Small Group Discussion Guide

"Single Parents: It's a Station in Life"

Pastor Linda Hufton

1. SERMON RECAP

Pastor Linda Hufton encouraged the congregation to view single parenting not as a permanent identity but as a station in life, one that God fully equips every solo parent to navigate with courage and faith. Drawing on the story of Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27, she challenged single parents to see themselves as solo adventurers, like Paul, whose faith and trust in God ensured that not only they but everyone sailing with them reached safety. She reminded the entire congregation, regardless of marital status, that God himself is a spouse to the single parent and a father to their children, and that staying rooted in the house of God is one of the most powerful things any family can do in the middle of a storm.

2. KEY SCRIPTURE

Psalm 27:13-14 (NKJV)

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord."

3. ICE BREAKER

Think of a time in your life when you had to do something completely on your own that you never expected to face alone. What surprised you most about that experience?

4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Pastor Linda introduced the idea of thinking of single parenting as going "solo" rather than simply being "single," comparing it to a musician launching a solo career or Charles Lindbergh flying solo across the Atlantic. How does the language we use to describe a difficult season actually shape the way we face it? Can the group think of other examples where reframing a hard situation changed someone's perspective?

2. In Acts 27, Paul stood up in the middle of a violent storm and declared that everyone on the ship would survive, even though not one other person believed it. Pastor Linda pointed out that Paul's faith covered the entire crew, not just himself. Who in your own life has been a "Paul on the ship" for you, someone whose faith held steady and carried others through? What made that person's faith so influential?

3. Pastor Linda noted that 67 percent of single-parent homes in America do not attend church, and she urged single parents to stay in the ship, meaning to remain committed to gathering together with the body of Christ even when life makes it exhausting and inconvenient. Why do you think difficult seasons are often the very times people drift away from the church rather than leaning into it? What practical barriers make it hardest for single parents specifically to stay connected?

4. Psalm 68:4-5 describes God as a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows. Pastor Linda extended this to say that God is a real and active spouse and parent to those raising children alone. Does that idea feel comforting, challenging, or both to the group? What would it look like in daily life to actually relate to God in that way, bringing him the joys, the struggles, and the decisions that a spouse or co-parent would normally share?

5. Pastor Linda pointed to Esther and Moses as examples of people who grew up without both parents present, and yet God used them in extraordinary ways. She challenged the group not to let the world's statistics define what is possible for children in single-parent or non-traditional homes. Where does the group see the tension between taking real challenges seriously and refusing to let those challenges become a ceiling on what God can do?

6. Pastor Linda spoke honestly about seasons in her own family when she felt like a single parent even within marriage, such as during her husband's year of cancer treatment, and she encouraged married couples and childless adults to see themselves as part of the village surrounding single-parent families in the church. What would it look like for this small group specifically to be that kind of support? Are there gaps the group could actually fill for single parents in the congregation?

5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE

This week, each group member should identify one single parent in the church or in their personal circle and take one specific, practical action to lighten that person's load. This could be as simple as offering to pick up a child from school one afternoon, dropping off a meal without being asked, or sending a genuinely encouraging text that names something specific and admirable about how that parent is raising their child. The action should require something of you, whether time, money, or intentional thought, and should be completed before the group meets again.

6. PRAYER POINTS

• Pray for single parents in the congregation and community by name where possible, asking God to make himself known to them as a real and present spouse and parent, not in a theoretical sense but in tangible, daily provision and wisdom.

• Pray for the children being raised in single-parent homes, that God would be a father to the fatherless in their lives, surrounding them with godly voices, protecting them from the lies the world tells about their limitations, and calling out the Esther and Moses potential in each of them.

• Pray for the congregation as a whole, that it would grow into a genuine family that does not leave solo parents to navigate the storm alone, and that the 67 percent of single-parent homes not connected to any church would find their way into a community of faith.

7. MEMORY VERSE

Psalm 27:13 (NKJV)

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."