Life Groups Study – Week of 05/09

Life Groups Study – Week of 05/09

My Story

QUESTION: What kind of mom did you have?

Note: Your example could be from anywhere: sports, your own life, a movie, a book…

This is God’s Word: Our Key Passage From “God Sees You, Mom”

Genesis 16:1–8 (CSB) Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.” 6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her. 7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

My Message Highlight From : “God Sees You, Mom”

QUESTION: What was your most significant thought or takeaway from this week’s message? What helped you, or brought questions to your mind?

Let’s Go Deeper Into This Weeks Message

Motherhood is important, wonderful and overwhelming.

Question: If you are a parent, what would you say is the most important part of being a mother or father? What would you say is the hardest part?

God has a plan even when we don’t.

Genesis 16:9–12 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10 The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.” 11 The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. 12 This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”

Question: What lessons can we learn ­­­­­­­­about the importance and worth of every life from God’s dealings with a slave, Hagar, and her child, Ishmael?

You may feel overlooked by others, but you are seen by God.

Genesis 16:7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.

Genesis 16:13 So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,” for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?”

Question: Have you ever had a season where you felt terribly lonely, or ‘unseen’? What was it, and what was it like?

Question: Knowing what you know about God from this story, how would you encourage the you of those lonely moments? What would you tell yourself about God?

No mother should have to carry the burden of providing and parentingalone.

Genesis 21:12–13 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and about your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac, 13 and I will also make a nation of the slave’s son because he is your offspring.”

Question: We see God working even through an un-ideal situation. Based on the way that He responds to everyone involved, what do you observe about the character of God in this story?

God sees your children…help your children see Him.

Genesis 21:14–16 Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes 16 and went and sat at a distance, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” While she sat at a distance, she wept loudly.

Genesis 21:17–21 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy crying from the place where he is. 18 Get up, help the boy up, and grasp his hand, for I will make him a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Question: In the passage above, water is the need. How interesting that God provides not just a refill for her waterskin, but a well to drink from! What does that say about God’s ability to provide for our needs? 

Mom (and everyone): You will never have all of the answers…but you can look to The One who does.

Let’s Pray