had become dead?

  • What’s a relationship in your life right now that has gone from one with a lot of trust to one that is void of that trust? How does it make you feel?

  • What burdens or blessings are you wrestling with in your life? Who is shouldering those with you?

LIVE IT OUT (PICK ONE)

PRACTICE

  • Share of a time when your words or lack of understanding got you in trouble. 

  • In what situations/relationships do you want/need to be more careful about carefully listening before you speak? What could that look like?

  • Share an example of when you had a tough talk with someone you trusted and it actually changed your relationship for the better and increased y’alls trust in one another. 

PRAY

  • Spend time praying for the Spirit to help you to create space for grace in your heart when it comes to hard conversation

  • Spend time praying for the Spirit to provide you with discernment on whether it’s time for you to finally have that tough talk you’ve  been avoiding. 

  • Pray for RRCOC to be a church where relationships are filled with more conversation & less judgment

Matt DeLano