THE MEETING 

END OF QUARTER / FALL QUARTER PLANS After this week, there will be two remaining meetings left before the end of the quarter. If you know of potential changes in the leadership or hosting of your group for the fall, please begin to process that with your group this week. Please confirm any “changes” or “no changes” using the “Blue Button” when you submit your attendance.  Also, make sure your Campus Pastor/Station-in-Life-Pastor knows about the changes. 

Want additional verses to study and discuss?
Each week we offer you extra verses in this leader guide for further discussion and study. As always feel free to add those to your discussion as preferred. You can also offer them as further study beyond your group meeting.

LEADER INFO 

DIGITAL FEEDBACK FORMS COMING NEXT WEEK End of the quarter Feedback Forms will be emailed to each person in your group on Sunday, May 12. Please have your group fill them out at one of your two final meetings for the quarter if they haven’t done so already on their own.  Also, now we have a specific form going to all leaders asking some more specific questions. 

ATTENDANCE Submit your group’s attendance online at northcoastchurch.com/attendance. If you’re not sure how to post attendance, you can check out the guide here: lifegroups.northcoastchurch.com/how-to-post-attendance 

1. Do you have a story of someone you thought would never come to Christ who is now worshipping at church or following Him?

This is such a beautiful question as it allows us to share about just how gracious and loving our God is. Dig into this question with your group and allow them to share stories. It could even be themselves. 

Additional Question: Is there someone you’d have a difficult time extending grace to if they were seriously repentant? Example: How would you feel if you found out Hitler repented and made a serious confession in Christ before his death and was in heaven?  Does that upset you? Why or why not?  

2. Did anything challenge or encourage you in this weekend’s message?

1. The church of Thyatira was compromising and compartmentalizing their faith from the rest of their lives. What words stand out to you in Revelation 2:18-29, and what feelings or thoughts do they evoke?

There can be a variety of answers to this question but something to make note of is that twice Jesus says that He is the one who knows our deeds and searches our hearts vs.19 and 23.   

Additional Verses: 1 Samuel 16:7, Proverbs 16:2, Proverbs 21:2, Hebrews 4:12 and Jeremiah 17:10

Additional Question: How often do we consider that God doesn’t just see our actions but knows our motives? 

2. Read Matthew 6:19-24. While these verses talk about money, the principle can be applied to any idol (anything we love or rely on in place of God). What would serving two masters look like for a Christian today? Come up with a few signs or ways you could tell someone was serving two masters.

Matthew 6:19-24 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! ²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

If your group wants, this could be a great list to compile together! There could be more than four signs, but as an encouragement here is a place to start. 1. Prioritizing something over God (Matt 6:33). 2. Obsession or fixation (Col 3:5). 3. Lack of peace or contentment. (Jeremiah 2:13) and 4. Resistance to correction (Proverbs 15:10) 

This is my own list, but have your group add. 

Additional Exercise: If your group is up for it and it seems appropriate, have members work through different things that may be idols through your list and see where they stack up.  

3. Reflecting on these passages and compromise, why do you think God cares about this so much? Why does it matter for God, for you, and for others?

At the very core God cares so much for humanity that He hates idolatry because it distorts our relationship with Him, hinders our spiritual growth, leads to destructive consequences, and undermines His glory. His concern for idolatry stems from His love for humanity and His desire for us to experience true fulfillment and intimacy with Him. He knows He is the best thing for us.  

1. Where are you tempted to not include God in your Monday through Friday?

As a leader you can set the tone here; your vulnerability can help others.  

2. If someone at your workplace or the communities you are a part of were to answer the question, “Who or what is { your name } most passionate about?” what do you think they’d say? Do you think their answer would reflect your relationship with God?

What we talk about, get excited about, spend time doing often reveals what is most important to us, and is usually pretty visible to others.  

3. What do you think are the most common areas or ways Christians compromise today?

It could be easy for us to use binoculars here and think about where others compromise and miss the opportunity to also use this time to be a mirror and see where we be missing the mark.   

Additional Verses: Matthew 7:3-5 

1. Chris mentioned some of us don’t need to receive God in our lives this week; we need to kill other “gods” in our lives. How can you “kill” an idol?

Allow your group to really flesh this out and figure out some ways to do this. We are always more likely to apply what we come up with and so don’t just default to the following list but if your group comes up with some great stuff, which I am sure they will, lean into it and seek to apply it. Nevertheless, this is super difficult and so I wanted to provide some practical tools to help us out!

1. Recognize the Idol: This may seem simple, but you first have to self-acknowledge something as an idol if you are going to consider actually “killing it.” 
2. Repentance: Acknowledge your idolatry as sin and repent before God. Confess your idolatry to Him, expressing a desire to turn away from it. Psalm 51:10 (NIV) says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” 
3. Renew Your Mind and replace the idol: Fill your mind with God’s truth by regularly reading and meditating on Scripture. Allow the Word of God to renew your thinking and reshape your values and priorities. (Romans 12:2). Replace the idolatrous desires of your heart with a fervent love for God. Cultivate a deeper relationship with Him through prayer, worship, and obedience to His Word. (Matthew 22:37)
4. Seek Accountability and Support: Surround yourself with other believers who can provide accountability, encouragement, and prayer support in your journey to remove the idol from your heart. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
5. Guard Your Heart: Be vigilant against the subtle allure of idolatry by guarding your heart and mind. Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) advises, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
6. Surrender Daily: Make a daily commitment to surrender your heart and life completely to God. Submit your desires, ambitions, and plans to His will, trusting Him to lead you in the paths of righteousness. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) encourages, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Removing idols from your heart is a never-ending process that requires humility, dependence on God, and effort. As you regularly seek God’s grace and guidance, He will help you overcome idolatry and deepen your love and affection for Him.