HOST NOTES

This is the final week of the All Access series. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and it has been helpful for your group as you all grow together. I welcome your feedback on the series itself, and whether or not your group will continue to meet going forward. I can help you find material, if needed, or consult with you on serving opportunities.

- Pastor Tim

Getting Started:

Q: What are some things you are thankful for?

Q: Now, what are the small things you have been blessed with that you maybe take for granted?

WATCH A CLIP FROM SUNDAY'S SERVICE

See the full message HERE

READ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

  • PC said, “we’re challenged to be thankful in all situations; not for all situations, but in them.”

    • What’s the difference here?

  • Think about the question PC asked: “what does it take for you to be grateful/thankful?

    • what level does something have to get to in order to elicit a “thanks”?

  • Viktor Frankel said, about his experience in a Nazi concentration camp: “Loosing everything enabled us to be thankful for the tiniest things.”

    • Does abundance, in some ways, lure us in to ingratitude?

    • How can we get away from that?

can we LEARn to be thankful in every circumstance?

READ: Deuteronomy 5:21

“You must not covet your neighbor’s wife. You must not covet your neighbor’s house or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”

  • What does PC mean when he says that being grateful is the pinnacle of life?

  • Have you ever been, or are you currently, dissatisfied with the things you have?

    • In what ways can you accept your situation?

    • In what ways can you/should you change you situation?

    • In what ways can you change yourself through this situation?

  • What happens when we compare ourselves to others?

Comparison Kills Gratitude

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Talk as a group about how you can all aspire to lives of gratitude.

Also, talk as a group about whether or not you will continue you meeting in the new year.