Open Heaven

Life Group Announcements 

1. For LG leaders only:
   1. This is week 1 of 11.
   2. Always feel free to use different material other than the life group questions. Your group may be hungry for something else.
2. Baptism / Potluck is coming up January 14th. Ask people in your group if they would like to be baptized, maybe share a little about your baptism (A lot of people feel intimidated by the baptism, or do not feel ready for it) If you feel they are ready, encourage them to be baptized. Baptism will be right after 2nd service, followed by a potluck and the staff will be sharing their vision for 2018.
3. You may have new people show up to your group, make sure they feel welcomed and comfortable in the group. Explain a little about the group like “Welcome, we start at 6:30 and we end sharply on 8 pm. We are going to be talking about (talk about the material you are going through or the sermon). We encourage everyone’s’ participation, and at the end, we will take about 15-20 minutes to pray for each other”…

Life Group Questions 

1. Any testimonies of the goodness of God that you would like to share with the group?
2. Pastor Joe Read Genesis 28:10-17, John 1:47-51, and Mark 1:10 and he mentioned that we live in a season (New Testament) that the heavens are open. Always open. The access to heaven is always open, and that we are bringing heaven down on a daily basis. Let’s talk about this 2-way street, that we can go to God any second of the day, and that we can bring heaven down also every minute of the day.
3. We learned Sunday that we’ll never enjoy some of the blessings of God if we do not believe them. Example: God says that you are forgiven, and you are stuck in guilt. God says that you are loved and blessed and deep inside you don’t feel that way,… Let’s talk about having faith that God’s blessings are for each one of us as we believe in HIM and HIS word/promises, and DO what he says about that area of life.
4. We leaned that many times we do not see Go’d blessings because we have an agenda. Our agenda puts God in a box, and blinds us from seeing God’s blessings in other areas of life. Example: You are waiting for a spouse or a better job, and that is the only thing you are focused on. God may be blessing you in 10 other areas but your agenda is blinding you to see HIS goodness and faithfulness in your life. Let’s talk about it.
5. Pastor Joe mentioned “being stuck” spiritually, emotionally, etc… Is there an area that you are feeling stuck so that the group can pray for you and help you get “unstuck”.

Scripture for Gates of Heaven

• John 1:47-51 -When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in
  whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
  Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called
  you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of
  Israel.” 50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You
  will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see
  ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
• Mark 1:10 – Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
• 1 Corinthians 6:19 – Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
• Ephesians 2:22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.