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: Ruth 1
Big Idea from Message: God’s sovereignty does not erase pain. It holds you in the midst of it.

Read Ruth 1 in its entirety as a group. Have you ever found yourself in a situation or season of life where it felt like God was distant from you or nowhere to be found in the middle of your questions, doubts, or pain?

People will often point to stories like Naomi’s and, in light of the Christian belief about God’s sovereignty, blame God for bad things that happen in our world. How would you answer someone who made this claim?

In Ruth 1:15-18, Ruth shows incredible loyalty to Noami, choosing to do more than move to a new place to live, but to fully give up her Moabite identity in order to take on Naomi’s way of living. How might this decision by Ruth highlight Naomi’s faith in God even in the midst of a horrible season of life?

In Ruth 1:19-21, Naomi renames herself “Mara,” as a reflection of how she believed God was “dealing with her” in this season of life. If you had to use one word to “rename” yourself for the season of life you are in right now, what would it be and why?

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

This week, circle back to Tyler’s 3 Lessons from Ruth:

• Pain comes from the brokenness in our world, but it isn’t a sign of God’s absence.
• God invites you to be honest with your pain, but don’t get stuck there.
• Who you are with in your pain matters, but don’t wait until you’re in pain to build community.

Which one seems the most difficult for you to wrap your head or heart around? Which one do you need to focus on in this season of life?