The Manhood Talks | Week 4

    Week 4: Identity & Integrity | Walk Worthy of Christ

Before the Meeting | Preparations

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MEETING PREP CHECKLIST:

1. Listen daily to the audio guides.

2. Check in daily on your discussion group.

3. Watch the Week 4 Leader Video (4 min).

4. Review this Leader Guide & prep the challenge.

5. Preview the Week 4 Group Video (12 min).

BRING TO THE MEETING:

1. Bible, journal, pen, & this guide.

2. Video display with Week 4 Group Video cued up.

3. Giant paper/board with “Identity” and “Integrity” on either side and lots of room to write.

4. Paper, envelopes, & stamps for each man in the group (for “Letter to your future self” activity).

RECIPE OF THE WEEK:

Leftover Pizza. Instructions: Buy too much pizza yesterday. Serve chilled.

WEEK 4 GOALS:

Identity: Know who you are in Christ.

Integrity: Walk worthy of his calling.

LEADER TIP OF THE WEEK:

Follow-up is key! Flukes are forgotten. Habits get hardwired. Use these keys to make it stick:

Assess what worked. Review the experience, ask the guys, and repeat the good stuff.

Keep the Bible habit. All of your guys just kept a 22-day Bible habit. That’s amazing! Challenge them to keep it going by starting another Bible book with Through the Word. We suggest “Journey #1 | Start” through Mark & Colossians, or great books for guys including Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and James.

Review what you learned. We just covered a lot of deep content. If your guys are interested, invite them to go back and dig into to each of the 18 daily audio guides. together one at a time.

DISCUSSION PREP: Men bond over words. Guide them!

This week we’re reading Ephesians to find two things.

Identity: Ephesians 1-3 is all about who we are in Christ.

1: Chosen. God chose us as his sons before we deserved it.

2: Alive. We were dead & God raised us. Saved by grace!

3: Loved. Dig your roots into God’s love & water the root.

Integrity: Ephesians 4-6 is about walking it out.

4: Walk worthy of his calling—in humility and unity.

5: Walk in light & love. Submit, lead and love like Jesus.

6: Stand your ground. Suit up & prepare for battle.

Our discussion will focus on how we form identity, how we find our identity in Christ, and what it means to live with integrity to the identity we claim.

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Group Meeting

ICE BREAKER (8 MINS):

What essential habits help you grow as a man? Ask each man to share a habit that has helped them mature. Then discuss the habits you want to keep moving forward.

GROUP VIDEO (12 MINS):

Identity & Integrity

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (30 MINS)

Start with prayer and the Rules of Engagement: Speak with Grace, Listen with Humility, & No Shaming. Then open your journals to discuss the following:

Activity Part 1: Identity. Open the large paper/board with “Identity” and “Integrity” at the top. Under “Identity,” start with a few things they remember from “How God sees us” last week. Leave room. Now look over your journal entries from Days 1-3 this week. Pick out key phrases and write them under “Identity.” (e.g., saved by grace, not works, God’s workmanship, rooted in God’s love, etc.).

Discuss: How can those things transform the way we see ourselves as men? (Focus on grace. It’s key!)

Activity Part 2: Integrity. Look over your journal entries from Days 4-6 this week. Pick out key words for the “Integrity”side. These represent your walk (in light, in love, in unity, etc.). Write “walk worthy” at the bottom.

Discuss: Work together to make connections between the “Identity” list and the “Integrity” list. How do elements of your identity show up in your walk?

Thinker: What if we reversed it? What if you did the “Integrity” stuff to earn the “Identity” stuff?

Letter to Your(future)self: Hand out paper & envelopes. Write a letter to your future self about who you are and remind yourself of any lessons from this series you don’t want to forget. Address, stamp, and give back to your leader. Leader: Don’t forget! Set a reminder (with location you stored them) to send them back in exactly one year!

Bonus: Use four colors to write the words: faith, strength, courage, & love. Work together to mark each word under “Integrity” with F/S/C/L for the virtues required to live out each element of your walk.

Take Home Truth: Identity comes before integrity. First figure out who you are, then live it. Water the root, not the fruit!

FOLLOW-UP (10 MINS)

Manhood Talks is done! Ask the guys for ideas to follow up. What lessons to remember? What habits to keep? How can you take responsibility for your own next steps? How can you keep each other accountable?