Announcements

  1. GC Summer Break- Our Gospel Community Groups will all be taking time off from July 28 to August 31
  2. Student Game Night- We want to invite all High School and Middle Schoolers out to the Phelps house on August 4th to get to hang out and know one another! It will be from 6-8pm and dinner will be provided! You can RSVP by emailing Stephanie Phelps at strengthforlife@gmail.com 
  3. Baby Dedication- We will be having a baby dedication on Sunday, August 11 during both morning services- 9:30 and 11:00am. We love taking time as a church to celebrate and receive the new children of our families at The Well! If you have a little one to dedicate, you can fill out the form online or email natalie@thewellabilene.com 

Objectives

  1. Reflect on the importance of Jesus’ most repeated command to his disciples: to not fear.
  2. Examine the choice between boldly proclaiming Jesus and receiving persecution against denying Jesus and avoiding persecution.
  3. Help each other turn back to an understanding of God’s love as presented by the gospel.

Key Passages

Matthew 10:26-33

Summary

In Matthew 10:26-33, Jesus is continuing to teach the disciples about what it will look like to continue his mission to the entire world. In particular, this section describes the guiding characteristic of an ideal disciple: a lack of fear. 

Sample Questions

Feel free to use or reword the questions below that you think will be most helpful to meet the objectives above. Remember, these questions should ultimately cultivate discussion of ways to respond to or apply what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us through Scripture.

  • How would you begin to obey Jesus’ command “to fear not”?
  • What does this command reveal about human tendencies?
  • What surface sins or tendencies do you find yourself most consistently falling into in order to medicate anxieties?
  • Why do you think Jesus kept his identity as Messiah a secret for so long?
  • How is “what has been hidden” been made known through your life? How has it remained hidden by your life?
  • How would a better understanding of God’s sovereignty over all things decrease your daily anxieties?
  • Name a difficult situation in your life right now and how God is calling you to view it through the perspective of his sovereignty.

Sample Responses

Either in smaller groups or as a whole GC:

  • Read through 1 John 4:15-18. Discuss with one another how these sections correct any wrong understandings of fear and love. Then pray for one another- that a further understanding of God’s love by means of the gospel would produce less fear and anxieties in each other’s lives.