Looking for an easy-to-use resource for your small group?

HERE'S A NO-ASSEMBLY-REQUIRED APPROACH.

Christ said that where two or three gather in his name, he is present (Matthew 18:20).* The clear pattern below can guide you in gathering weekly with other believers to listen together for God's guidance using the meditations from The Upper Room magazine. No advance preparation is necessary. No leader is necessary. Group members take responsibility for participating and for encouraging each other to take part.

Small groups usually have guidelines such as these:

1. Participation: Each person is encouraged to discuss the day's questions. Anyone may choose to "pass" (not speak) at any time, without explaining why.
2. Prayer: Group members pray for one another between meeting times.
3. Personal focus: Members talk about their own experience rather than about others and refrain from giving advice.
4. Confidentiality: What is shared in the group stays in the group.
5. Agree to disagree: Differences of opinion and interpretation are inevitable. We will listen to one another with respect, and we will not attempt to change one another's minds. Our shared desire to know God is more important than any differences we may discover.
6. Gentleness: Members deal with one another tenderly and kindly, being careful to assure that they are "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).

Your group can discuss these guidelines and add or delete items as group members choose. Many groups post or review their guidelines during each meeting as a reminder of their covenant with one another.

Here is an easy-to-follow plan for a one-hour, weekly meeting based on each Wednesday's meditation in The Upper Room. One person may act as convenor every week, or the role can rotate among group members. You may want to light a candle each week at the beginning of your time together to acknowledge Christ's presence.

Preparation:
Participants will need copies of the current issue of The Upper Room. To order, call 1-800-972-0433 at least 10 days before copies are needed.

General Instructions:

• Each day, participants should read the scripture, meditation, and prayer suggested in The Upper Room.
• This study guide may be used by a group or adapted for individual reflection, journaling, and prayer.

Opening:
Convenor: "Let us come into the presence of God."

Others: "Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for being with us. Let us hear your word to us as we speak to one another."

Listen:
Convenor or another group member reads the suggested scripture passage for the appropriate Wednesday. After a one- or two-minute silence, convenor asks: "What did you hear God saying to you in this passage? (Group members respond in turn.)

Reflect:
Convenor or another group member reads aloud the quoted verse and the meditation for Wednesday of the week, allowing silence afterward for reflection. The convenor asks: "Where do these words connect with your life? What touches you?" (Group members respond in turn.)

Respond:
Convenor directs group members to the discussion questions that appear in the magazine following the meditations (usually on pp 71-75). (Each set of questions refers to a specific meditation in this issue.) The convenor reads each question in turn, allowing group members time to respond after each question. Convenor closes discussion five minutes before the meeting time ends.

Parting Words:
The convenor asks, "In one sentence, what 'word from the Lord' do you take away from our time together?" (Group members respond in turn.)

Pray together:
Convenor asks: "What prayers rise to the surface for you? What do you want us to pray for in the coming week?" The convenor or another volunteer prays about the concerns named.

Departing:
Convenor says: "Let us go in peace to serve God and our neighbors in all that we do."

*Matthew 18:20: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." (NRSV)

Additional small-group questions for July-August, 2011 (Large Print Edition)

JULY 6
1.            What was your favorite childhood “secret place” to hide and think?  What most often sent you there?  What is your “secret place” now, and what does it do for you?

2.            What are the limits of comparing God’s work to this father’s actions?  What are the limits of comparing God to a father in general?

JULY 13
1.            How is “I don’t have time” always untrue to some extent?  Why do some people seem to have more time than others even though we all get exactly 24 hours each day?

2.            When have you been surprised to see/witness “the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit”?  How is God working through you to help others?

JULY 20
1.            What is the most fun you’ve had volunteering?  Why was it fun?  What has been the most challenging volunteer work you’ve done, and why?

2.            Do you plan to be an organ donor?  If not, why not?  If so,
do you carry a donor card, and have you made known your wishes about this?

JULY 27
1.            Talk about the last time you got lost. How did you respond?  What is your typical reaction in such situations?  Is that
reaction a positive Christian witness to others?

2.            Reread the “Thought for the Day.”  Why would we rely on God to “handle our baggage” as an afterthought rather than relying on God for guidance to begin with?

AUG 3
1.            What earthly treasures attract you the most?  Are they inherently bad?  When can something good become bad for us?

2.            Is it okay to give of your time but not your money — or the other way around?  When/how?

AUG 10
1.            If you think and speak of alcoholism as a sin rather than an illness, why?  If you think of it as an illness rather than a sin, why?

2.            What “addictions” do we accept in believers in ways that we do not accept alcoholism?  Why do some addictions seem more acceptable than others?

3.            Is “self control” the only fruit of the Spirit that could help with addiction?  Why or why not?  Which other “fruits” might be
relative to addiction?  How so?

4.            In what ways are all of us “a contradiction of light and darkness”?  Given this, how can anyone be an example of a Christian?

AUG 17
1.            Does a friend have to be a Christian to be considered a gift from God?  Why or why not?

2.            What do you suppose made Ruth willing to leave her family and home country to travel with Naomi into an uncertain future?

3.            What would you list as your greatest losses?  Why would these make the list?

4.            What factors determine how well people recover from a
loss? Are there some losses we never recover from? Should Christians face loss differently than non-believers?

AUG 24
1.            How did you come to know about and read The Upper Room?  Did you begin by reading sporadically?  If so, why, and when did you begin to read more regularly?

2.            How does your day-to-day behavior model the life and love
of Christ to others?

3.            Do you think it is better to emulate famous strangers or
people we know personally?  Why? What are good reasons
for looking to people as examples?

AUG 31
1.            Do you exercise regularly?  If so, what is your favorite form of exercise?  How could regular exercise be an act of discipleship?

2.            What have you seen people do today that is not kind to the environment?  What does your community of faith do to help care for our world?  Should concern for Earth be a part of our discipleship?  Why?

© 2011 by Upper Room Ministries Inc., P. O. Box 340004, Nashville, TN 37203-0004. For information on books that you may use as small-group study resources, visit the Upper Room Ministries bookstore. Lenten and Advent small-group study guides tailored for use with The Upper Room magazine are also posted on the Web site.