SERIES TITLE
30 Days To Live Week 4
series overview
What if you knew you only had 30 Days to Live?
What would matter most?
Who would you prioritize?
What would you change?
This powerful new series explores how clarity about our time can transform the way we live right now. We’ll discover how to focus on what truly matters, let go of what doesn’t, and live with deeper purpose, greater faith, and lasting impact.
Don’t just count your days. Make your days count.
sermon TITLE
Learn Humbly
The Blessing of a Broken Road
weekend in review
In this deeply personal message, Gene shared the story of his own broken road — a devastating betrayal at the height of early ministry success that threatened to define him by his worst moment. Rather than allowing pain to become a prison, he offered four hard-won lessons from that season: don’t pull out of life and community; disinfect the wound through forgiveness; allow God to work in you through brokenness; and trust God to work through you even in weakness. Using a surprise detour during a recent trip retracing Paul’s journeys, he reminded us that God doesn’t waste detours — He writes destinies through them.
WARM UP
Think of a time when a plan went sideways — a trip, a job, a relationship — did something unexpected turn out better than what you originally hoped for? Share it with the group.
DISCUSSion
Select questions from the list below to guide your discussion time.
- Gene described living for years as a “solo sapien” — someone with many acquaintances but very few people who truly knew him. How much of that do you recognize in yourself? Historically, what has made it difficult for you to let people in?
- Read Psalm 34:18. Gene said God is never closer than when we’re on a broken road. Does that match your experience? If so, how? What does “God being close” look like practically in the middle of pain?
- One of Gene’s most honest moments was describing the hatred he carried toward the man who hurt him — and then the conviction to forgive him and pray for him. Read Ephesians 4:31–32. What is the hardest part of forgiveness for you personally? Is there a wound you’ve been carrying that needs to be “disinfected”? Have you ever disinfected a wound like this and experienced what Gene was talking about?
- In 2 Corinthians 12:9, God tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Gene said his most painful season also became one of his most fruitful. Where in your life have you seen God show up most powerfully through your weakness rather than through your strength?
- Gene said, “The people who serve the most are often the ones who are healed the most.” Read John 4:28-30 to see an example of this in action. Gene also reflected that if you had 30 days to live, you wouldn’t spend them spectating — you’d spend them serving. What is one way your own broken road — your processed pain — could become someone else’s hope? What’s keeping you from stepping into that?
WRAP UP & PRAYER
Close your time together by praying specifically for one another. Consider praying through these themes:
- Courage to stop pretending and take the risk of authentic community
- Freedom from bitterness and the grace to forgive those who have hurt us
- Faith to trust God in the detours and broken roads we didn’t choose
- Eyes to see how our own healed wounds can become a source of hope for others