The Beauty Of Being Stuck

• Vacation time! … Except, you get stuck at the airport and your flight gets canceled. The airline offers you a free ticket to anywhere. Where do you go?

• Tell a funny story about a time when you got stuck.

• Which would you rather be stuck doing for the rest of your life: eating the same food, drinking the same drink, watching the same movie, listening to the same song, or reading the same book?

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.

• Before Pastor Robert’s sermon, how familiar were you with the story of the man outside the temple gate called Beautiful? What’s something from the sermon that impacted the way you see this story
  
• Read Acts 3:1-10. The lame man had been stuck begging there for 40 years. Have you ever been physically stuck in one place? What are some other ways we can get stuck? (e.g., in our jobs, ways of thinking, emotions, relationships, etc.)

• God is a God of movement. What does that mean to you? How does that shape (or challenge) your relationship with Him?

• • You were created to move. Any time you allow stagnation in something designed for movement, you’ll have frustration. Share an area where you’ve been feeling stuck. How have you allowed stagnation in that area? (Where are you stuck in “same”?)

• • God wants our attention — and He can help you move. How do you need to pay attention to God in this season? (Where have you not made yourself available to God?)

• Read Exodus 4:10-13. Moses was commanded by God to go speak to Pharaoh to free the Israelites, but Moses was stuck. How was he stuck? (How do you identify with Moses in this passage? What are some other ways we can get stuck inside ourselves like Moses did?) Where have you become stuck inside yourself?
  

• The two men who carried the lame man each day in Acts 3 (“Billy” and “Bob”) were collaborators to a “system of stuckness.” Give an example of a system of stuckness. What systems of stuckness have you developed or allowed?

• • One way to identify a system of stuckness is to ask this: What’s benefitting from your stuckness? (For example, Billy and Bob benefitted from the lame man being stuck. Some examples of things benefitting from your stuckness could be news ratings, an unhealthy relationship, the devil, etc.) How does knowing what’s benefitting help you see how to break out of your system of stuckness?

• • Billy and Bob wanted the lame man to stay stuck; Peter and John wanted to pull him up. What things are trying to keep you stuck? Who or what is trying to pull you up?

• In Acts 3:10, the same people who had seen the lame man begging saw him walking and praising God. This is the beauty of being stuck — you don’t have to stay stuck, and God can use your unstuckness to encourage the same people who saw you stuck. Why is that important? How can you use your “unstuckness” to testify or encourage others? (How has someone else’s unstuckness impacted you?)

What do you need to do this week to get unstuck? Tell the group a system you need to challenge, a way you need to move, an area where you’re going to pay attention to God, or something else that will help you get unstuck.

Ask eGroup members to share any prayer requests they have. Record any notes or prayer requests to pray for members during the week.

Father, we’re so grateful You’re a God of movement. This week, help us see how we’ve stopped moving and allowed ourselves to become stuck. Give us the strength and direction to move, and break us free from being stuck. In Jesus’ name, amen.