This guide is designed to help your group create a space for genuine connection and conversation within your discussion time. Don't feel pressured to address every question each week. Instead, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you as you lead your group in uncovering what God intends to communicate during your time together.

This guide comprises three sections: Loving, Learning, and Living. Each section aims to steer your conversation towards meaningful discussions about spiritual growth as individuals and as members of the body of Christ.

First moments together as a group to connect and pray (approx. 10-15 min).

• How have you seen God at work in your life since the last time we met?
• What has been one high and one low since the last time we met?
• How did you do with living out what we talked about last time we met?

Open with prayer and invite God to be part of your conversation and relationship.

The majority of the group discussion is devoted to open dialogue, reflecting on God’s Word and its personal application to each of our lives (approx. 60-75 min).

Scripture References from Message: Luke 14:25-33; Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 4:10
2 Big Questions: What would you be willing to start or stop doing to get what you want in life? What is the shape of your life?
Big Idea from Message: Following Jesus means submitting the shape of my life to His.

What’s something you wanted in life that required significant discipline or sacrifice to get? Share how you either followed through or failed to execute.

Read Luke 14:25-33 as a group.. What strikes you about Jesus using the word hate? What might the passage reveal about Jesus’ expectations for his followers?

Jesus gives 2 illustrations about counting the cost before starting something. Why do you think Jesus wanted people to carefully consider the cost of following him? In your experience, is it harder to start following Jesus or staying faithful over time? Why?

Read Galatians 2:20. Pastor Brad used the word “cruciformity” to describe a life shaped by the cross of Christ. What are some real examples of ways our inward and outward daily lives can be shaped to look like the cross of Jesus?

Submission was the word to best describe what it means to be shaped by the cross. It looks like: Giving to God what we want and desire, Giving to God what breaks us but we’d rather control, and Giving to God the habits and pattern of our lives. How does the word submission sit with you? Which of these 3 areas feels the most challenging for you to surrender and why?

Read 2 Corinthians 4:10-12. How might we draw encouragement from this passage for our attempts to live a cruciform life? What similarities or patterns do you see with what Jesus said back in Luke 14?

The challenge for the week ahead is to grow in our faith and lovingly hold each other accountable through the community.

This week as you think about the shape of your life, pay close attention to how you are spending your time, where you are prioritizing your energy, and what you are devoting yourself to. What do these things reveal about the true shape of your life right now? In what ways might Jesus be inviting you to reshape something? What might you need to start or stop doing in order to more fully follow Jesus? Is there a habit to start, a pattern to stop, something to surrender, or a step of obedience to take?