SERIES TITLE
En Fuego Week 2
series overview
When a player can’t miss a shot…
When the food is extra spicy…
When emotions are running high…
You could say it’s “En Fuego!” This summer, we’re diving into the fires we encounter – anger, bitterness, pain, and even the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. Together, we’ll discover how God meets us in the middle of the heat and uses even difficult seasons to shape, strengthen, and transform us.
sermon TITLE
Smoldering
weekend in review
Mike continues the En Fuego series with Week 2: Smoldering, focused on bitterness and forgiveness. Building on last week’s teaching about anger, Mike shows how unresolved anger left to smolder becomes a self-imposed prison of bitterness. He unpacks why we must forgive: because God has forgiven us, and because bitterness is a stupid, costly choice with zero benefit. He also clarifies what forgiveness is NOT: forgetting, minimizing, or a feeling. Instead, it’s a decision to release our right to get even and trust God with justice. Mike also calls us to make amends for those we’ve hurt.
WARM UP
What’s the pettiest grudge you’ve ever held? A sibling, a roommate, a board game, a group project that scarred you for life? Keep it fun.
DISCUSSion
Pick what fits your group — aim to go deep on a few rather than skim all seven.
- The enemy wants us either denying our anger (stuffing it, “I’m fine”) or dwelling on it (replaying it, planning the comeback). Which are you more prone to — Deny or Dwell? Why do you think that is?
- Notice the word “MUST” — not “should” or “might.” Why do you think forgiveness is framed as a command and not a suggestion? Does that land as freeing or frustrating for you? (Colossians 3:13)
- Mike’s first reason to forgive is because God forgave us. He said, “I’ll never have to forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven me.” How does remembering your own forgiveness change the way you see the person who hurt you? (Romans 2:4 · Ephesians 4:31-32)
- Bitterness is “huge cost, zero benefit” — it blinds us spiritually, messes with our prayers, steals our freedom, changes our personality, even wrecks our health. Which of those costs have you actually felt?
- Forgiveness is NOT forgetting, NOT saying “it was no big deal,” and NOT a feeling — it’s a decision. Which of those misunderstandings has tripped you up? Why does it matter that forgiveness is a choice you make before you feel like it?
- Forgiveness means giving up your right to get even and letting God handle justice. Is there a “right to get even” you’re holding onto right now? What makes it hard to hand that over? (Romans 12:17-19)
- The keys are hanging right outside the cell — bitterness is a self-imposed prison, and we can walk out. Did a name come to mind tonight (maybe someone else, maybe yourself, maybe even God)? You don’t have to say who — but what would “reaching for the keys” look like this week?
WRAP UP & PRAYER
Close your time together by praying as a group:
- Thank God for the forgiveness He’s already given you — more than you’ll ever have to extend to anyone else.
- Ask Him to bring to mind anyone you’re holding any bitterness toward, and give you the courage to release them to Him.
- Pray for strength to choose forgiveness even when you don’t feel like it, trusting God to heal your damaged emotions.
- Ask God to show you if there’s anyone you need to seek forgiveness from and give you humility to make it right.