This unit will be unlike any other. While this unit will have teaching, that’s not the focus. Throughout the next 3 weeks you’ll actually begin to practice these disciplines, working these habits into your daily rhythms. You’ll have homework. So know that if you decide to do this week there is a heavy commitment involved. You’ll skip meals, wake up early, read your Bible every day, or some other disciplines. If you want to really take a step forward in your life as a Christian, learning to make these disciplines a regular habit will spur you toward maturity. The Christian life is lived, not known about. Especially if you as a group are looking for challenging ways to grow, do these disciplines and see how they affect your walk with Christ.
1. Body
2. Soul
3. Mind
Okay, okay, you might be thinking “this again?” But this unit centers in on all angles of thinking about sexuality. And sexuality is a hugely important topic on campus. Students face a culture where sexual expectations and pressures are everywhere they look. The questions about sexuality abound—from Christians and non-Christians alike: “How do I stay pure?” “How can I build a good foundation for my relationship?” “Why does the Bible care so much about my sex life?” “Why in the world does same-sex marriage even matter?” And all this is wrapped up in understanding God’s purpose and desire for human sexuality.
1. Dating & Singleness
2. Marriage
3. Sex & Pornography
4. Homosexuality
Scripture is a key value for M-Groups, so this unit will be an in-depth study of it. This unit will largely be expository, so you’ll be reading a section of Galatians and figuring out what it says. By the end of the unit you will understand how the letter fits together and what Paul is trying to tell the Galatians, as well as how that relates to us on a college campus. A couple of these weeks may be a little longer with content, but that’s okay. Learning to read Scripture is a wonderful way to use time otherwise spent on accountability.
1. Galatians 1-2
2. Galatians 3
3. Galatians 4
4. Galatians 5
5. Galatians 6
The titles for each of these weeks might at first be confusing. But if you combine them it actually forms this quote by the famous preacher John Wesley: “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” The first week will talk about a good approach to making money. Is making a lot of money wrong? What’s the Jesus way to live when we’re rich? The second week is about stewardship. What does the Bible say about saving money and providing for a family? Further, what are practical tips for doing this? The third and final week is about giving. There’s no doubt Jesus calls us to sacrificial giving–how do we model this?
1. “Make all you can…
2. “…Save all you can…”
3. “…Give all you can.”
One of the biggest questions in college is “What is God’s will for my life?” College is a time where we train for the careers that we’re going into, but often in the midst of college we don’t know what it is we’ll end up doing. So we worry about what job we’ll have or what major we’ve chosen, and whether any of it really is what we’re supposed to do. This unit will address some of these questions, discussing work, God’s will, and living out God’s will for you in your career.
1. Two Naked Farmers
2. What’s God’s Will for my Life?
3. Jesus on the Job
Of course, guys and girls wrestle with a ton of the same issues in trying to follow Jesus. But there are certain topics or struggles that are more likely to come up among a group of guys. That’s what this unit is for. We’ll center in on a male perspective and think about some key issues. The temptation of our appetites. Pride. What it means to be a man—not just a boy who can shave. And we’ll do all this by looking each week at one of the temptations Jesus faced in the desert (Matthew 4). After all, he’s the ultimate example of what it looks like to be a man of God.
1. Appetite (sexual temptation)
2. Acceptance (pride & cultural pressures)
3. Ambition (being a real man)
To say that there are topics or temptations only girls struggle with is silly (guys certainly can and do struggle with issues like identity or depression, after all). Still, this unit focuses in on a few key issues that girls specifically wrestle with. We’ll look at 3 areas that girls around our ministry have identified as especially difficult struggles for girls in college. This one’s for us, girls.
1. Identity
2. The 3 P’s (performing, people-pleasing, and perfectionism)
3. Depression & Anxiety
The title pretty much explains this unit. But properly understanding these two little words is so important. Heaven and hell are so much more complex, interesting, and significant than the popular pictures of halos and pitchforks really communicate. A proper perspective on these eternal realities should change everything: from the way we live and work here on earth to the ways we talk about (and represent) Jesus to our friends.
1. Heaven
2. H-E-DoubleHockeySticks
This unit you’ll go through some of the major encounters in the Gospel of John. In this gospel Jesus meets people from every background and walk of life. You’ll spend the next 8 weeks looking at and discussing the way Jesus interacts with these people, and see how these stories set an example for how we—on a college campus—should encounter him today. You’ll also learn a bit about the text of John and discuss some of the themes that are important to his story about Jesus (and, because of that, important to us).
1. The World Encounters the Word (John 1)
2. Nicodemus Encounters Life (John 3)
3. A Samaritan Woman Encounters Living Water (John 4)
4. A Blind Man Encounters the Healer (John 9)
5. The Disciples Encounter the Servant (John 13)
6. Pilate Encounters the Truth (John 18)
7. The Soldiers Encounter the King (John 19)
8. Mary Encounters the Resurrection (John 20)
