Group Discussion Guide – Week 1

Series: Family: Covenant Relationships
Week 1 Title: Husbands and Wives – The Covenant of Harmony

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Icebreaker

• Share a funny or memorable “marriage moment” you’ve witnessed (or experienced) where differences between men and women were on full display.
• Example prompt: “What’s one thing you discovered about your spouse (or another family relationship) that made you laugh once you realized how different you are?”

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Discussion Questions

1. Intimacy = Life
Read John 17:3 (NLT): “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one You sent to earth.”

• What does this verse teach us about intimacy with God?
• How does spiritual intimacy with God shape our other relationships?

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2. Intimacy Requires Intentionality
Read Genesis 4:1 (NLT): “Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant…” (Older translations say, “Adam knew Eve.”)

• Why is it important that the Bible uses the same word for knowing God and knowing one another?
• What happens to our relationships when intimacy becomes about self-gratification instead of reflecting God?

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3. Marriage is God’s Idea
Read Genesis 2:21–24 (NLT): “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep… This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

• Why is it significant that marriage was instituted by God and not man?
• How does seeing marriage as God’s covenant change the way we approach it?

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4. Contract vs. Covenant
Read Luke 22:20 (NLT): “After supper He took another cup of wine and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.’”

• How is a covenant different from a contract?
• In what practical ways can we make sure our marriages (or family relationships) are covenant-based rather than contract-based?

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5. Marriage as God’s Sermon
Read Ephesians 5:25, 31–32 (NLT): “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church… This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.”

• How does marriage reflect the gospel to the world?
• In your opinion, what’s one way a husband or wife can make their marriage a “sermon” about Christ’s love this week?

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Prayer Focus

• Pray for marriages represented in the group—strength, laughter, healing, and renewed intimacy.
• Pray for those who are single or dating to approach relationships with covenant intentionality.
• Pray that every family relationship in our church reflects God’s covenant love and brings life.

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Leader Insights / Prompts

• Encourage honesty and vulnerability in the group, but also keep the tone lighthearted and grace-filled.
• Remind the group that covenant applies beyond marriage—every family relationship carries spiritual weight.
• Close the discussion by leading the group in one or two of the faith declarations from Sunday’s message:
  • “My marriage is a covenant anchored in God.”
  • “Every covenant in my life will reflect the covenant I have in Christ.”