Life Group Leader Guide
đź“Ś LEADER'S BULLETIN
Leader Heart Check
You are not just hosting a conversation this week. You are shepherding people who may be carrying beliefs they have never said out loud. You do not need to fix anyone. Create a room where honesty feels safe and grace feels real, and let the Holy Spirit do the healing. Thank you for showing up for your people at the North Park location.
Attendance Reminder
Please log your group's attendance in the Church App or email by Sunday. Your faithfulness in tracking helps us stay connected as a church family.
🔑 CONNECTION KEY (Leader Briefing)
Core Theme: Jesus meets us in the place of grace, and the beliefs we carry about grace, our circumstances, and our rules can keep us stuck long after He has already made a way forward.
Key Discussion Goals:
Help group members name one "bad belief" they have been living with, in the same honest way we all say things like "I'll remember without writing it down."
Make the difference between a contributing factor and a determining factor clear and personal.
Help your group see that grace is a place we live in, not a prize we compete for.
Move people from insight to a first step, because the man at the pool had to test his healing by standing up.
Leader Tip: Your group likely includes people balancing demanding jobs, high rent, side hustles, school, and full calendars, in a part of the city where hustle is often treated as a virtue. Many have real, painful circumstances, so avoid rushing anyone toward "just get up and walk." Validate the weight of what people carry first, then gently point to the question Jesus asked: "Do you want to get well?" Start with a light icebreaker about the small lies we tell ourselves, like "I'm only going to Target for one thing," so people laugh and relax before the deeper questions. Remember that Jesus' words in John 6:29 (NKJV) frame the whole message: the work of God is that we believe in the One He sent. Stay curious rather than corrective, and make room for quieter voices.
Key Phrase: "This contributes to my challenges, but it doesn't determine my outcome."
Sermon Points
3 Bad Beliefs.
1. Grace Is Complicated.
Grace is not just an idea, it is a place, a realm we are invited to live in. The pool of Bethesda sat near the Sheep Gate, a picture of the church and of the Lord as our Shepherd, and it was a place of God’s outpouring where the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed gathered. Yet one man had lain there for thirty eight years with a conditional mindset in an unconditional place, believing the angel had to come, the water had to stir, and he had to get there first. You can be in the house of grace without a revelation of grace, because God’s love was never meant to be earned. We once lived with no regard for God, yet He found us and said “Live!”, and because of His great love He made us alive with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms. That is grace.
Reflection Questions:
Where do you notice yourself trying to earn something God has already freely given?
What “conditions” do you quietly attach to God’s love, such as “If I pray enough” or “When I get my life together”?
How would your week look different if you truly believed you were already inside the place of grace?
Ephesians says God made us alive and seated us with Christ even while we were dead in our sins. How does that challenge the idea that grace is something we have to earn?
2. My Circumstances And People Won't Let Me Move Forward.
Bad beliefs make good excuses, and over time a condition can quietly become an identity. Adam pointed at Eve, and the man at the pool pointed at everyone who got into the water ahead of him. Our circumstances and the people in our lives are real contributing factors, but they are not determining factors. Job lost nearly everything and still held an internal conviction stronger than any outside pressure. Jesus did not argue with the man's excuses. He simply asked, "Do you want to get well?" and then told him to rise, take his mat, and walk. The healing was tested in the moving.
Reflection Questions:
What is one contributing factor in your life that you have sometimes treated like a determining factor?
Which of the man's excuses sounds most like something you have said or thought: "No one helps me," "They keep doing it to me," "I'm doing the best I can," or "Others are better than me"?
How has a hard season or label begun to feel like part of your identity?
What would "getting up" look like for you this week, even in a small way?
3. My Rules Can Determine My Outcome.
The moment the man was healed, religious leaders met him with rules. A place of rest turned into a place of policing, and they were more concerned with who was carrying a mat than with who had been made whole. Religion is a formula for an outcome, but God invites us into a relationship, not a formula. Jesus spoke of rivers of living water flowing from within, and that kind of life cannot be produced by checklists. God desires mercy over sacrifice and to be known more than to be impressed. When we are clothed in Christ, we stop performing for approval and start living from belonging.
Reflection Questions:
What unspoken rules have you made for yourself about what a "good Christian" looks like?
Where have you been more focused on keeping the rules than on knowing God?
How does it change things to hear that God will find you, rather than you having to find Him first?
What would living from "rivers of living water" instead of a formula look like in your daily life?
đź› Practical Application
The Challenge
This week, identify one bad belief and write it down, using the sentence "I believe ______." Next to it, write what Jesus says is true. Then take one small, concrete step of "getting up" that you have been putting off, whether that is a conversation, an application, a habit, or a decision. Share your step with someone in your group so they can encourage you.
Audit / Reflection
Take a few quiet minutes to honestly assess these questions:
What is my go to excuse, and who or what do I usually blame?
Is there a contributing factor in my life that I have allowed to become my identity?
What rules am I living by that God never asked me to follow?
Do I truly want to get well, and what would it cost me to move forward?
Prayer Focus
Invite the group to pray quietly, naming one bad belief before God. Then pray over the group:
"Father, thank You that Your grace is not complicated and not earned. You found us when we could not find You. Where we have believed excuses, loosen their hold. Where we have followed rules instead of relationship, draw us back to Your heart. Give each person here the courage to stand up and walk in what You have already done. In Jesus' name, Amen."
đź“Ł Weekly Declaration
I live in the house of grace, and I choose to believe it. My circumstances may contribute to my challenges, but they do not determine my outcome. I will not hide behind excuses, because Jesus has asked me if I want to be well, and my answer is yes. I refuse to live by a formula, because I have a relationship with the God who found me and called me His own. I am clothed in Christ, and I will get up and walk. Amen.
