Session Three: Fighting for Your Home Part 1

SHARE YOUR STORY

Open your group with prayer. This should be a brief, simple prayer in which you invite God to be with you as you meet. You can pray for specific requests at the end of the meeting, or stop momentarily to pray if a particular situation comes up during your discussion. Sharing personal stories builds deeper connections among group members. Begin your time together by using the following questions and activities to get people talking.

1. Whose family do you admire and why? 2. Last week you stated a step you would take this past week.

Report your progress to the group.

WATCH VIDEO SESSION 3

HEAR GOD’S STORY

Use the following questions to guide your discussion of the teaching and stories you just experienced in the video and the Bible passage below.

READ GENESIS 2:18-25.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

1. What did God say was “not good?”

2. How was the woman created differently than every other living creature?

3. How was the creation of the woman more personal to man?

STUDY NOTES

HELPER FIT FOR HIM, verse 18, also translated “a helper corresponding to him.”

ADAM, verse 20, Adam literally means “the man.”

SHE SHALL BE CALLED WOMAN, verse 23, the Hebrew words for woman (ishshah) and man (ish) sound alike.

CREATE A NEW STORY

God wants you to be part of His Kingdom—to weave your story into His. That will mean change. It will require you to go His way rather than your own. This won’t happen overnight, but it should happen steadily. By making small, simple choices, we can begin to change our direction. The Holy Spirit helps us along the way, by giving us gifts to serve the body, offering us insights into Scripture, and challenging us to love not only those around us but those far from God.

In this section, talk about how you will apply the wisdom you’ve learned in this session.

1. According to Roger’s teaching, what does it mean to become one flesh?

2. How does your belief about marriage affect your marriage?

3. How have you been shown sacrificial and unconditional love by anyone in your life?

4. In the video, Roger gave the acrostic B.L.I.S.S. which stands for

Belief, Love, Intentionality, Service, and Sex. Rank these five components from best to worst in your marriage.

5. Choose one component for you and your spouse to work on this week. What step will you take this week to improve this area of your marriage?

6. What steps will you take this week to grow in your relationship with God? If you’ve focused on prayer in past weeks, maybe you’ll want to direct your attention to Scripture this week. If you’ve been reading God’s Word consistently, perhaps you’ll want to take it deeper, and try memorizing a verse. Tell the group which one you plan to try this week, and talk about your progress and challenges when you meet next time.

7. Ask, “How can we pray for you this week?” Invite everyone to share, but don’t force the issue. Be sure to write prayer requests on your Prayer and Praise Report on page 140.

Close your meeting with prayer.

FOR ADDITIONAL STUDY

If you feel God nudging you to go deeper, take some time before the next meeting to dig into His Word. Explore the Bible passages related to this session’s theme on your own and jot your reflections in a journal or in this study guide. A great way to gain insight on a passage is to read it in several different translations. You may want to use a Bible app or website to compare translations.

READ EPHESIANS 5:22-33.

1. What is the balance between love and submission expressed in this passage?

2. How is loving your wife the same as loving your own body?

3. Why is love important to wives and respect important to husbands? How well are you loving or respecting your spouse?

READ 1 CORINTHIANS 13: 1-13.

1. According to verses 1-3, what is the priority of love over spiritual gifts and sacrifice?

2. As you read through the qualities of love in verses 4-7, which quality is the most difficult for you?

3. Why is love the greatest thing?

DAILY DEVOTIONS

DAY 1. READ 1 PETER 4:8

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Respond: How have you experienced unconditional love in your life?

DAY 2. READ HOSEA 3:1

And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” Respond: When have you experienced love you did not deserve?

DAY 3. READ PHILIPPIANS 2:3-4

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Respond: How are you putting your interests before others? How are you putting others’ interests before yours?

DAY 5. READ MATTHEW 19:6

So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. Respond: What is pulling at your marriage? How can you stop it from separating you?

DAY 4. READ EPHESIANS 5:21

Ephesians 5:21 Respond: How well are you avoiding selfishness and submitting to others?

DAY 6

Reflect on the verses from this past week, and use the following space to write any thoughts God has put in your heart and mind about the things we have looked at in this session and during your Daily Devotions time this week.

Session Four

Fighting for Your Home Part 2

MEMORY VERSE: ROMANS 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

INTRODUCTION

To fight the battle in prayer is to touch the throne of God and come out victorious. You see, enduring the fight creates a sweetness in our relationships with Christ. This is the irreplaceable fellowship that we can only get because He gets us through the battle to the other side.