Worship

Listen to a Worship song (If you need suggestions you can use one from the YouTube Playlist for this week) or express something that you are thankful to God for.

Welcome

1. Check In – Did you sense and leading or prompting from the Holy Spirit this week?
2. Read this quote from Henri Nouwen: “At issue here is the question: “to whom do I belong?  To God or to the world?” Many of my daily preoccupations suggest that I belong more to the world than to God.  A little criticism makes me angry, and a little rejection makes me depressed.  A little praise raises my spirits, and a little success excites me…Often I am like a small boat on the ocean, completely at the mercy of the waves.” Have you ever felt this way?
3. What are some of the signs that someone might be struggling with approval addiction?  Is it different when you are a child, teen and adult?

Word

1. Read: 1 Corinthians 4:3-5 and Galatians 1:10
2. How might your life change if you had the same attitude as the apostle Paul, when it comes to being judged and criticized by other people? 
3. Why is it so hard to maintain this kind of attitude day in and day out?
4. We often “confuse our performance in some aspect of life with our worth as a person.” What are some of the most common areas of life that people tend to use as a measure of their personal worth? What areas are you tempted to use?  What can you do to fight this tendency?
5. Read Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
6. What is Jesus trying to teach us about secrecy in our faith?
7. What are some other areas of our spiritual lives (besides praying, fasting and giving) that this lesson should impact?
8. What do we lose as soon as we begin to flaunt our acts of service and spiritual accomplishments? What are some of the blessings and rewards if we practice secrecy?
9. What are some practical ways we can apply this principle?

Prayer

1. Pray that your group would find their validation in God.  Ask God to help each person to live with a profound awareness that God is the only audience that really matters.
2. Pray for any other concerns that your group has.

Witness

How can this principle help us to reach out in our community?