North Coast Church Life Groups Leader Guide

Week 3 Leaders Podcast: Ready for the Groom (Matthew 25:1–13)

Leader Mailbag - Tell Us!: for questions, stories and "telling on your people." It asks permission to share, and shows a "check with them first" box when the story is about someone else.
Kinship Question Feedback: takes about 30 seconds. It asks whether everyone in the group answered, which matters more than whether people liked the question..

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James Browning, North Coast’s new global adult ministries pastor, introduces week three updates to the podcast, leader guide, and website, invites feedback via [email protected], and walks leaders through Chris’s sermon on Matthew 25:1–13 (“If Heaven Is Real, Am I In or Out?”). He highlights key leader guide prompts (what you check/count down to, living ready vs knowing Jesus is coming back, assurance passages, “own oil vs borrowed oil,” grace not transferable, Galatians 6) and the new optional Kinship Question (“Who are you becoming more like?”) with a request for feedback. In “The Rabbit Hole,” he explains the “lamps” as oil-soaked torches, outlines ancient wedding customs, and connects the shut door to Noah and Jesus’ warnings (“I never knew you”). He coaches leaders for three sensitive moments: salvation assurance, making faith personal, and grief over loved ones far from Jesus, and ends by urging leaders to check their own “torch,” prepare tissues, and share questions/wins/stories.

Songs used:
1. I Was Glad by Hoi Lithoi (Spotify)
2. Go Out by Hoi Lithoi (Spotify)

00:00 Wedding Shock Opener
00:51 Welcome and Updates
02:04 Group Guide Warmup
02:30 Know Share Live Questions
03:21 Kinship Bonus Question
04:15 Rabbit Hole Lamps
05:23 Ancient Wedding Timeline
06:38 Midnight Twist Meaning
08:18 Three Leader Moments
08:28 Helping Doubters Assurance
10:42 Borrowed Faith Check
11:00 Grief and Loved Ones
12:08 Send Stories and Wins
13:01 Leader Heart Check
13:33 Final Thanks and Outro