Answered Prayers Pt. 1 “Coming Apart”

Confronting the biggest threats to Christianity!

Matthew 16:18 TLB

18 You are Peter, a stone; and upon this rock I will build my church; and all the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.

John 17:20-22

Philippians 1:27

1 Corinthians 1:10-13

If we’re going to fight, let’s fight for unity.

LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION

Start talking. 

• What is something small or silly that you fight about with your friends or family? 

Start thinking. 

• What do you think the dangers are for a group of people who only accept one another if they agree with one another? What do you think it looks like for a Christian community to practice acceptance even if they don’t agree with each other on every single issue? 
• In the only prayer recorded in the Bible of Jesus praying for us, why of all things do you think Jesus prayed this? John 17:20-22 NIV – 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Start sharing. 

• Would are some ways God has shown love and acceptance of you even though he doesn’t always agree with everything you say and do? 
• Share of a time when you loved someone who you aren’t like in most ways and don’t see the world, God, parenting, or politics, etc. the same way. How did you love them? Were you able to love and accept them without compromising your beliefs and/or values? If so, how did you do that? 

Start praying. Be bold, and pray with power.

• Pray that God would help us to love and accept others in the same way he does for us. Pray especially for those who are struggling with a particularly hard person in their life. If you’re the hard person for people to love, ask for prayer that God would show you what to repent of or what you could start doing differently.

Start doing. 

• Answer this question: What can you intentionally do to build unity in our community? How can you promote unity with your fellow brothers and sisters that you may not agree with on every issue? If you are currently at odds with a fellow brother and sister what do you need to do to be a peacemaker and make it right?