Small Group Discussion Guide

"Expectation" by Dr. John Avanzini

1. SERMON RECAP

Dr. John Avanzini taught that while every believer understands God can do anything, it is expectation — the active, focused anticipation that He will act — that positions us to receive miracles. He drew on the healing of blind Bartimaeus, the widow with the pot of oil, and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to show that genuine expectation changes behavior before any miracle arrives. He challenged the group to stop limiting God by sizing their requests down to fit small faith, and instead to keep their eyes on the prize rather than the price.

2. KEY SCRIPTURE

Hebrews 12:1-2 — "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

3. ICE BREAKER

Think of a time you were genuinely excited waiting for something — a trip, a gift, a piece of news — and your anticipation actually changed how you acted in the days leading up to it. What did that feel like, and what did you do differently while you were waiting?

4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Question 1 Dr. Avanzini drew a distinction between knowing God can do something and genuinely expecting that He will do it. In your own experience, where do you find that gap showing up most — in your prayer life, your finances, your health, or somewhere else entirely?

Question 2 He pointed to the widow in 2 Kings 4 and noted that she could have borrowed far more vessels than she did — and the oil would have kept flowing. He suggested that we often "choke miracles down to fit our little faith basket." What do you think causes people to set the ceiling so low when they bring a need to God? Is it humility, unbelief, past disappointment, or something else?

Question 3 Job 3:25 says, "The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me." Dr. Avanzini used this to warn that wrong expectation — rooted in fear — can be just as powerful as faith-filled expectation, but in a destructive direction. How do you personally tell the difference between a legitimate concern worth addressing and a fear that is crossing into expectation of disaster?

Question 4 Blind Bartimaeus threw off his beggar's coat before he could even see — a concrete action taken before the miracle arrived. Dr. Avanzini described this as real expectation prompting real change. Can you think of a practical "beggar's coat" in your own life — a habit, a mindset, or a label — that you may be holding onto because you have not yet fully expected your situation to change?

Question 5 Dr. Avanzini observed that Jesus moved from anguish in Gethsemane to enduring the cross when He shifted His focus from the price to the prize — "the joy that was set before him." He applied this to giving, suggesting that when people fix their eyes on what it costs to be generous, the gift becomes heavy, but when they fix their eyes on what the gift produces, it becomes a joy. Where else in the Christian life does this principle of "eyes on the prize" apply beyond giving?

Question 6 Mark 11:22-23 presents faith as speaking to a mountain with no inner doubt. Dr. Avanzini connected this to Ecclesiastes 5:18, which frames full, uninterrupted provision as a person's portion — something already designated for them. How does understanding provision, healing, or blessing as your designated portion rather than a lucky outcome change the way you pray and speak about your needs?

5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE

This week, identify one specific need — financial, physical, relational, or vocational — that you have been praying about hesitantly or with a small ceiling. Write it down, then rewrite it as a confident statement of expectation rooted in a specific scripture promise. Speak that statement aloud each morning before leaving home, and take one concrete action before the week is over that reflects your belief that the answer is already on its way.

6. PRAYER POINTS

• For bold expectation: Ask God to replace vague, hopeful wishing in the group's prayer lives with grounded, scripture-anchored expectation — the kind that produces action before the answer arrives.

• For courage to remove the "beggar's coat": Pray that each member would have the courage to identify and lay aside the labels, habits, or mindsets they have accepted that contradict what God has already promised them.

• For eyes on the prize in giving: Pray specifically for the group's generosity toward mission work and those in crisis, asking that every member would experience the shift Jesus experienced — from feeling the cost of giving to seeing clearly the lives that generous giving will reach.

7. MEMORY VERSE

Hebrews 12:2a — "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame."

Encourage members to come back next week ready to share what happened when they put their application challenge into practice.