Shepherds Notes
Year:
Date:
Series:
Message:
Scripture:
2016: The Year of God’s Family
February 14, 2016
God’s Family
God’s Family Prays
Ephesians 1:15-23
Announcements
Next Sunday:
God’s Family Is Amazed by Grace Thanks for being with us today! If your life is a little dull and you would like some excitement, come wonder,
some amazement, join us next week as we explore grace that amazes. If it has been a while since you had
goosebumps, you won’t want to miss this one. Invite a friend to be amazed with you.
Ephesians 2:1-10
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Small Group Plan:
CONNECT: (30 Minutes)
Eat and fellowship with one another.
DISCUSS: (45 Minutes)
The goal of our small group meeting time is to apply the gospel to our lives by discussing the message. The
questions below look at “Me”, “The Bible”, and “Application”.
Kids in Small Group
What you will need:
A phone.
Ask: What kinds of things can I do with this phone?
There are a lot of things that I can do, like look up the weather, send a test message or email.
Ask: What is the main thing I can do with a phone?
Call people.
Ask: Who do you like to call on the phone?
Family, friends will be mentioned. God or Jesus will probably get mentioned too.
Ask: Do I need to call Jesus on the phone?
No because he has given us a better way to talk to Him.
Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16Rejoice always. 17Pray continually. 18Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in
Christ Jesus.
Teach: Prayer is as simple as talking to God. God wants us to pray. God especially wants us to learn to be
thankful to Him when we talk to Him. We are thankful to God for each of you. One of the people in the group
is going to talk to God now and way thankful to Him for each of you.
Have one of the people in small group pray for the kids. Dismiss them and be sure to tell them how awesome
it is that their moms and dads and their friends get to talk about God at small group. Remind them of any
house rules.
Good News: We pray because, we are thankful; we need Jesus.
Memory Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
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Getting-to-Know-Me-Questions
1. What is something that made you laugh this week?
Into-the-Bible-Questions
In the message this week, we learned God’s family prays because we are thankful and need Jesus. Lett’s dig
a little deeper into this amazing privilege of prayer.
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
2. What impresses you in these verses?
3. What is the difference between giving thanks “for all things” and “in all things”?
FOR: To give thanks for everything.
IN: We look for things to be thankful for in the midst of difficulties.
Joseph to his brothers., “You meant it for evil but God meant it for good”. Good in the midst of
the bad.
Peter at Pentecost, “You nailed Jesus to the cross but it was God’s plan”. Good in the midst of
bad, Jesus is nailed to a cross but we are saved.
Matthew Henry was robbed once, and he prayed, “Lord, I thank You that though I was robbed,
they did not get much; that though I was robbed, it was the first time I have been robbed; that
thought I was robbed, I was not hurt; but most of all I want to thank You that I was the ROBBED
and NOT the ROBBER!”
That’s giving thanks IN al things!
4. How balanced is your prayer life between thanksgiving and requesting? What adjustment will you make to
better balance thanksgiving and requesting?
Summary: Prayer is talking with Jesus and we have unlimited minutes so we can talk all the time.
As we walk through life together, let’s keep in constant communication. What a privilege we
have to do life with, to do eternity with Jesus. Enjoy!
Application-Questions
Let’s take what you heard and begin to press it deep into your lives and then take this with you to small group
for maximum gospel transformation.
5. What impressed you in the message this week?
6. How would you feel if you were invited into a friend’s home and then they forgot you were there? Are you
ever like that with Jesus (Rev. 3:20)?
7. What are the two reasons we learned this week that Christians pray and which one comes more naturally
to you?
1 – To give thanks
2 – Acknowledge our need of Him
Compare and contrast Paul’s prayer with your prayers?
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Compare – We both pray for others and ourselves
Contrast – Paul prays that people would know what they have in Christ. We often pray for more
stuff.
Paul’s prayer is that we would know Jesus, the Hope of His calling, Glory of His inheritance, His
power
8. How will you enjoy Jesus in prayer this week?
Summary: The Christian life begins when Jesus moves in and is lived as we walk and talk with
Him. As we do life together we are continually thanking Him that we did not get what we
deserved and acknowledging that we need Him to live the Christian life. We need Him to forgive,
to love unlovely people, to share our faith, to be generous, to keep going and not give up!
PRAY: (15 minutes)
It is important to break up into groups for prayer. Women praying with and for one another, and
men praying with and for one another.
Here are three parts of the DNA of small group prayer at Good News
1. Pray in groups women with women and men with men.
2. No one needs to feel pressured to pray, but God loves to hear us speak to Him.
3. We only confess our own sins in prayer, not the sins of others.
Thank you for going online and submitting your small group report, and marking attendance.
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