Small Group Guide: Week of 3/15
Enduring Faith: James 4
To view this guide as a PDF, click here.
This week’s guest preacher is Rev. Dr. Eun Strawser. She is the co-vocational lead pastor of Ma Ke Alo o (which means "Presence" in Hawaiian), a non-profit organization of missional communities in Honolulu, HI. She is an adjunct professor at the Leland Center for Theological Studies and Northern Seminary, the author of Centering Discipleship: A Pathway for Multiplying Spectators into Mature Disciples (IVP 2023) and You Were Never Meant to Lead Alone: The Power of Sharing Leadership (IVP 2025), and is the co-founder of `Iwa Collaborative, a consulting and content developing firm to equip kingdom-grounded leaders to center discipleship in their local place. She also serves on the executive board for the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA).
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Opening Discussion
Introductions & check-in
Introductions: Share your name (and pronouns if you’d like) and if you’re new or a returning member.
Icebreaker suggestion: What is a small joy you look forward to regularly?
High/Low exercise
Give each member a chance to share their highest points and lowest points of the past week/month.
Additionally or alternatively, you can invite the group to share a word, emotion, or phrase to describe how they’re coming into the group this week.
Community Care
Share any established community care practices, expectations, or discussion guidelines. Consider inviting the group into conversation, asking for feedback or additional suggestions. (Find more on community care practices here.)
Digging Deeper
This Week’s Sermon
What from Sunday’s sermon …
Has stuck with you?
Raised questions for you?
Pastor Eun introduced the Hebrew word hokma meaning wisdom, not as knowledge you accumulate, but as a craft you develop through practice and love over time.
What's one area of your faith that feels like it's still in the early stages?
What's one area where you've noticed real growth?
James 4 frames humility as the access point to God's wisdom about what is actually good and bad.
What makes it hard to surrender that kind of judgment to God?
Where does that feel most difficult in your life right now?
James writes, "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you." Pastor Eun pointed out that "coming near" in Hebrew is the same word as offering as it carries the idea of desperation and longing, not just proximity.
What does it look like for you to actually draw near to God right now?
What are you bringing as an offering?
James warns against boasting about tomorrow, making plans as if we are in control of what comes next.
Where do you feel the tension between planning wisely and holding your plans loosely before God?
What helps you cultivate humility in that space?
Each of the people in Pastor Eun's stories had a long season of wrestling before they said yes - Kevin prayed about it for a year and a half, Melissa kept searching Zillow, Kelsey sat on the vision for three years.
What does that kind of patient, prayerful discernment look like in your own life?
Is there something you've been sitting with that might be worth bringing back to God?
Kelsey's vision cost her most of her small group. Melissa stayed in a two-bedroom condo when she wanted more. Kevin tried out for a pickleball reality show. None of it looked like faithfulness from the outside.
What assumptions do you carry about what faithfulness is supposed to look like?
What assumptions might God be inviting you to let go of?
The residents in Kelsey's building said things like "we are loved and not forgotten."
Who in your neighborhood, workplace, or circle of daily life might need to hear that same thing — and what would it take for you to be the one who shows up for them?
Pastor Eun reminded us that if we do our faith only through reading and knowledge, or only through doing good works without knowing Jesus, we're missing the kingdom.
Which side do you tend to default to?
What would it look like to hold both together more fully?
Prayer
Praying for one another regularly is an essential part of small groups. You’re welcome to design your gathering however you’d like, but encourage you to include prayer time each week.
Prayer Requests
Give the group a chance to share prayer requests. If it’s helpful, utilize categories like praises/requests.
Spend time praying for one another and the requests made.
Depending on the group size, it can be helpful to break into smaller groups to share requests and pray for one another.
Some groups use prayer partners throughout a semester.
Community Updates
Guys Night
Guys! Join us at our next Christ City Men’s event on Friday, March 20 at 7pm. We’ll be attending the Capital City Go-Go’s Basketball game at the CareFirst Arena. The Go-Go’s are the G-League team for the Washington Wizards and they’ll be taking on the Windy City Bulls! Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at go.ChristCityDC.org/CCCMen.
Lent
We continue in the season of Lent, the week leading up to Easter Sunday. We invite you to join us for each of the events scheduled as a way to reflect on the passion and resurrection of Christ. (You can find more at christcitydc.org/lent-easter)
Continue to share with your small group that Christ City Church is asking everyone to join us each weekday morning through Lent @ 7:00am for Morning Lenten Prayers. You can join Christ City pastors, staff, and elders each morning for 20 minutes of prayer and praise through the Lenten season. Join at go.christcitydc.org/lentenprayer
Daily Lenten Devotionals; Our Daily Lenten Devotionals, “Enduring Faith” can be found at: https://christcitydc.org/lent-2026
Miner PTO
In one of our longest standing partnerships, Christ City is continuing to work with Miner Elementary to provide childcare during their monthly Tuesday PTO meetings. This allows Miner parents to attend and be engaged at the school and in their child’s education.
We’re hoping small groups can mobilize to provide childcare from 5:45-7:30p. Christ City will provide craft materials and pizza! Once you choose a week with your group, sign up HERE.
