No Filter: See The Real You – Week 4

NOTE:
This is the last study guide of the current CoreGroup season. CoreGroups will officially resume in early September. Over the summer we will be working with a team to review old sermons and help index them for our sermon archive. If this is of interest to you, you can sign up to participate HERE. For more information send an email to mike.depope@gatheringnow.org. Have a great summer!

Opener
Take turns sharing childhood photos with the group, along with any insights you’re having as a result of reflecting on the photo and exploring your Enneagram type.

Opening Prayer 
Holy God, thank you for this group and all of the meetings we have been able to have together throughout the last year. It is through you and because of you that we can grow individually and as a group. We ask that you be with us as we study your word. Amen.

Overview 
Kids play all sorts of backyard games. A classic rule of any backyard game is the redo. When something goes wrong, or there’s outside interference, you simply call a redo, line back up and do the whole thing over. In scripture, God says that in Christ we are a “new creation”. As a new creation, we have the opportunity to rebuild our lives from the ground up, to do in the future what we didn’t do in the past. We cannot change the beginning of our story, but we have an opportunity to choose the end. In Christ, we get a redo.
 
Scripture Reading
2 Corinthians 5:17
So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!
 
Engaging Scripture
Let’s pause before we think about how these passages make us feel or how it applies to our context. This section can help ground your group in talking about what is written and consider its impact on the original audience. 

1. Paul began his adult life as someone who harshly persecuted believers in Christ.  Yet, he changed and became one of the most prolific voices in Christianity.  This verse echoes the newness he felt by that change.  
   
   When have you ever felt a significant newness in your life?  Can you describe it?
   
   
2. This section of the New Testament is a letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians.  These people were literally learning to change old laws and customs because they rightly believed in something new.  
   
   When have you experienced that feeling of changing old ways for something new?  What was it like?
   
   
3. Take a moment to look up the creation verses in Genesis 1.  After each day, God has a specific response after creating something new.  How does God respond to new creations?  (Can you imagine His smile?)
   
   

Application Questions

1. God gives us a redo every morning (every hour & every minute, too). Talk about where in your life you might need a redo. (example: being productive at work, using kind language to your loved ones, making healthy choices, putting Christ first)
   
   
2. Think about ways you need a fresh start with Christ. Over the summer we sometimes fall away from big habits like going to church. How can your CoreGroup come together and support each other in remembering this promise of new creation?
   
   How can you encourage each other to be faithful and graceful as we go through the summer as followers of Jesus, letting the old things go away and walking faithfully making Christ-like choices?
   
   

Closing Prayer
Dear God, We know that you have promised us new creation, we ask that as we close out this CoreGroup season that you are with each of us this summer. We ask that you watch over us and guide us to walk in your image. We pray that you show us the way to go on faithfully and keep our group connection strong even as we have time apart. We pray this all in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Taking it Further
Subscribe to a daily “Enneathought'' from the Enneagram Institute. The daily Enneathought a short email specific to your number type giving you something to reflect on or some suggestion for recognizing healthy and unhealty behaviors. For example, a recent Enneathought for Type One read:

A major feature of your personality is the tendency to be overly-meticulous and thorough—organizing the world into neat categories. Watch for this in yourself today.

You can subscribe to the Enneathought HERE.