Life Group - Leader Guides

God’s Word is alive—it speaks as clearly today as when it was first written. Throughout this series we traveled through the story of scripture. This week we reach one of its most awe-inspiring moments: the Gospels. The Old Testament closed in silence as Israel waited for the promised Messiah. Then the quite broke with the best news ever: God Himself came near in Jesus Christ! Four Gospels, one Messiah. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each present the same life-changing truth—Jesus is the Savior—yet each highlights unique details. Four eyewitnesses describing the same event from different vintage points, their perspectives weave together a rich, complete picture of who Jesus is.

As we pick back up and travel on through the Bible in our series Eden to Eternity, we arrive on the scene where the Israelites have been in captivity to the Babylonians due to their sin and disobedience. Now they have returned and are starting the process of rebuilding. God is giving them a fresh start. Many of us may find ourselves in a very similar situation in life. This past weekend we learned some biblical principles to rebuilding God’s way.

This past Sunday we were blessed to hear from our founding Pastor Mike Madding. He reminded us that humility doesn't come naturally—it's something we must intentionally cultivate. In this culture we are constantly pushed to climb higher, be noticed, and prove ourselves. But Jesus points us in the opposite direction: the path of humility. True humility is not weakness; it’s strength under control. It’s not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less—making space for God and others. This week, we’ll look at what God really desires from us and how we can walk in the way of Christ’s humility.

This week we look into a time in Scripture where the Israelites wanted to be like all the other people around them. Other nations had kings, so they wanted one as well, so they asked God for a king. As you can imagine, and as we will see, this was not God’s plan or His best for His chosen people. But like we often do, they demanded their way and so begins a long journey of difficult consequences to the choice they made to have a king “like everyone else,” instead of God as their true King.

What in the world are prophets? They were chosen by God to be a spokesperson to deliver His will to the people. The prophets had to draw near to God, hear His voice, and know His will. God calls us to do the same—we need to spend time in the quiet listening for His voice. This week we learned from the prophet Samuel that listening isn’t just about hearing—it's about responding. The prophet Micah summed it up this way: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Samuel models for us how to hear and respond to God's voice, and Micah reminds us of what to do once we’ve heard it.