Worship is a fantastic was to connect directly to God.  But what difference does it make when we all have that experience at the same time on a Sunday morning?  What benefit could my worship be to others?  This week we’ll explore the true potential of worshiping God together, and how that could bring all of us closer to each other, and to him. 

Groups Discussion Guide

To view the Leader Guide for this week, click here.

To view a .docx version of this guide, click here.

Introduction 

Last week we talked about how, while not being solely confined to music, worshipping through music is one of the ways that God has given us to praise him. Specifically, we talked about how we can incorporate musical worship into our daily lives throughout the week, as well as challenging ourselves to openly take part in worship through music this week.  

Take a few minutes to connect as a group: How have you been able to incorporate these actions steps into your lives this week? 

After your time of connecting, begin your meeting with prayer.  

Key Verse for the Week  

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

Psalm 95:1 

“Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.” 

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

Connect   

• Who in your life would you consider helpful? What characteristics does this person have that makes them stand out to you?  
  • Would other people consider you a helpful person?  
• How often do you think of yourself as a part of a group? How often do you focus on yourself and your needs? 
• How can it be more beneficial for someone’s growth to be unified with others instead of trying to grow alone? Why is this important? 

Opening Thought  

When we approach God in worship, sometimes we can find ourselves focused inwardly. “What are my needs?”, “God I am here to worship you”, etc. The words we read in the Bible show a different way to approach God, however. We see people gathering to worship God together, not only for their individual desires, but for the needs of others as well. By doing this, we focus on others and their needs as well as looking to follow Jesus better as a community, which helps us draw even closer to God.  

This leads us to our big idea for this week:  

Big idea for the week
We can unlock the power of worshipping together. 

Unpack 

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

Read  

John 13:34  

Hebrews 10:24-25  

Psalm 133:1  

Unpack 

• How often do you think about helping people around you? 
  • What is difficult/what is easy about living with other people in mind? 
• What do you think it means to motivate others to acts of love and good works?  
  • How often do you try to do this within your life? 
    • How can this promote harmony between people? Why is this important? 

Read

Psalm 95:6-7  

Psalm 34:3  

Colossians 3:16-17  

Unpack 

• Keeping what we’ve already discussed in the previous questions about harmony and love between followers of Jesus—how do we motivate others to love and good works when it comes to worship (whether that be through music or otherwise)? 
• Why is it important to praise God within the context of a community of other believers? Why does this matter? 
  • How can we actively use our worship of God to help other people? 

Apply 

Based on the verses we just read, there are some things that we can do in response. Take a moment to discuss these questions as a group to decide what your personal action steps for the week can be: 

• How will you take steps to see yourself as a part of the community of God while you worship God throughout this week? 
• What steps will you take to be more present in the lives of those around you during the main Sunday gathering this week? 
• What strategy will we as a group make to help those we don’t know within the larger community of the church? How will we be consistent with this? 

Closing 

Read the first section with your group, then move to the Prayer and Verses section: 

When we worship God together, we can more easily see God’s love for all creation. Our purpose as followers of Jesus is not to simply worship God, but to help others draw closer to him, as well. This week, as we look to worship God, let’s do our best to be conscious of those around us that need God’s help. This is one more way to glorify God and honor him as a part of the community of Jesus’ followers.  

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.P. 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? 
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: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 

Day 2: 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Day 3: 1 Peter 3:8 

Day 4: Proverbs 12:26 

Day 5: Galatians 6:2 

Day 6: John 15:13 

Key Verse for the Week  

Psalm 95:1 

“Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.”