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Built Different

Discussion Guide

Conversation Starters

You get to build your dream house anywhere you want. Where do you choose?
Would you rather spend all day building something out of Legos, or spend all day watching YouTube time-lapse videos of other people building things out of Legos?
Sunday was Valentine’s Day. Which is better: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, or no chocolate?

Review

Ask eGroup members to share their favorite points from the sermon, what spoke to them, a phrase or moment from the sermon they related to the most, or questions they have. If members have a hard time recalling the sermon, talk through your notes and share your favorite points.

Make It Personal

  • In 30 seconds, share your testimony. (If you can get a timer or clock for your whole group to see, do it. You can click here to use a free one on Google.) Now do it again, but this time, you only get 10 seconds. What are some things you had to leave out the second time?
  • When people share their testimonies, they are usually “time-lapse testimonies” that leave a lot out. What are some ways we compare ourselves to others’ time-lapse testimonies? Are there some ways you do that?
  • Read 1 Peter 2:1-10. God builds different than people do — He selects what man rejects. Talk about an area of your life where you feel rejected. (Do you feel like you’re not good enough? Are you “missing the mark”? Do you feel lonely or like no one cares?) How does it encourage you to remember that Jesus was rejected?
  • Sometimes, we don’t realize God is building because He’s building backwards. Share about a time in your life when God was building things backwards (stripping and subtracting instead of adding). What did He build in that season? How is God building backwards in your life now?
  • Read Psalm 139:14. Accepting Jesus is easy, but accepting yourself is hard. How have you found that to be true? Share some things you’re having trouble accepting about yourself.
  • Accepting Jesus’ process with yourself is the real challenge of faith. How is Jesus working on you? Share some challenges and praise reports from this process.
    • Look back at 1 Peter 2:1. Pastor Steven has been talking about making room for God, and he said the first step of getting ready to make room is to “get rid.” In this verse, we’re told to rid ourselves of five things. Is Jesus working on you to rid yourself of one of those things? What else can you accept about Jesus’ process?
  • Pastor Steven had a letter to remind him that some things he did were going to be different than how his heroes did it. What do you need to tell yourself is going to be different than how you saw it done or how you think it should be? (Is there someplace in your life where you feel like you’re failing or not meeting a standard? How might it just look different than what you thought it should?)
    • What blueprint are you building on? (How are you trying to build what’s on someone else’s box?)
    • What does it mean to build on grace instead? Describe how that could look for you.

Act On It

Tell the group where in your life you need a new blueprint. (It could be for what love looks like, what success really is, what happiness is, etc.) Go to God for a new blueprint this week — spend time in prayer asking God to give you a new blueprint, and find what the Bible has to say about it.

Prayer Requests And Prayer

Ask eGroup members to share any prayer requests they have. Record any notes or prayer requests to pray for members during the week.
Father, thank You for uniquely and wonderfully making us. Give us insight to see how You built us different and the faith to walk with confidence in who You’ve made us to be. Help us build on Your grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.