Leader Guide week of 1-21-08

Small Group Leaders Guide
January 20, 2008

How To Make A New Start

Getting Started:

1. What’s your favorite fish to eat? To catch? Do you like lake, stream or ocean fishing?

Going Deeper:

2. In verse 5, Peter explains to Jesus why His suggestion wont work but then agrees to do it anyway. Have you ever been prompted by God’s Word to do something that didn’t make sense at the time? Share the event with your group.

3. Read about Peter’s reaction to the success of their fishing trip in verse 8. Why does Peter want Jesus to “go away”? What emotions do you think are being experienced by Peter? Is Peter afraid? If so, of what?

• Exodus 33:18-20 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." 19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

4. Compare Peter’s reaction in verse 8 to Isaiah 6:5. How is Isaiah’s reaction similar or dissimilar to Peter’s? Continue reading the verses that follow. What do you see happening in these verses that alleviates the tension we are reading about? What are the resulting responses?

5. In verse 10, Jesus tells Peter that he will now “catch men.” What does Jesus mean by this? What can be learned about the process of catching men from what Peter just experienced?

6. As you read verses 8 and 10, why do you think Jesus chooses to use a “sinful man” in the endeavor of “catching men?”

7. “I’m a good person” is a statement you will hear often when discussing with people their need for a savior and how God has provided for that need. Do you think it’s important for a person to arrive at the conclusion that Peter did in verse 8? Why or why not?

Putting it into practice:

1) Have you gone “fishing” lately? Pray to be used by God to “catch men.” Pray also for God to be preparing the people you are talking with and inviting to church.



Quote Of The Week
People in general, Christian people in particular, tend to divide sins into two categories: their sins and our sins. The Bible, of course, knows no such distinction. Sin is sin, without partiality shown to the sins of God’s people—our sins.
--Joe Bayly