Sisters Community Church

Jim Gurney | Galatians 5:22-6:5

1. Paul contrasts the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit”. Why do you think he refers to the flesh as “works” and the Spirit’s activity as “fruit”? Who is someone you know who bears a lot of Galatians 5 fruit? What have you learned watching them?

2. Paul says restored people “restore people” (Galatians 6:1-2). Who has done this for you? How did they do it? Who does the Lord want you to help restore (if anyone)?

3. Jim used the quote, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” Paul uses similar language and says that people are “caught” or “stuck” by the power of sin. Do you see see people in sin through a lens of judgment or compassion? Paul emphasizes the attitude required for restoration (with gentleness, watching ourselves lest we too fall). How can you more faithfully embody the radical love and compassion of Christ to those who are stuck?

Ryan Moffat | Galatians 5:1-15

1. Identifying Our “Yokes” (The Trap of Legalism vs. Licentiousness)

Sermon Context: The sermon highlighted two main traps or “obstacles” that rob us of true Gospel freedom: legalism (trying to earn God’s favor through performance, rules, or checking boxes) and licentiousness/hedonism (the cultural “you do you” script that uses freedom to indulge the flesh).

Question: When you feel far from God or anxious about your faith, which way do you tend to lean—toward legalism (feeling like you have to perform and do more to prove your worth) or licentiousness (using grace as an excuse to ignore sin and chase self-indulgence)? What does it practically look like in your life when you’re carrying a heavy “yoke” instead of resting in Christ’s finished work?

2. Faith Working Through Love vs. Cultural “Love”

Sermon Context: Galatians 5:6 says the only thing that counts is “faith working itself out through love.” The sermon pointed out that our culture defines love as total endorsement (“celebrate me as I am”), while legalism defines love as rigid performance. Jesus shows us that Gospel love both meets us where we are (no condemnation) and calls us to transformation (“go and sin no more”).

Question: How does Jesus’ model of love—grace that meets people where they are and transforms them— differ from how our culture defines love today? In your everyday relationships (with family, coworkers, or neighbors), where do you find it hardest to balance giving grace without ignoring truth?

3. Moving from “Self-Preservation” to Neighbor-Love

Sermon Context: The sermon concluded with the story of Pastor Ralph praying for a couple in Costco, showing that when we are truly liberated from self-preoccupation, we are free to notice, love, and serve the people right in front of us.

Question: If you were completely confident and secure in your identity in Christ—unburdened by the need to prove yourself or satisfy the flesh—how would that change your week-to-week life in our community? What is one specific, tangible step you can take this week to “serve your neighbor in love” instead of focusing on yourself?

Ryan Moffat | Galatians 4:28-31

1. Do you feel like you “have to make it happen?” Are you trying to navigate your way through life by manipulating, managing and negotiating?

Application: This week when you face an impossible situation (like something as impossible as barrenness), what would it look like to focus on the PROMISE MAKER instead of the problem? What if you took time to reflect on the miracles of God? What if you said back the lines of the song: “Way Maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, My God, that is who You are”?

2. Do you see all of life as a gift of unmerited, unearned, and therefore, SURPRISING grace?

Application: This week, preach the gospel to yourself when life isn’t making sense.

3. Are you like the guy I spent time with a few weeks ago, saying, “I’m a good person,” or “I’ve done enough to earn my standing before God”? How would your life and relationships change if you stopped justifying yourself and received God’s justification? If God has justified you, who is there to condemn you? (Romans 8:33-34)

4. Are you living with a PURPOSE, a MISSION and a CONFIDENCE as Children of the Promise, and do you see persecution as a setback or as an opportunity?

Steve Stratos | Galatians 4:8-20

1. Have you ever been in a disciple-making relationship? What was it like?

2. How intentional are you in pursuing spiritual formation?

3. Do you pursue relationships from the head or heart? Explain.

4. What or who has the most influence in your spiritual life?

5. Name 5 necessities for your spiritual development. How are you pursuing them?

Steve Stratos | Galatians 3:15 - 4:7

1. How have you been the beneficiary of a promise?

2. Explain the difference between performance and promise as a means for the blessing.

3. What is the difference between the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant? Why?

4. What are the ramifications psychologically, sociologically, and emotionally when you live and attempt to get your identity from the Mosaic covenant?

5. Paraphrase Romans 7:7-12.

6. What did you do to receive “All Spiritual Blessings” in Ephesians 1:3?

Ryan Moffat | Galatians 3:1-14

1. What did the Spirit say to you through God’s Word this week?

2. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? How do you need to listen and obey this week?

3. When you think about your life, where is the deepest place that needs to be transformed? Are you actively looking to God, His grace, and His Spirit to transform and redeem those places?

4. Can you think of people who have experienced deep transformation? What about those stories is instructive to you? What can you learn from others transformation stories?

LORD’S DAY, HEIDELBERG CATECHISM

What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him. What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort? Three things: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.

Ryan Moffat | Galatians 2:11-21

1. What did the Spirit say to you through God’s Word this week?

2. We talked about the Gospel being not only the A, B, C’s of our Christian faith but that it’s actually the A-Z of our faith. How can you and I (and SCC) keep our focus on the redeeming, saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross Have you drifted from that core truth? How do you need to re-orient your life around the gospel?

3. What “groups” are often uninvited to the table in Christian Culture? How can the Church thoughtfully engage those far from God while inviting them not only to Christ’s table but also to surrender fully to Jesus Christ?

4. Who do you want to prayerfully invite to the concert next week?

Dustin Smith | Galatians 2:1-10

1. Spend a moment re-reading Galatians 1, and then 2:1-10. How does Galatians 2:1-10 build upon what Paul has already written?

2. Did anything stand out to you in the sermon?

3. Does the term “slave of Yahweh” or “slave of the Lord” provoke anything within you?

4. What systems, devices, or structures have you seen followers of Jesus trust in rather than Jesus himself? How have you done this?

5. Throughout this text, Paul shows how we must Partner, Preserve, and care for the Poor. How does relying on systems and devices neglect these points Paul makes?

6. What would it look like to have healthy structures but also not neglect our personal responsibilities in caring for the poor in Sisters?

Steve Stratos | Galatians 1:10-24

1. How has scripture played into your Christian journey?

2. What experience(s) have you had to confirm your journey?

3. Describe other followers of Christ who have been influential in your life and why?

4. Explain the need and balance of objectivity and subjectivity.

5. How has God shown up in your life as influence recognized by others?

Ryan Moffat | Galatians 1:1-10

This week we encourage you to read through the book of Galatians as a life group. Before reading it together OUT LOUD (6 chapters) we encourage you to pray as a group and ask God to reveal to you and your group what He wants to say through the Scriptures. Enjoy hearing God's word read aloud together as a community. After completing the reading of Galatians, spend the rest of the time discussing what stood out and Paul's main points of emphasis.