COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS
Running on Empty Week 5 “Service”
This week, we look at the spiritual discipline of serving. Spiritual gifts manifest themselves in many ways, but we are all called to serve. Just like studying scripture, praying, and worship, we are designed to serve each other. Serving others fills our tank when our motivations are pure. It can be exhausting when our hearts are not in the right place. There is a wide range of actions that we define as serving but all are pointless if not for the Glory of God.
We will look at how serving others fills our tank when our motivations are pure and how it can be exhausting when our hearts are not in the right place. There is a wide range of actions that we define as serving but all are pointless if not for the glory of God. 1 Peter 4:10-11 reminds us that it is through His strength that we are able to minister to others.
Read: 1 Peter 4:10-11, Matthew 25:37-40, I Corinthians 10:31
Discuss:
1. Why do we serve? What are our motivations? (Jonathan listed two motivations).
2. How much does God want from you?
3. How much does He need from you? (Hint: Thinking rightly about God, we soon realize God doesn’t need anything!)
4. In Matthew 25: 40, Jesus uses the phrase, “. . . to one of the least of these.”
To whom was Jesus referring?
To whom is He speaking? Believers? Non-believers? The affluent? The well-adjusted middle-class guy with a stable job, house in the suburbs, nice wife, perfect kids, a dog, a cat, and two cars in the driveway?
5. Jonathan used the illustration of his children writing “To the Glory of God!” on their homework. Why do we do things “for the glory of God?” Isn’t self-satisfaction, or seeking a compliment enough? Why should we be concerned for God’s glory?
6. Jonathan used the illustration of the Good Samaritan. How does this fit in with our study of service?
7. How should we react to people who do not notice, care, appreciate, or are ambivalent to our service for them?
