Review this week's message.

Key Thought: Life hits hard, but we need to get up and get back in the game.

Start talking. Find a conversation starter for your group.
· How can pain or problems create focus? · Do you have a favorite story of someone overcoming a hit to achieve victory?

Start thinking. Ask a thoughtful question.
· God does not cause hard knocks, but how have you seen Him use them for goodness? · What kinds of action, when taken immediately, help us bounce back from a hard hit in life?

Start sharing. Choose questions that create openness.
· Share the story of the last time you were knocked down. If you haven’t overcome that hit, if you’re comfortable doing so, share with the group the reasons why. · What is God asking you to be faithful in doing through your hard knocks?

Start praying. Be bold, and pray with power.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for how you use the hard hits we take to transform us. Our stories of struggle become stories of Your love, power and glory for everyone. Let us see the lessons we can learn in the school of hard knocks, so that we may be a living testimony for those who do not have a relationship with You yet and for those who have a similar struggle and are seeking help and hope. We pray all this in your Son’s precious and holy name. Amen.

Start doing. Commit to a step and live it out this week.
· Many of us may not get back in the game for ourselves, but we would for others. Share the list the people who are your motivation to get back in the game. · Whether you have been knocked down recently, or were knocked down a while ago, write down how you will get back in the game for God. · As a group, create a list of reminders to help us commit to listening to our Father the next time we take a hit.

Scriptures

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NLT “Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus…” 2 Corinthians 4:11 NLT “...so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.” 2 Corinthians 4:11b-12 NLT But we continue to preach… 2 Corinthians 4:13a “ ...because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, ‘I believed in God, so I spoke.’” 2 Corinthians 4:13b We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 2 Corinthians 4:14-15 NLT That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 NLT So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT The deeper the pain, the greater the potential to be used by God – Pastor Bil Cornelius