PRE-MEETING PREPARATION

• Make sure you have access to the weekly video and can play that for the group.
• Review the weekly Big Idea for your reference. This is intended to give you context for the week. You can choose whether or not to read this in the group as a summary/refresher after watching the video.
• Read through the Group and Individual Practices ahead of time.

BIG IDEA: Fasting deepens our desire for God.

• We leverage physical hunger and weakness to develop our spiritual hunger and maturity by redirecting our appetites toward God.
• Every time you feel an unmet need, you can invite God to support and strengthen you.
• Jesus taught that fasting enables us to receive the new things God wants to do in our lives.

Connection Time - 20 Minutes

Sermon Review - 20 Minutes
(Guides are updated weekly on the Community webpage.)

Group Application - 40 Minutes
Group practice - do this together in Group‍

• WATCH the overview video together, then engage in discussion.‍
• REVIEW the video and Discussion Highlights for this week.
• ASK: Have you ever fasted before? If so, what did you fast most recently, and how did it affect you?
• READ Matthew 9:14-17 together.
• ASK: What are some new things you are asking God for in this season?
• ASK: What are some new things that you think God wants to do in your heart?
• REVIEW the memory verse and other resources for the month.

Individual practice - to do on your own throughout the week

Using our Fasting planner, spend some time one day this week thinking through what fasting might look like for you sometime this month. Revisit your plan a couple more times throughout the week, praying through what the best and wisest way for you to fast will be in this season.

Pray - 10 Minutes

PRE-MEETING PREPARATION

• Make sure you have access to the weekly video and can play that for the group.
• Review the weekly Big Idea for your reference. This is intended to give you context for the week. You can choose whether or not to read this in the group as a summary/refresher after watching the video.
• Read through the Group and Individual Practices ahead of time.

BIG IDEA: Fasting produces humility.

• We experience weakness and longing when we fast, and it reminds us that we need God.
• It is hard to realize how much you need God and how well he can satisfy you until you are in need.
• The limitations that fasting introduces help us see the condition of our souls more clearly.

Connection Time - 20 Minutes

Sermon Review - 20 Minutes
(Guides are updated weekly on the Community webpage.)

Group Application - 40 Minutes
Group practice - do this together in Group‍

• DISCUSS your individual fasting plans together and whether or not you’d like to fast together as a group in some way.
• WATCH the overview video together.‍
• REVIEW the video and Discussion Highlights for this week.
• ASK: We all try to cover up or overcompensate for our weaknesses in some way. How do you tend to hide or make up for your weaknesses?
• ASK: How do you hope fasting will help you personally embrace humility?
• REVIEW the memory verse and other resources for the month.

Individual practice - to do on your own throughout the week

If you haven’t already, start practicing your fast this week. Journal or take notes each day, keeping track of how you feel (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually).

Pray - 10 Minutes

PRE-MEETING PREPARATION

• Make sure you have access to the weekly video and can play that for the group.
• Review the weekly Big Idea for your reference. This is intended to give you context for the week. You can choose whether or not to read this in the group as a summary/refresher after watching the video.
• Read through the Group and Individual Practices ahead of time.

BIG IDEA: Fasting increases compassion.

• God pays attention to the needy and broken.
• Experiencing a greater need for a moment or season helps us to understand his heart and have compassion on those who are in constant need of help.
• Fasting increases our compassion by connecting our hearts to God and to the people in our lives who need him.

Connection Time - 20 Minutes

Sermon Review - 20 Minutes
(Guides are updated weekly on the Community webpage.)

Group Application - 40 Minutes
Group practice - do this together in Group‍

• DISCUSS the previous week's individual practice. What was your fasting experience like? Did anything surprise you?
• REVIEW the video Discussion Highlights for this week.
• ASK: What has been the most difficult part of fasting for you? What person or group of people might experience that challenge regularly, and how can you start supporting or praying for them consistently?
• ASK: How often do you feel your spiritual practices causing you to look outward toward others?
• DISCUSS how your group can do something together to help someone else. This could be a service project, a collective gift of money or meals for someone in need, or whatever else fits the heart of your group.
• REVIEW the memory verse and other resources for the month.

Individual practice - to do on your own throughout the week

As a response to your fasting experience this month, do a random act of kindness for someone this week. It could be buying someone’s meal, paying for the person behind you in the drive-thru, offering to watch someone’s children, or whatever else comes to mind.

Pray - 10 Minutes

PRE-MEETING PREPARATION

• Decide in advance what you will do this week for the Group Practice. This can be anything that builds community and relationships. If your group missed a week, you can also use this week to make up for previous content.

Connection Time - 20 Minutes

Sermon Review - 20 Minutes
(Guides are updated weekly on the Community webpage.)

Group Time - 40 Minutes

• REVIEW the previous week’s individual practice. Try to share your memorized verse with the group!
• In addition to the usual connection time and sermon review, use this week’s meeting to foster community and deepen relationships.
• REVIEW the memory verse and other resources for the month.

Pray - 10 Minutes