It’s Your Call | Week 2
Week 2: Called to Be Loved
Discussion Guide
Goals:
To help group members understand that their first purpose in life is to realize that they’re called to be loved by God and to enjoy a relationship as a son or daughter of God. Also, to become aware of what changes happen if we stay aware of God’s constant love for us.
Discussion Guide
The first purpose of our lives is to let God love us. In fact, our first calling is to enjoy a relationship with God. This is important in answering the question, “What on earth am I here for?” Staying aware of God’s constant love for us produces five significant changes in our lives: (1) we feel accepted rather than ashamed, (2) we’re bold in bringing our needs to God, (3) we have peace in pain we don’t understand, (4) we gain the courage to take risks, and (5) we worship instead of worry!
Open your group with a prayer. This is only a guide – select the points you want to discuss.
Read Ephesians 1:4-5
“Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)
How does this verse indicate we are called to be loved?
God loved us before he even made the world having planned to adopt us into his own family.
God’s love for us is constant on both our good and bad days.
How might we experience the love of Christ through a relationship with God as His own son or daughter.
Read Ephesians 3:17-19
“I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep in the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how WIDE, how LONG, how HIGH, and how DEEP his love really is. May you EXPERIENCE the love of Christ though it is so great you will never fully understand it.” Ephesians 3:17-19 (NLT)
God’s love for us is so wide, long, deep, and high. God’s love is high enough for Him to overlook every mistake we’d ever make.
As we grow in understanding of how much God loves us, how does that help us to grow in love for God?
Read Romans 8:33-34
“If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed!” Romans 8:33-34 (CEV)
Many people live for the approval of others, even those who have already passed on.
Whose approval are you seeking?
Sadly, people run from God because they feel ashamed instead of accepted. Imagine fully accepting God’s unconditional God’s love as His chosen child.
What needs would you boldly bring to Him?
What charges do some people commonly bring against others that this verse says they cannot?
Read 1 John 4:18
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” 1 John 4:18
How can no fear gives us courage to take risks, especially in areas of our lives where dreams may not yet be realized?
Be specific in sharing what types of action you would take in order to take a risk where God is calling you.
Romans 6:13b (NLT)
“Give yourself completely to God, since you have been given new life.”
In light of the fact that we’ve been given new life, how might we give ourselves more completely to God? In what ways have you not given yourself completely to God?
Often people lack peace when they struggle with pains or problems they don’t understand. However, God wants us to trust Him.
Worry indicates that we are not fully living the new life given to us and is often a warning sign that we are not living in God’s love. Worship is simply telling God we love Him, whether at church, with others, or alone. Worship is always a response because God first loved us.
How can you remind yourself to worship the next time you begin to worry?
Diving Deeper
If our first purpose in life is to be loved by God, we must overcome obstacles that prevent us from fully receiving His love.
How would your life change if you felt God loved you ever moment of your life regardless of any mistakes you’ve made in the past or may make in the future?
How has God freed you from mistakes you’ve made in the past, and how might he free you from mistakes you’re still holding onto today?