Under the Influence (Week 4)
This week we will focus on 1 Peter, chapter 5, discussing how God’s call for us to show humility is a reflection of his love and care for us.
1. How has pride expressed itself in your life? If humility is common sense, as Fil mentioned in his sermon this week, how and why is humility so counter-cultural?
2. Are there any unshared burdens that you’re carrying alone due to your pride? If so, how are these preventing you from experiencing God’s loving care, peace, and joy? Who are some people you can join with, carrying each other’s burdens?
3. In his sermon, Fil said that God does four remarkable things on our behalf when we humbly ask for help:
God gives us courage
God gives us wisdom
God gives us strength
God gives us faith
How does God’s assurance of these resources encourage you to humbly ask for God’s help with some of the burdens you carry?
4. Read 1 Peter 5: 8-9, then discuss these questions:
How alert are you to the dangers of Satan?
Are you sober-minded when it’s time to recognize Satan’s interruptions & interferences in your life?
How determined are you to resist Satan by standing on God’s truth?
5. Discuss any harmful, misguided, or destructive “idols” in your life that you’ve discovered over the past four weeks of this series. How about any “good things” that you’ve seen through the lens of your misguided passions, selfish desires, or anxious fears?
6. In the Primer Podcast video, Fil talked about the illusion of human control over our own lives, saying “it’s good to know that the God in control is such a loving, kind, caring God who is crazy about us and wants nothing but the very best for us.”
Talk about how remembering this, and 1 Peter 5:7—“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”—can help you stay sober-minded in your daily life as we close out our “Under The Influence” series.
Resource: Running On Empty, Fil Anderson
If the brief personal story Fil told this week about being burned out by life he was pursuing hits close to home with you, or if you’re interested in reading more about how God met him where he was and taught him to live with God instead of for God, you can read more in his book, Running On Empty, available here.
(*Video available after Sunday services)
