This weekend, Coach Dungy is going to show us that mentors have the power to speak life-changing words to us and that mentor relationships don’t have to be formal ones. In fact, some of Dungy’s strongest mentoring relationships were informal ones.

If you are interested in learning more from Coach Dungy about mentoring, you can buy his book at this link: http://www.amazon.com/Mentor-Leader-Secrets-Building-Consistently/dp/141433804X. Also, here are a few of the questions you can expect to find in this week’s Talk It Over study guide that will help you as you prepare to lead your LifeGroup through this weekend’s message:

• What is the most life-changing thing that has been said to you by a mentor?
• Who do you think God is calling you to mentor currently? What will be your next step beginning that relationship?
• How are you mentored by Christ on a regular basis?

The topic of Toxic Religion could be a difficult one for some people in your LifeGroup this week. Be prepared as you lead your group to encounter those who have incredible amounts of baggage, confusion and even pain from the toxic religion they have experienced. Make your time together a time of healing rather than of frustration. Also, as you lead your LifeGroup through the Talk It Over questions this week, do not allow your LifeGroup time to become just a gripe session about how bad religion is. Strive to focus on that fact that we all can be delivered from the damage done by toxic religion by turning our full attention on our relationship with Christ.

Pastor Craig will be using a number of scriptures in his message including Galatians 1:6-7, Matthew 23:25 and Luke 18:9-12. You might take time to study these passages as your prepare to lead your group through this message. Also, here are a few of the questions that you can expect to see in this week’s Talk It Over study guide.

• How have you seen toxic religion pervert the gospel of Christ?
• Why do you think so many of us base our identity on things other than Christ?
• What are some things you can do that can help you keep more focused on Christ and not on toxic religion?

In his message, Pastor Craig is going to show us how to guard our hearts from toxic words.. He will also show us how to change our toxic words that we speak into live-giving words.

As you prepare to lead your LifeGroup through this message, here are a few of the questions you can expect to find in this week’s Talk It Over study guide:

• How are toxic words impacting your life currently?
• What type of words do you tend to speak most? Life-giving or toxic? Explain.
• In what ways can you guard your heart against toxic words?
• Who do you need start speaking more life-giving words to? How will you go about doing it?

For week three of Toxic, Pastor Craig is going to show us the negative impact toxic relationships can have in our lives. We will also learn what the Bible says are the best ways to deal with toxic relationships. In his message, Pastor Craig will be using a number of scriptures including 1 Corinthians 15:33, 2 Timothy 2:16-17, Matthew 16:23 and Genesis 39:12. You might take some time to study these passages as you prepare to lead your LifeGroup through week three of Toxic.

Also, here are a few of the questions that you can expect to find in this week’s Talk It Over study guide:

• In what ways have toxic relationships impacted your life and your relationship with God?
• In what ways are you being a toxic influence in your relationships? Which toxic behaviors do you tend to exhibit the most in your relationships?
• What types of healthy boundaries do you need to establish in your relationships? How will you go about setting these boundaries?

As you lead your LifeGroup this week, create an environment of openness and share with your group those toxic influences you have in your life. Your transparency and openness will encourage others to do the same in your group. Also, as you prepare to lead your group, here are a few of the questions that you can expect to find in this week’s Talk It Over study guide:

• What are some of the toxic influences you currently have in your life? How have you seen these influences pollute your life?
• What standards are you using to filter out toxic influences in your life? How do think your standards match God’s?
• What things do you need to focus on that will help you draw closer to Christ?

For week one of Toxic, Pastor Craig is going to look at “Toxic Thoughts”. All of us have dealt with toxic thoughts in our lives. Toxic thoughts can be negative, fearful, thoughts of discontentment or critical. While toxic thoughts can negatively impact our lives, Pastor Craig is going to show us how we can replace toxic thoughts with God’s truth through the renewing of our minds.

In his message, Pastor Craig will be using several scriptures including 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Proverbs 4:23, Jeremiah 12:3, Philippians 4:7-8 and Romans 12:2. You might consider taking time to study some of these scriptures as you prepare to lead your LifeGroup. Also, here are a few of the Talk It Over study questions than you can expect to find in this week’s study guide.

• Which types of toxic thoughts do you experience most: negative, fearful, discontented or critical? Give examples of your toxic thoughts.
• How do your toxic thoughts negatively impact your life and relationship with God?
• In what ways do you renew your mind and focus your thoughts on God’s truth on a regular basis?
• What are some things you can do to guard your mind from toxic thoughts in the future?

Pastor Craig has lined up four great movies once again for us this year in which he will show us relevant Biblical truths that can be found in some of Hollywood’s most popular movies.

Because of various legal reasons, we cannot share with you in advance which movies Craig will be preaching on. Therefore, we will be unable to preview the At The Movies sermons each week on this blog as we typically do.

Even though we cannot preview the sermons to help you in preparation for leading your LifeGroup, the same great Talk It Over resources you have come accustomed to will still be available during At The Movies. You can download both the print PDF questions and videos by clicking here.

At The Movies is a great opportunity to kick back and have fun with your LifeGroup, as well as invite new people to try out your group. Make the most of this great opportunity to grow your LifeGroup over the next four weeks.

LifeGroup leaders, I want inform you of a great event coming up later this summer for our Ladies of Life. The Women of Faith conference is coming to Oklahoma and will be held on August 27 and 28 at the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa. This two-day conference is an incredible opportunity for women to hear from some of the top speakers in the nation such as Sheila Walsh, Luci Swindoll and Michelle Aguilar, as well as experience some great worship music from such artists as Natalie Grant. You can learn more about the conference at this link: http://www.womenoffaith.com/tulsa/.

Jennifer Hicks who is one of our awesome LifeGroup leaders is sharing her group rate with the rest of the campus for any ladies that would like to attend. The cost is $89 per person for the conference and does not include hotel. If you are interested in buying tickets, call the Women of Faith guest relations phone line at 1-888-476-8749 and tell them you are registering with the Life Church Women of Faith group. Be sure and tell the representative that you are buying tickets under the account number 1888024 in order to receive the $89 price. The deadline to buy tickets is July 9. If you are interested in staying overnight in Tulsa, then please contact Jennifer at 405-816-9716 or designingdivainteriors@yahoo.com. You can also call or email her with any questions.

Be sure and pass this information to all ladies that are a part of your LifeGroup. We would love to see a big group go from the Northwest campus.