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Leader discussion guides and training for Calvary Chapel Lake of the Ozarks.
Welcome to this week's Life Group Leader Podcast for the winter session of Life Groups. This resource is designed to encourage, inform, and equip you as you lead your Life Groups well. Each week, we'll highlight the main idea from Sunday's Bible teaching, offer helpful insights for leading discussion, and share practical encouragement to help you shepherd the people God has entrusted to you. For your convenience, you can find the digital version of the leader guide in the show notes or online ccloto.org/sermes. Now let's dive in together as we walk through this week's message and leader guide together.
Speaker 2:Good morning, LifeGroup leaders. How we doing? Here we are. Winter, which is, let's just be honest, a big lie. I mean, the calendar says winter, but the weather, I guess, technically isn't.
Speaker 2:Winter is not till like January. But like this time last year, we were covered in snow. Remember last year, we had to cancel the first Sunday of the year, and we had, like, two inches of ice everywhere, and now it's, like, 70 degrees out. It's crazy. Whatever.
Speaker 2:But it is our winter session of life group. So glad that you guys are joining us again. And like some of you, man, you've been on the roller coaster the whole time. I love it. And some of you are like, hey.
Speaker 2:This has just been within the last year. We love that too. This is gonna be great. It's so exciting just to see more and more new people getting plugged in, jumping into life groups, you know, just an opportunity just to share life, love on one another, care for one another, and and every person just in a unique way just helps grow the group, stretch the group, even us as leaders. So so excited.
Speaker 2:Here we go. And we're in Malachi. I mean, what more exciting book could there be than Malachi? I know you're probably thinking that like, really? I'm loving it.
Speaker 2:So to be straight up honest, all the sermon prep for all of Malachi is already done. So I'm just excited for what the Lord has just as I'm reading through my notes each week. I'm just excited. So we got Malachi. We got vision Sunday, CalCon.
Speaker 2:Hello. Get signed up. You're gonna be absolutely blessed with pastor Ed Taylor. I just cannot cannot urge enough. And then, what else we got?
Speaker 2:What's after that? Oh, you know, that one little book, we we call it Romans. I'm so excited. So excited. So here we go.
Speaker 2:So Malachi one starting in verse six, and we're gonna read all the way into two. Right? Because again, the chapter and the verse divisions were added in like the 15 hundreds. Doesn't mean it it really had a great stopping point, you know? So last week we read five verses.
Speaker 2:This week, we're gonna read 500 verses. This is how the cookie crumbles. This is how it's going down. And so every sermon so the whole sermon series returned to me is journey through Malachi. Right?
Speaker 2:Every sermon is a return to and so this week, it's return to his worship. Right? So the dispute that they're having, the Lord is asking, where is my honor? You know, Israel lost its honor, its fear towards God. They despised his name, and they just brought like their offerings were lame.
Speaker 2:Like, not like, oh, that's stupid lame. Like, no, literally lame. Like the sheep couldn't walk. They're lame, they're blind, they're sick. They gave their worst, not their best.
Speaker 2:Like if it was back to Cain and Abel, I'm gonna tell you who they were. We could all probably guess, right? Definitely not Abel, they would be Cain. And so, kind of a funny thing in verse eight. God says that their offerings were so bad the government wouldn't even take them, and the government will take everything.
Speaker 2:So I thought that was funny. So here we go. Jumping into like, what does it mean to return to his worship? Now here's the problem. The priest who were to represent Israel and how to approach a holy God.
Speaker 2:Right? Like, they they're lame. They had no reverence. You know? They they weren't really caring about God's law and his word.
Speaker 2:They weren't really walking in godly character. They weren't preserving his word. Like, they're just they were just kinda lame sauce. And when you have spiritual leaders that are lame, why in the world do we think that the worship and their sacred their offerings were gonna be anything but that? Right?
Speaker 2:It it just kind of goes without saying. And so you you kinda have like a double whammy of of this passage because it goes together. Right? You listen to a lame Bible teacher, you're gonna get a lame Bible teaching. Like, that's just what it is.
Speaker 2:And I'm like, be boring about anything else, but don't be boring about God's word. Like, this is the word of God. Let's go. So return to his worship. Three, sermon points for us.
Speaker 2:In worship, not everything that is offered to God is accepted by God. Right? It's kinda like not all prayers does God listen to. And every time I say that people, like, really get in a fit about it. Not everything that we offer in worship to God is accepted.
