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Study Guide: Hunger Games

Sunday October 19, 2014 | Greg Boyd

Focus Scripture:

Brief Summary:

We begin a new series this week on emotional intelligence and the roles this plays in our relationship. This week we take a look at the role Jesus plays in our relationships and the importance of letting Christ be the source of where we fulfill our need for love.

Extended Summary:

This week we begin our Heart Smart sermon series. This week we will be focusing on what it means to love others as Christ loves us. In order for us to live in healthy relationships with others in our lives, we must first understand what it means to be fully loved by Jesus. Our troubles in relationships begin when we seek others as our source of life. Every person has a desire to be loved in the way only Christ can love them. We can often identify this need to be loved in people around us. Sometimes we see people looking to their spouse, families, or friends to get life outside of Christ. This searching to be filled by others results in damaging effects on our relationships, as well as on our own self-worth. Our hunger to be love can only be met and filled through the true source of life–through Christ.

Our job as Christ followers is to recognize the only way we are able to truly satisfy our need to be love is through our relationship with Jesus. In cultivating our intimacy with Christ, we will begin to grow closer to him. As we begin to do this, we will learn to see ourselves the way Christ sees us. We will find the love we are looking for in him and our self-worth will pour forth from his love alone. By filling our hunger in the way God desires for us to be satisfied, we will no longer have to rely on other people to tell us who we are or what we are worth. While it may still be painful to deal with people who hurt us, we will no longer be defined by what they think of us. In short we can say it like this: The health and beauty of our relationships with others will never outrun the health and beauty of our relationship with Christ.

Reflection Questions:

Greg Boyd’s Discussion Intro

  1. Describe your family and what role you played in it? Who set the expectations for your family members?
  2. Did your family have a hero award? What hobby, skill, attributes, or special interests were rewarded or favored?
  3. What specific areas of your life are you trying to have filled by someone other than Jesus?
  4. What experiences have you had in your life that describes a relationship that one person is seeking life from another rather than Jesus?
  5. Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you felt numb? What caused this feeling to begin and how did you come out of it?
  6. How do you act differently in your different relationships today? Describe how you act differently in situations, such as; at work, home, church, or with friends.
  7. What spiritual disciplines do you use or think would be helpful for you to use in order to build your relationship with Christ?

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