Pete Wilson - Empty Promises Participants Guide

EMPTY
PROMISES
The Truth About You, Your Desires, and the Lies Youve Believed

PARTICIPANTS GUIDE

PETE WILSON

2012 Pete Wilson

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Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

The publisher is grateful to ECHO Creative Media (Dawn Sherill and Brenda Noel) for writing assistance and collaboration in developing the content for this guide.

Quotes and excerpts have been taken from the trade book version of Empty Promises 2012 by Pete Wilson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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All Scripture quotations are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Empty Promises Participants Guide

ISBN: 978-1-4185-5056-1

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

Life is a journey. Its a journey that began the moment you were conceived and it will continue throughout your existence. There are certain things your soul longs for on this journey and, whether youve realized it or not, your life is shaped by your search for themworth, significance, acceptance, love, peace, and beauty are needs felt by all.

Most people have a burning desire to discover a reason for their existence. We feel an all-consuming need at our very core to discover meaning and purpose in life. We search diligently for a source that will meet that need and provide us with the contentment found in knowing who we are and why were here. Our search may take us down many roads. We may set our sights on people, places, things, situationsany number of things we believe will provide us with the answers to our deepest questions. Wherever our life choices take us, we all continually seek to have our deepest needs met.

I believe that the need to know our purpose and the persistent yearning to have our souls genuine needs met was placed within us by our Creator God. He wants us to seek for the only thing that will ever truly satisfy our soulsthe Person of Jesus Christ.

Im convinced that only through Him will we ultimately discover our souls contentment. Our longing souls wont discover rest until we rest in Him.

We are a people wired to worship. All of us treasure something or someone above anything else in our lives. We give our devotion to somebody or something. So for me, the question isnt, do we worship?, the question is, what are we worshipping?

Each person in this small group knows the inner hunger to find real answers to the very genuine questions we all share. As we walk together through these few weeks, we will begin to discover truths about our world and about ourselves. We can support and encourage each other along the way as we travel together on this journey toward understanding our search for identity and meaning.

THE EMPTY PROMISES GROUP EXPERIENCE

Our search for meaning in life can be a lonely quest. We make wrong turns and often end up lost. By joining together with your small group as you pursue the truth behind your desire to find meaning and significance, you join with fellow travelers who are trying to navigate the same road. The support and encouragement you can be for one another cannot be overrated.

While walking this road together, we will encounter real-life situations and emotions that will challenge us to be real with ourselves, each other, and God. I hope you find the time you spend exploring and sharing your hopes, dreams, insights, successes, and failures with your small group to be enlightening and life changing.

In order to create an environment where each person is free to be authentic and open, its important to agree on some small group ground rules from the start. First, create a safe zone for your group. This means that nothing said in the group can be repeated outside the group. Each persons story is his or her own and should only be told by that person. Treating one another with respect and compassion will create a true sense of community that will grow from week to week. In this environment of respect, you should value and protect the emotional, spiritual, and physical space of everyone in the group; no one should devalue a fellow group member in any way, and no one can be touched by another person without permission.

The purpose of your small group is to invite open and honest sharing from your life, but there are some circumstances that call for limited sharing. Steer clear of sharing anything that will put another person in jeopardy, could lead to legal problems, could reflect poorly on someone else, or that you dont have clearance or prior permission to speak about.

Everyone should feel free to share without receiving criticism, advice, or condemnation. You will be on a journey of discovery, telling your own stories and encouraging others to do the same. When someone shares, be sure to thank them for sharing or ask a follow-up question to clarify something they said. Sharing is not an invitation for lecture, correction, or judgment. Your group should be a safe place for all, a place where each person is encouraged to participate as they are able. Avoid letting one person dominate the conversation. Instead, operate according to 1 Corinthians 13:47: giving to each other true love, kindness, and patience; bearing, believing, hoping, and enduring all things.

So as we agree to be real with ourselves, each other, and God, lets begin. Lets help one another come to the place where we can all learn to say no to empty promises and yes to Gods purpose for our lives.

Leaders Guide available for free download
at www.emptypromisesresources.com

During your small group time, you will watch a DVD together that will introduce the main idea and discussion topic for each session. In this guide, you will find that main idea and discussion topic as well as the discussion questions. Your group may not always get through all of the questions in each session. That is just fine. There may be certain questions that hit home with your particular group and will take up the majority of time for that session. The point is not to get through all the questions. Just use these questions as a way to dig deep into each life within your group. It might help to use your own journal in conjunction with this guide to record any extra notes or thoughts you may have.

At the end of each session, this guide includes five days of personal devotions. These devotions are not meant to be homework. They are simply designed to help you continue thinking, meditating, and reflecting throughout the week about what youre experiencing and learning in your small group. Use these devotions to help you learn more about yourself and Gods plan for your life.

Session 1
THE WAITING
ROOMS OF LIFE

GROUP DISCUSSION

GETTING STARTED

Watch DVD session 1.

AFTER THE VIDEO

Is there anyone who has not felt the nagging emptiness inside that longs for something: to be a little more beautiful, a little more wealthy, a little more successful, a little more powerful? We always want a little more. But it is never enough. We look toward tomorrow with hungry eyes, waiting for the thing that will finally satisfy us.