A Christian’s life should be full of love, kindness, compassion, and good works but is that what MAKES someone a Christian, or do those qualities flow from a deeper source?  Does where our goodness comes from make any practical difference? This week we’ll explore chapters 3 and 4 of Galatians and be encouraged to explore how vital and life-giving a faith-fueled connection with God can be. 

Group Discussion Guide

To view the leader guide for this week, click here.

To view a docx version of the discussion guide, click here.

Introduction 

Last week we discussed that to embrace the simple faith that Jesus wants us to have, we can share space with people who are different than us. When we forget that Jesus called us to show mercy, peace, and love to others, we can become legalistic and distance ourselves from others. 

Spend a few minutes discussing how your group put their personal action steps from last week into practice. 

After connecting with each other, begin your meeting with prayer.  

Key Verse for the Week 

*Read this verse, then encourage the practice of memorization through the week. 

John 7:38 

“Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” 

**When practiced consistently, memorizing Bible verses can be an important spiritual practice that centers your mind around the truth that God has given us. 

Opening Thought  

Christians are taught that loving and showing compassion to others are signs of a person living out their faith, which can be true! What if someone simply acts that way to try to play a part of being a good Christian, however? What if someone is just trying to follow rules because they think it’s what they need to do? By looking at the things Jesus taught, we can see that life spent following him first starts with a simple faith and love of him.  This leads us to our big idea for this week:

Big idea for the week
We should firmly plant our connection to God in simple faith. 

Connect  

• What is the point of following rules or expectations? 
• What level of importance do you place on excellence in your life? Where do you believe you developed it from? 
• Have you ever been so focused on trying to do something correctly that you lose sight of the goal? If you are comfortable, share your experience. 

Unpack 

Go around your group and have someone read each of the following verses, then discuss the connected questions. 

Read

Galatians 3:23-38 

Galatians 4:1-7 

Discuss

• Paul uses the analogy of children in both of these sections of verses. What were you not allowed to do or say when you were a child? How did you interact with your parents? 

• Compare your answers to your life now that you are an adult: What are you not allowed to do or say? How do you interact with your parents now?  

• When you first became a follower of Jesus, what did you think it meant to be “a good Christian”? What did you need to do or say? 

• How has your perspective of what it means to be “a good Christian” changed as time has passed and you have matured in your faith? 

Read

John 14:23-25 

2 Corinthians 3:13-18 

Discuss

• Do you think that living like Jesus and following his teachings causes you to have more faith? Why or why not? Have you always lived like this?
• How do you think Jesus wants us to live according to the verses you read in John? How well do you do this? 
• What do you think the section of verses in 2 Corinthians you read means when it talks about freedom? What could it practically look like to fully embrace the fact that you have freedom in Jesus? 

Apply 

Take a moment to discuss these questions as a group to decide what your personal action steps for the week can be: 

• What do you think the focus of how you live out your faith in Jesus has been? How does this line up with what Jesus taught? 
• How will you take a step to return to a living a life of simple faith in Jesus this week? 
• How will we as a group change our mindset on how we live out our faith this week? 

Closing 

Read this to your group and then move to the Prayer and Verses section: 

Jesus says in the book of John that we prove we are his followers by how we live our lives (John 15:8). This is true! How we live our lives is a testament to our relationship with Jesus. We must be careful to evaluate the underlying reason for why we live the way we do. Jesus called his followers to simply believe in him and as we do that and love him, we will live according to his teachings. We can do this together as a community of people looking to keep our simple faith in Jesus.  

Prayer and Verses 

Ask for prayer requests and conclude your time with prayer then share the Key Verse for the Week and Daily Devotional Verses with the group. 

Daily Devotional Verses  

Use the S.O.A.K. method to reflect on the verses below. 

Scripture: Read the verses several times. Reading out loud can be helpful as well. 
Observation: What can you see about the scripture you read? 
Application: What is God wanting you to believe, do, or feel, based on what you have read? 
Kneel in Prayer: This is a chance to talk to God about what you have read and ask him for help in living out what you’ve learned. 

Day 1: Galatians 3 

Day 2: Galatians 4 

Day 3: Matthew 11:28-30 

Day 4: Hebrews 11:6 

Day 5: Ephesians 2:8-9 

Day 6: Proverbs 3:5-6 

Key Verse for the Week

John 7:38 

“Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”