19 May Destination Marriage | Part 4 “Fighting for the Family”
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Guide
by Mary Ann Parsons
ATTENTION: Going forward, we will be making Growth Track a mandatory pre-requisite for all Small Group Leaders. If you have never taken it please sign up for the class. At some point, we will be making a condensed video version but you don’t need to wait for that.
TESTIMONIES: Looking for your testimonies! If you have group wins to share, please email them to me! maparsons@waterschurch.org
eFAM: We have our first eFam Leader Apprentice! Nathaniel Robitaille who once attended Waters has been living in Germany playing professional football! He will be starting his apprenticeship soon!
(If you would like to encourage a fellow SGL, please email me a blurb about them. You will not have to speak publicly, I will read them).
COMPASSION EXPERIENCE WEEKEND PARKING: May 31 – June 3 in our parking lot. During service times, we will be asking our congregation to park off-site. Keep a look out for an email. The Experience takes place on:
Friday, May 31 from 11:00a – 6:40p
Saturday, June 1 from 11:00a – 6:40p
Sunday, June 2 from 10:40a – 6:00p
Monday, June 3 from 10:00a – 5:40p
We offer two types of classes. Please familiarize yourself with what these classes are about. Feel free to sign up for one so you can better explain what they are to your group members.
Starting Point: What is Christianity all about? Is the Bible really more than just a book? Who is Jesus? No matter where we are in life, we all have questions. Starting Point is a great place to explore the faith and have safe and open discussions about some of life’s toughest questions.
Growth Track: In this 3 part class; Discover, Deepen, & Dedicate; you will get answers to the most frequently asked questions about Waters Church and have an opportunity to ask your own. This is the perfect place to get to know the “Why” behind the “What” of who we are as a church.
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Continue to pray for Woonsocket for a permanent location. The one we were going to lease did not work out. That is not a bad thing, as sometimes we get ‘Right No’s’ before we get the ‘Right Yes’.
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 30
We have an enemy who hates the family. He hates the family that God designed that stays together, forgives each other, seeks the welfare of our children, submits. Satan loves to undermine God’s design. Lucifer was the lead worshipper in heaven. He was in an order he ultimately rejected. He wanted to be as God, so God cast him out of heaven and sent him to earth. Order is designed, order keeps us together. We have got to be aware that there is an enemy that is going to come after us and our family. There are spiritual forces of wickedness coming for our family.
Paul, first talks about the order of the family, then he talks about us being prepared for spiritual battle. God wants us to fight for our families. Things worth having are things worth fighting for. Anything with value is worth fighting for.
Ice-breaker question:
Q. What are some valuable things you have fought for and why?
David hits rock bottom here. He finds his entire town burned down to the ground and his family was taken captive. The enemy has come in and destroyed his family and the families of his men. The enemy wants our sons and daughters taken captive by the spirits of this age. He wants fathers and mothers to be taken captive to his devices. As God’s people, we have to fight for our freedom from the lies of the enemy. We don’t just walk into captivity, we are led to the trap by a ‘treat’. No one sets out to have disruption and disorder in their families. We get there by sniffing for the treat. Demons are assigned to give us a sniff.
Through the Bible, we see David’s life from beginning to end. Most of the Psalms were written by him and through them, we see how he feels. David has seen most of our struggles. We can relate to David. We can take up the armor of God and be ready.
THIS IS THE AIM OF OUR ENEMY: CAPTIVITY OF OUR FAMILIES.
Q. What is a ‘treat’ that has caused you to fall into a trap and why?
David was alone. His people turned against him. No one had his back.
If we are going to fight for our families:
1. WE NEED TO SELF-STRENGTHEN.
David strengthened himself. There will be times when no one encourages us. We must strengthen ourselves.
Q. What is an experience where you have felt alone and had no one to turn to? What did you do?
A. I must take Personal Responsibility for my spiritual life.
“David strengthened HIMSELF”
If you are the only one in your family that is following the Lord, then you could be the catalyst for change. Through David, a whole nation changed. We are living in a ‘victim’ culture and as Christians, we do not fall into this trap. God is greater. (Philippians 4:13)
PRAY: 7 PROVEN HEALTH BENEFITS OF PRAYER (READ FULL ARTICLE HERE)
- Improves Self-Control
- Enhances Relationships
- Improves Ability to Cope with Stress
- Turns on Disease-fighting Genes
- Combats Depression
- Helps Control Pain
- Promotes Longer Life
Some problems we inherit are from the failures of our predecessors but we should not fall into the trap of the victim mentality of our culture by blaming others.
Q. What are some benefits from prayer that you have personally experienced? What situation did you not pray through that you realized you should have prayed through and why?
B. I must have a Personal Connection with God.
“In the Lord HIS God”
We need this connection or our prayers won’t work. When we have a personal connection with God, we get to do life with Him. This is the heart of Christianity.
C. I must practice Personal Petition for God’s direction.
1 Samuel 30:7 (ESV)
An ephod was a garment that the priest had worn that contained dice and with it, they sought out God’s wisdom and direction.
James tells us to ask for wisdom(James 1:5).
If we are going to fight for our families:
2. WE LISTEN TO GOD OVER THE OPINION OF CULTURE.
1 Samuel 30:8-9 (ESV)
Some of us need to stop ‘pity partying’ and fight with prayer and not follow the ‘treat’ that leads to the trap. In Christ, we are Christians. We are not of this world. We do not listen to the opinion of our culture. Our culture does not care about our family.
Saul feared PEOPLE and it led to PERSONAL LOSS.
David feared GOD and it led him to PERSONAL VICTORY.
Q. What personal opinions of our culture have you listened to that led you to personal loss and why?
h we are going to fight for our families:
3. WE MUST OPEN OUR LIVES TO THE PARTNERS GOD SENDS US.
1 Samuel 30:10-15 ESV
David just gave food to these people who took his family. He did not kill them. David got inside information by the people he welcomed into his life. By welcoming these people into his life, he was able to get his family back. We need to partner with others and not do life alone. The same devil that is attacking us has already ravaged someone else. We need one another.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NLT
Galatians 6:2 ESV; Ephesians 4:32; ESV; Colossians 3:16 ESV; 1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV
1 Samuel 30:19 ESV
Nothing was missing. David got it all back!
If you do this, you are going to get back what the enemy tries to steal. It isn’t his anyway. God is in the restoration business.
Q. What has God restored back to you that the devil tried to steal?
David was pointing to Jesus, the Son of David who stole the keys of Hell out of the enemies hands!
JESUS IS OUR TRUE DAVID WHO LEADS US INTO VICTORY FOR THE PEACE OF OUR FAMILIES.
Pray for the lost and for each other. Pray for the Above and Beyond Campaign – new roof, parking lot and building for Woonsocket. Pray for the Guatemala missions and all of our missions. Pray for our leaders, country, and nation.
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