This Week's Study Guide

Week 7 Message-Based Curriculum

Text: 1 John 4:7-21

Opening

• Begin with a brief welcome and prayer to set the tone for the group time.

• Introduce the theme: This week’s focus: rediscovering the wonder of God’s love when it’s started to feel cliché or “yeah, yeah, I know.”

Discussion Questions

CONNECT

• What’s a cliché you’ve heard a million times (about life, parenting, relationships, faith, etc.) that you used to roll your eyes at… but now you kind of admit it’s true?
• If you could instantly have one “dream thing” (a car, house, trip, job, etc.), what would it be and why? Where do you see “grass is greener” thinking show up in your life?
• Think back (if you can) to when you first really heard or felt that “God loves you.” How did it land then, compared to how it lands right now?

DISCOVER
Read 1 John 4:7-10 and John 3:16 together

• As you hear these verses read, what word, phrase, or image hits you the hardest—or feels the most familiar/overused? Why that one?
• John says “God is love,” not “love is God.”
  • Why is that distinction important?
  • How can starting with “love is God” lead us to reshape God around our current feelings or cultural ideas of love?
• In the message, we walked through John 3:16 almost word by word.
  • Which part is most surprising or challenging to you right now?
    • “For God…” (God is the primary actor)
    • “…so loved…” (His motivation is love, not obligation or guilt)
    • “…the world…” (broken, messed-up people included)
    • “…that he gave his one and only Son…” (the cost)
    • “…whoever believes…” (the simple but costly response of faith)
    • “…shall not perish but have eternal life.” (the outcome)
  • The sermon contrasted “Because GOD…” with the way many of us secretly live like it’s “Because I…”—because I read my Bible, cleaned my life up, look more spiritual than others, etc.
    • Where do you notice a subtle “Because I…” mindset creeping into your faith story?
  • The message talked about the “dilemma” of God being both perfectly loving and perfectly righteous—and the cross as the place that resolves that.
    • In your own words, how would you explain why Jesus had to die for us to have life with God?
  • We talked a lot about God’s love. What makes it hard for you personally to stay amazed at being called a child of God?

APPLY

• John says if we truly know God, we will love others. Where have you noticed God’s love recently pushing you toward someone—toward compassion, forgiveness, or sacrifice?

PRACTICAL NEXT STEPS
You can discuss these as a group OR invite people to take them into personal reflection during the week.

• Self-Reflect:
  • Where in your life do you need God to break through the numbness or familiarity and amaze you again with His love?
  • Are there lies you believe about God (that He’s cold, distant, disappointed, or done with you) that John 3:16 and 1 John 4 contradict?
• Amazement Practice:
  Choose one practice for this week:
  • Slowly pray through John 3:16 every day, emphasizing different words.
  • Write a short prayer or journal entry each day that starts, “Father, thank You that because You loved me so much, You…”
  • Share the story of Jesus’ love (in simple terms) with one person and ask God to keep you amazed as you tell it.
• Challenge:
  • Identify one concrete step of love you can take toward another person that is directly motivated by how Jesus has loved you.

GROUP PRAYER
This week, we are going to tie our prayer requests to what we’ve been talking about:
Pray for:

• For wonder and amazement: Pray that the LORD would rekindle our sense of awe and wonder for Him.

CLOSING

Next week’s passage: 1 John 5:1-12