Series Resources

sermon-based study guide

This guide is designed to guide a group discussion around the weekend sermon. You can also use this as an individual, but we highly recommend finding a friend and inviting them to discuss with you. Menlo Church has Life Groups meeting in-person and online using these guides. We’d love to help you find a group.

What you will find in this guide: A discussion guide for groups and individuals. If you are using this as an individual be sure to engage with each question in a journal or simply in your mind as you prayerfully consider what you heard in the sermon and seek to discover what God is inviting you to know and do.

Study Guide: Living in the Future

CONNECT

As we conclude the "Wonderfully Made" series, what resonated most with you from the past few weeks?

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ENGAGE

Read Genesis 2:25

Can you think of a time in your own life when things felt simpler or more harmonious? How do you think sin disrupts the kind of harmony described in Genesis?

Read Galatians 6:1-3 and Matthew 5:6. Both of these passages speak to the importance of living a life that reflects Christ’s teachings. How can we practically support one another in our small group and church community to “hunger and thirst for righteousness” and bear the “fruit of the Spirit”?

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APPLY

Phil shares different ways we respond to our longings (maximize pleasure, minimize the problem, magnify the promise). Which of these do you find yourself gravitating towards most often? Why?

Are there any areas in your life where you might need to adjust your perspective or actions based on this week’s sermon? Share how you can support each other in this.

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PRAYER

Read the excerpt from "Now and Not Yet" by Ruth Chou Simons, inviting participants to take a deep breath and pray along silently.

“I have expectations, Lord, buried so deep inside me that most friends and family will never fully know - until my expectations erupt, boil over, and spread to reveal my secret longings. I am neither the master nor the ruler of my life, so teach me to acknowledge what is true and submit to your rule and reign, your wise ways, your timing in all things, your purpose in pain, your allowance for disappointments, your delay in deliverance. Right now may not be what I want, but tune my heart to sing your grace. Even here, where I feel the dissonance of being out of tune, let me lean in and listen to the melody of your faithfulness today, so that even my expectations are transformed into longings that reflect your heart for me. Do what feels impossible for me but is more than feasible by your hand, o Lord. Amen.”

Conclude with a prayer for the community, asking for God's guidance and support as individuals wrestle with their longings and navigate the path of following Jesus.

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Works Cited

Barton, Ruth Haley. Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation.

Comer, John Mark. Live No Lies: Recognize and Resist the Three Enemies That Sabotage Your Peace

Simons, Ruth Chou. Now and Not Yet: Pressing In When You’re Waiting, Wanting, and Restless for More.

Spurgeon, Charles. Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 27.

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