Pre-Decide, Week 1 | This Week

For leadersBefore you startLeader note, central theme, and the suggested activity

Leader Note

This is the last message in Pre-Decide, and it is the one people will feel. Everybody in your room has something they started and stopped.

So do not rush the last two questions. The night is not about naming the race. It is about naming who is running it with you.

Central Theme

Most people do not quit because they stopped caring. They quit because they ran out of strength and nobody knew to step in.

God does not ask anyone to finish the whole race in one move. He asks for the next step. And Philippians 1:6 says the One who started the work is the One carrying it to completion.

Suggested activity

Reflecting on the Series

Before you start the next thing, help your group name what the last thing did to them

Open Reflecting on the Series →

Message Review

Watch the messageI Am a Finisher · YouTube

We have been talking about what it means to pre-decide who we are before we are in the middle of a hard moment. This week we looked at the last piece of that: being a finisher. It is easy to start something with excitement. It is a lot harder to stay in it when things get difficult, when progress slows down, or when we just get tired. Paul wrote to Timothy near the end of his life, from prison, waiting to be executed. He was not writing from an easy place. But he could say he had fought the good fight and finished the race. He was not calling Timothy to do anything he had not already done himself.

The truth is, most of us do not quit because we do not care. We quit because quitting feels like the easier option, and we are wired to look for the path of least resistance. But God does not ask us to finish the whole race in one move. He asks us to take the next step. And when we run out of strength to take that step, we are not on our own. Philippians 1:6 says God who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion. That is the promise we are holding onto this week. Not that it will be easy, but that we will not be finishing it alone.

Discussion Questions

Pick the questions that fit your group tonight. You do not have to cover them all. How the questions work.

Getting started

We all start things with the best intentions. The tricky part is what happens when it gets harder than we thought it would.

What is the longest you have ever stuck with something that got harder than you expected?

A race worth finishing

Paul wrote these words from prison, waiting to be executed. He was not looking back with regret. He was looking back knowing he had stayed in it to the very end.

In 2 Timothy 4:7, Paul says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” What race do you feel like you are in the middle of right now?

The next step, not the whole thing

It is easy to feel stuck when we look at how far there is to go. But nobody finishes a race by thinking about the whole race. They finish it by taking the next step in front of them.

What is a relationship, habit, or goal in your life right now where you are tempted to stop taking steps?

Running for something bigger than yourself

Paul said his life meant nothing to him next to the task he had been given. He was not running for his own comfort or reputation. He was running for God.

In Acts 20:24, Paul says his only aim is to finish the race and complete the task God gave him. What would it look like for you to name your life’s “one aim” right now?

When you run out of strength

There is a difference between finishing a race on your own and being carried across the finish line. Both still count as finishing.

Philippians 1:6 says God “who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.” Where would it help most to hear that this week?

Let the group carry it

Sometimes the reason we quit is not that we stopped caring. It is that we ran out of strength and nobody knew to step in.

Is there something you feel like God is asking you to keep going on, but you are running low on strength for? Tell the group what that is so they can carry it with you this week, whether that is checking in, praying for you, or just asking how it is going.

Prayer Focus

If there's time, start by sharing prayer requests. If you're short on time, start a text thread to collect them.

Use these to guide your group in prayer, whether out loud together or in a moment of quiet reflection.

For endurance. Ask God for the strength to keep taking the next step, even when progress feels slow or the finish line feels far away.
For honesty. Ask God to bring to mind what you have started and not finished, and for the courage to name it instead of ignoring it.
For strength when you are tired. Ask God to meet you in the moments you feel like quitting, and to remind you that He carries what He starts.
For your group. Ask God to help this group show up for each other this week, especially for anyone who named something they are struggling to finish.

For leadersAfter groupNext steps this week

Go last on the final question. If you name something you are running low on strength for, everyone else can.
Write down what people said in that last round. That is your follow up list for the week.
Actually check in. Pick one person and text them midweek about the exact thing they named.

Next Week

Fall groups start. Week one is Your First Night, which is Story Cards and the group overview.