Summer of Grace • Message Discussion Guide

How to Experience a Summer of Grace

Pastor Kendrick Vinar • June 4 & 7, 2026

Pastor Kendrick kicked off our Summer of Grace series with a simple but powerful framework for the season ahead. Summer isn't just a break from routine, it's an invitation to experience God in a new way. He walked us through three areas to be intentional about this summer. Feeding our spirit, resting our soul, and refreshing our body. The big idea is this: take God on vacation. Don't take a break from Him, take a break with Him.

Icebreaker

What does your ideal summer day look like (low-key, packed with adventure, or somewhere in between)?

Key Bible Passages

  • Ephesians 3:16-19 – Strengthened with power through His Spirit.
  • Psalm 23:2-3 – He leads me beside still waters and restores my soul.
  • Hebrews 4:9-11 – Strive to enter God's rest.
  • 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – Fix your eyes on what is unseen and eternal.
  • 1 Timothy 4:8 – Godliness has value for all things.
  • Matthew 11:28-30 – His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Next Steps

Feed your spirit:

  • Take God on vacation, not a vacation from God. Make room for prayer, worship, and learning.

Rest your soul:

  • Fight for rest. Cast your cares on Him. Stop carrying weight in your own strength.

Refresh your body:

  • Eat well, sleep well, and move your body. Get outside and enjoy the summer.

Practice hospitality:

Host one dinner this summer. Ask better questions. Build real friendships that refresh you and the people around you.

Discussion Questions

1. Pastor Kendrick said "we don't need a break from God, we need a break with God." How easy or hard is it for you to bring God along into your summer rhythms instead of pausing your spiritual life until fall?

2. He talked about "the speed of soul," our calendars and bodies often go faster than our souls can keep up with in a healthy way. Where is your life currently outpacing your soul, and what needs to change?

3. Hebrews 4 says to strive to enter God's rest. What's one "weight" you've been carrying in your own strength that you sense God inviting you to let Him carry this summer?

4. Of the three areas (feed your spirit, rest your soul, refresh your body), which one is God putting on your heart most right now, and what's one specific change you can make this week to be intentional about it?

Prayer

God, slow us down enough this summer to actually receive what You have for us.

Feed our spirits. Help us make real room for You in the rhythms of our days, not just the leftovers.

Rest our souls. Show us where we have been striving in our own strength and teach us how to let You carry the weight.

Refresh our bodies. Give us the wisdom to take care of what You have given us.

Make this a real Summer of Grace, where we encounter You in new ways and become more like Jesus.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Dream Team Weekend • Message Discussion Guide

Strength to Make a Difference

Adam Dawson • May 31, 2026

On Dream Team Weekend, Adam celebrated all that God is doing in and through the volunteers of Grace Church and gave us an invitation. Not just to do more, but to receive the strength God supplies to make a difference. Drawing from 1 Peter 4:10-11, he walked us through three kinds of strength God gives us. Strength to initiate, strength to overcome, and strength to grow. Serving isn't a transaction, it's a transfer. We don't serve to get something. We serve because God has already given us everything. The big idea is this: making a difference is not a someday calling. It's a right-here, right-now invitation to receive God's strength and join in with what He is already doing.

Icebreaker

What's a time someone served you in a small way that ended up meaning way more than they probably realized?

Key Bible Passages

  • 1 Peter 4:10-11 – Use your gifts to serve with the strength God supplies.
  • John 5:17 – My Father is always working, and so am I.
  • Matthew 20:28 – Jesus came not to be served, but to serve.
  • 1 Corinthians 10:31 – Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
  • Galatians 6:9 – Let us not grow weary in doing good.
  • Philippians 1:6 – He who began a good work will carry it on.

Next Steps

Strength to initiate:

  • You don't have to feel strong to start. God supplies strength as you take the next step.

Strength to overcome:

  • Serving will stretch you. God doesn't just give strength to start, He gives strength to keep going.

Strength to grow:

  • When you serve, God builds humility, joy, compassion, and purpose in you. Serving is part of God's health plan for your life.

Take a next step:

If you're not on the Dream Team yet, fill out an interest card or talk to someone this week. There's a place for you.

Discussion Questions

1. Adam said serving is a transfer, not a transaction. Where in your life have you been tempted to serve to get something (approval, recognition, identity) instead of to give something?

2. He talked about the "enemies of serving," fear of being used, fear of no return, growing weary, transactional serving. Which of these has been the loudest voice in your life, and how is God meeting you in it?

3. Adam said "we are most fulfilled when the arrows of our lives point outward rather than inward." What does that look like in your everyday rhythms, work, family, friendships, neighborhood, not just at church?

4. God gives strength to initiate, overcome, and grow. Which one do you need from Him most this week, and what's one step of faith you can take to receive it?

Prayer

God, thank You for the gifts You have given each of us, and thank You that You invite us to be part of what You are already doing.

Give us strength to initiate where we have been hesitant, strength to overcome where we have grown weary, and strength to keep growing into who You are calling us to be.

Keep our arrows pointed outward. Help us serve from the abundance of what You have already given us, not from a place of trying to earn anything.

Make a difference in us so that You can make a difference through us.

In Jesus' name, amen.