MESSAGE: The Cups                                       Date: 4/20/2025

COMMUNICATOR: Pastor Kevin Geer

CHECKING IN: What’s one moment or experience from your week that really stood out to you, and why do you think it made such an impact?

Share Wins: How have you experienced God’s (insert 1-2 fruit of the Spirit here) this week? Have you seen Him answer a prayer, remind you of His presence, or use you to bless someone? How do you see Jesus working in your life or in the world around you?

THINK, DISCUSS, LIVE: These questions are ideal for personal devotion or group discussions, guiding you to grow spiritually, engage deeply in biblical community, and live out your faith in the world around you.

1. Choose your favorites: Coke or Pepsi, McDonalds or Five Guys, Hummus or Guacamole, Corvette or Ferrari.  
2. Read Matthew 26:38-44. What are some of your general thoughts from this passage?
3. Why do you think Jesus asks his disciples to “stay here and keep watch with me”? Why do you think they struggled to watch and pray? 
4. In verse 39, Jesus prays, ‘Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ Have you ever faced a situation where you had to surrender your own desires in order to follow what you believed was God’s plan? If so, how did you navigate that experience?
5. In verse 41, Jesus tells them, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” What does this mean, and how does it apply to our own lives? 
6. Why do you think Jesus prayed more than once, even after saying he was willing to follow God’s will? Do you think it’s okay to keep praying the same prayer over and over until you get an answer? Why or why not?
7. What does this passage teach us about how to handle suffering and difficult decisions?
8. How does Jesus’ struggle in Gethsemane prepare him (and us) for the trials that follow? How does His example or prayer bring comfort and assurance that God is with you and has the situation under control?
9. Read Revelation 14:10-11a and Romans 6:23. What do these verses reveal about the consequences of sin, and how does following Jesus change your present and eternal future? What are you being saved from, and what are you gaining through Him? How do these verses motivate you to pray harder for your lost friends?
10. Read James 1:5-7 What does it say about asking God for things? Can you think of a difficult situation in your life right now where you need God’s wisdom and guidance? Take a moment to talk to God about it in prayer.
11. TAKING NEW GROUND! This week, take new ground by praying for God to move in a specific and seemingly impossible situation. It may be a need for healing, a financial challenge, an estranged relationship, someone’s salvation, or something else that only God can handle. 
12. THE TRANSFORMATIONAL MODEL: Update your current position within the Canvas Circle, Jesus Friends Circle, and Lost Friends Circle. In what specific ways are you growing more like Jesus, reflecting His love and teachings to others, and drawing closer to the center of the diagram?

2025 LIFE CHANGE CHALLENGE: We’ve created a Bible reading plan to help us go through the entire New Testament in a year. Read or listen to just one chapter a day, five days a week. Simply go to the Canvas Church app. and click on ‘Bible Reading Plan.’ If you prefer to listen, that option is available too! Join us on this life changing journey! 

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP PRAYER OPTIONS:  “prayer is not merely asking for needs, but a conversation with God about what matters to both of you.” Dallas Willard

1. Praise Sentences: Take a moment to offer short sentence prayers of thanks to God for who He is and what He has done this week. Allow multiple people to pray, even more than once. Then, lift up the needs shared within your group. Finish by thanking Him for hearing your prayers.  
2. Invite Jesus into the challenges you or a loved one are facing right now, trusting in His presence and guidance. As you pray aloud, encourage one another with your words.
3. Pray for the person on your right, it can be out loud or in silence, if in silence nudge the person next to you letting them know you are done. 
4. Prayer Clusters: Groups of two or three (by gender) and share your week together. Pray together and for each other. Send them a text, or leave a message letting them know you have prayed for them this week. 

PRACTICE ON YOUR OWN: What if you made it a daily habit to ask God what He wants you to know? Whether in every situation or just the ones that come up, take a moment to ask. Then, ask what He would like you to do—whether it’s a specific action or a way to apply what He reveals. Try it and see what happens!

KEEPING TRACK OF HIS ANSWERS: Keep an ongoing list of prayer requests and the answers to those prayers. This will help everyone in the group stay up-to-date on each situation, celebrate wins when prayers are answered, and encourage us to keep praying when the answers haven’t come yet.