Speaker 2:Like, you know, I can't offer and be like, oh, I'm going to offer my third wife up and worship to you Lord. Like, Nope. He'd be like, that's a no for me, dog. Nope. Not going to happen.
Speaker 2:Right. Second sermon point. Even in this rebuke, God's heart is not rejection. And I love that. God's heart is not rejection, but it's an invitation to return to me.
Speaker 2:So even though the priests are lame, the sacrifices are lame, God's upset, ticked off, yelling at them, their mouth and back. He could say, and I'm done with you. Get the heck out. And what's he doing? No, it's an invitation to return.
Speaker 2:I love that. So even for us. And then lastly, God desires relationship, not ritual. Right? How many times do we get stuck in that same thing where it's we think it's about what we do, not who we are in Christ.
Speaker 2:So going back to the first one and worship not everything that is offered to God is accepted by God. God rejects offerings that cost the people very little. Think of David when he bought, you know, the land. He's like, I I don't wanna offer something unto the Lord that didn't cost me nothing. Right?
Speaker 2:So what are some modern day leftover quote unquote offerings we might bring to God? And why do you think God takes those serious? You know, where, again, like, at one point that we're we'll talk about here, he's like, he'd prefer that you would just stop. And he simply says, I have no pleasure in you. Like, if we're gonna bring lame offerings, if we're gonna bring something that costs very little, like, he'd prefer you just to stop.
Speaker 2:Like, what are we doing here? Just just playing house? Just playing church? Like, no. He doesn't want that.
Speaker 2:And so what are some of these modern day leftover offerings that we bring to God? You know? And when we look at that, if we're gonna be truly honest with ourselves, is that real worship? Like if Jesus walked into Calvary Sunday morning and said and walked up on stage, is that really is that really how we would sing? Is that really what we would give?
Speaker 2:Is that really how we would serve? Is that really the heart we would have for broken people? You know? I don't know. Even in this rebuke, God's heart is not rejection, but an invitation to return to me.
Speaker 2:So a couple of comparisons, you know, it's a scripture reference. You know? So I want you to look at Joel two, read that as a life group. Read Luke 15, you know, the prodigal son. How do these passages reshape the way we view repentance?
Speaker 2:Not as a punishment, but as an invitation. You know, I just love the story of the prodigal son. And as he returns to his father, you know, he had a story all worked up ready to tell his dad and his dad interrupts his repentance to say, what are you talking about? And he puts a robe on him, a ring on him, some sandals, kills the fattened calf, man he's rejoicing. You know, that's God's heart, not rejection, but an invitation.
Speaker 2:And then lastly, God desires relationship, not a ritual. God desires steadfast love, Hosea six six, rather than sacrifice. Jesus said this multiple times, multiple times, and people really did not like it. And so how can religious routines quietly replace genuine relationship? And how do we guard against that?
Speaker 2:Do we think it's something that we walk in the building and we put up with the music, we put up with what the pastor says? Yeah, we go to LifeGroup. I mean, but if we don't have a relationship with the Lord, you know, if there's not a moving in us day in, day out, you know, in small ways and big ways, like if we're like, how easily can it get replaced just by the little routines? You know? And so that's something we need to be on guard against, you know?
Speaker 2:Rhythms and routines, predict like those are good things. But sometimes I think we put our hope in the routine. Right? Like the the spiritual disciplines, that's not the end goal. Fruit of the spirit, fruitfulness, that's the goal.
Speaker 2:Reaching broken people, that's the goal. Reaching lost people, that's the goal. Growing in Christ, growing in our faith. That's the goal. You know, not the spiritual disciplines, not the routines and ritual.
Speaker 2:So, well, that's what I got. First week, man, coming swinging, swinging, right? The bell rings in the boxing match of life groups and, like, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray. I don't know if you want us. Muhammad Ali.
Speaker 2:There we go. Like Muhammad Ali swinging for the fences, bobbing and weaving. Here we go in a fight. So so excited that you guys are part of this. Praying for you.
Speaker 2:Hope you got the last email. As life group leaders, there's a little bit of encouragement, couple frequently asked questions that we get. And then hopefully this podcast is something that just helps. Supplement as you leave your life groups. Know that we're praying for you.
Speaker 2:We're in your corner, cheering you on. And if there's anything we can do to support, please reach out to us. Love, peace, chicken grease. Here we go.