Small Group Discussion Guide

"Decisions...Decisions...Decisions"

Pastor Willie Russell

1. SERMON RECAP

Pastor Willie Russell opened by reminding the congregation that every area of life is shaped by the decisions we make, and that the most important decision any person will ever make is to receive God's love and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He traced God's original design for family from creation through scripture, showing that adoption into God's family was never an afterthought but rather God's plan from before the foundation of the world. He challenged the church to understand that God's will is God's word, and that every blessing, promise, and inheritance available to believers is written in that will and waiting to be received.

2. KEY SCRIPTURES

Psalms 84:11 "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless."

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Psalms 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

3. ICE BREAKER

What is one decision you made this past week that seemed small at the time but turned out to matter more than you expected?

4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Pastor Willie shared that before he accepted Christ, he was searching for love in places that could never truly satisfy that longing. He described how the enemy offers counterfeits, things like temporary pleasure or distraction, to fill a void that only God can fill. Where have you personally seen people, or even yourself at an earlier point in life, looking for love or belonging in places that ultimately came up empty?

2. Pastor Willie pointed to Ephesians 1:4-5 and made the bold claim that adoption was always God's plan, not a backup strategy but the original design. What does it do to your understanding of God's character to know that he chose you and planned to adopt you before the world was even created?

3. Pastor Willie used the image of a will being read aloud after someone passes, and he said that healing, joy, and prosperity are all written in God's will, which is his word. He said you have to know what the will says in order to claim what belongs to you. How consistently does your group feel it is actually reading and studying that will? What gets in the way of spending regular time in scripture?

4. Pastor Willie drew a sharp contrast between spiritual abortion, which he described as the enemy's attempt to destroy God's purpose for a person's life, and spiritual adoption, which is God's plan to bring every person into his family. Can anyone share a moment when it felt like the enemy was trying to abort something God had placed in them, and how they found their way through it?

5. Pastor Willie referenced John 14:18, where Jesus promises he will never leave his followers as orphans or lonely, and he connected that to Psalm 68:6, which says God places the lonely into families. He made the point that coming to church is not simply a weekly habit but an act of belonging to a spiritual family. How does your group practically help one another avoid that spirit of loneliness that Pastor Willie described, even among people who appear to have full lives?

6. Pastor Willie closed by saying that God is not worried about the enemy aborting the plan, because God's only concern is whether each person will make the decision to follow him and receive his love. What is one area of your life right now where you sense God is asking you to make a clearer decision to trust him fully?

5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE

This week, each group member is encouraged to find one specific promise from scripture, whether related to healing, identity, provision, peace, or purpose, and write it on a notecard or sticky note placed somewhere visible, such as a bathroom mirror, a car dashboard, or a kitchen counter. The goal is to read that promise aloud at least once each day for the next seven days as a reminder that the inheritance is real, it is personal, and it is already written in the will. Group members should come back next week ready to share which promise they chose and what shifted in their thinking by reading it daily.

6. PRAYER POINTS

• Pray that every person in the group who has ever struggled to believe that God's love for them is truly unconditional would have a fresh and deep revelation of that love this week, especially those who have found it difficult to separate their earthly father's limitations from who God is as Father.

• Pray for any group member who is currently facing a significant crossroads or difficult decision, that God would grant them clarity through his word, surround them with wise counsel, and give them the courage to trust his plan rather than lean only on their own understanding.

• Pray for the church as a spiritual family, that the congregation would grow in genuine connection with one another, that those who are lonely or feeling like outsiders would find real belonging, and that the group itself would be a place where people feel known, loved, and welcomed into the family of God.

7. MEMORY VERSE

Ephesians 1:5 "In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will."