Grace Group Discussion Guide “Forever Young” Part two of the series: “Dysfunctional: Finding Your Fit in God’s Family” For the week of June 15 - 21, 2014 Main Thought: God has an enormous family. It is because everyone who accepts His son Jesus Christ into their heart as Lord and Savior is adopted into God’s family. Adoption in the Bible means that we are accepted into God’s family as actual family members, meaning that we get new identities and everything that comes along with being in that family, including a multitude of blessings and responsibilities. We become actual children of God who are incredibly loved. Sometimes, we forget who we are, because of the suffering we experience in our relationships or even in our natural families. But when we spend time with God, He reminds us that we are His beloved children. He really loves us and that is why He wants us in His family. He loves us too much not to include us. That is why we need to fight for our relationship with Him and remember that He has adopted us into His family. Main Passages: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:14-17) (Turn over for continuation…) Main Passages Continuation: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:18-21) “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Question #1: What stood out to you from the main passages and main thought above? What do you think family is? Do you think God has that for you in His family? Example: Duck Dynasty star, Willie Robertson said when they adopted their son, ‘Lil Will,’ that “I've done a lot of cool things in the past couple of years, I've been to Super Bowls, I've met Presidents - but the best decision we ever made - that made the biggest impact on our life was the adoption of our son Will.” Willie compares the situation to the one illustrated in the Bible. “That's what God did with us,” he says. “Jesus is [God's] son, and we are [God's] adopted children. So I can look at my two sons that I have, and literally see the New Testament unfolded right there.” God sees us all that way. We might think that we aren’t worth it or that the cost might be too much for God to take us into His family, but that is why God gave up His own Son to pay for that debt. He loves us that much. Just as Willie pursued and adopted his son, God has done the same with us; He pursues us to be in His family. Question #2: Are you in the family of God? If not, would you like to be? If you already are, why do you think we forget that we are in the family of God? What can we do to help us remember that we are children of an awesome God?