Life and Leadership Under Pressure

THE TEXT: 1 Samuel 21.

KEEP IN MIND: “I was ” is generally an unacceptable . Well-intentioned lead to real-world .

| 1 Samuel 21:1-2 | Matthew 12:3 | 1 Samuel 22:18-22 | 1 Samuel 21:10-15 | 1 Samuel 27 |

Four keys to making better decisions when living under big pressure.

• , get some , and then some .
• Be with and tell them the .

| Ecclesiastes 4:12 | Matthew 18:20 |

• Be where it’s and be where it really .

| Matthew 12:1-8 |

• REMEMBER: is a (the?) way God .

| 1 Samuel 22:22-23 |

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS

What do you think?

Have everyone quickly re-read and recap the main points from Sunday’s message. What particular point stood out to you, challenged you, or raised a question for you?

The story of your life.

1. On Sunday, Pastor Kyle talked about how to navigate life and leadership under stress. What types of situations tend to make you more stressed (last minute things, messy house, work issues, etc.)? What types of situations put you more at ease (the beach/nature, conversations with friends, a fun trip, church stuff, the Bible, etc.)?
2. Tell about a stressful time in your life when you were still able to sense God’s presence. 

Digging deeper.

1. This past Sunday we saw that David went from hero to fugitive on the run, all alone. The stresses of David’s situation led him to make compromises and poor choices that carried real-life consequences. Today we are going to focus our discussion on a couple Bible stories where the characters had to trust God in the midst of stressful situations. Read Acts 16:16-40 and answer the following prompts.
   1. Have a few members of the group recap the story using their own words.
   2. Cite as many different types of stressful situations in the story as you can find for each character.
   3. What lessons can we glean from Paul and Silas in this story about how to handle stressful situations? What about how to better support others going through stressful situations?
   4. In light of this, is there anything you need to do differently?
2. Perhaps the most stressful night in all of biblical history was the night before Jesus was crucified. Read the story from Matthew 26:36-46 and answer the following prompts.
   1. Have a few members of the group recap the story using their own words.
   2. Cite as many different types of stressful situations in the story as you can find for each character. 
   3. What lessons can we glean from Jesus here about how to handle stressful situations? What about how to better support others going through stressful situations? 
   4. In light of this, is there anything you need to do differently?
3. The following verses offer hope to hold onto in the midst of stressful situations. Read them one at a time and share an insight from each one.
   1. Psalm 55:22.
   2. Matthew 11:28-30.
   3. Philippians 4:6-7.
   4. John 14:27.
   5. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

Personal reflection and application.

1. Have everyone share one thing someone else said that struck a chord with you.
2. Break up in groups of 3-4 (if possible), preferably men with men and women with women for prayer.