Life Group - Study Guides

In this series, First Things First, we've talked about what it looks like to keep God at the center of every area of our lives, covering relationships, priorities, and parenting. As we finish this series, we end on the topic of honoring your parents. For some people, this comes naturally. For others, this topic carries pain, tension, grief, or difficult memories. We recognize that every family story is different, and not every relationship is simple or healthy. Life groups should be a safe place to process honestly while continuing to come back to what scripture teaches us about honor, wisdom, forgiveness, and healing. The goal of this topic is not perfection or pretending. The goal is to invite God into our relationships and allow Him to shape our hearts and align us with His Word.

Many of you have heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Whether you are currently raising children, have grown kids, hope to one day be a parent, or simply play a role in a child’s life as a mentor, relative, or friend—this conversation matters. Scripture shows us that children are deeply valued by God, and each of us has an opportunity to influence the next generation. Today we’ll explore what it looks like to put God first in how we shape, guide, and invest in young lives through relationships, discipline, and spiritual leadership.

In today’s culture, friendships are often built on convenience or common interests, but Jesus shows us how to have deeper friendships. He teaches us that friendships should be marked by selfless, intentional, and sacrificial love. This week isn’t just about identifying good friendships; it’s about becoming the kind of friend who reflects that kind of love. Today we will look at the friendship between David and Jonathan as an example.

Last week, we talked about putting God first in every area of our lives. This week, we’re zooming in on relationships, especially marriage, but this isn’t just for married couples. Whether you’re single, dating, engaged, or married, the foundation is the same. God’s design for relationships doesn’t start when you say “I do” it starts with who (or what) you’re building your life on right now. The truth is, every relationship is being built on something. The question is: will it last? This week we’re looking at what it means to build relationships God’s way; strong, steady, and centered on Him.

Before we talk about marriages, kids, friendships, or dating, we have to start with something deeper—what it really means to know God. It’s easy to build our lives around relationships and still miss the most important one. We can even do things “for God” and yet never truly know Him. In this series, we’re going to look at all our relationships—but only after we get this right: God was never meant to be one part of our lives. He is meant to be at the center of it all. Because if we don’t know Him, every other relationship will eventually feel out of order.