This week is about making big decisions by first making the small ones. You may look through this study first to best decide which parts are most suitable for your group. Be sure and get to the last part of the discussion with James 4:17 and the 52-week challenge. As we build an atmosphere of accountability (which is a secondary benefit to loving relationships!) we want to make sure that we give our members a chance to be stretched.
Thaw
- What are some family Christmas traditions you grew up with?
- What is your most memorable Christmas?
- What made the biggest impact on you from the message on Sunday?
- Do you feel like God spoke about something specific to you through it?
Read
- Nehemiah 1:1-4
- First thoughts?
- What's news that you have gotten in your life that completely overwhelmed you when you first heard it?
- What's the value of "mourning, fasting and praying" as a first response?
Read
- Nehemiah 2:17
- Thoughts?
Leader note: You may want to help the group discover that when you hear someone say, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire..." it feels like they are getting ready to rally support to rebuild it all. It doesn't seem like the next statement would be inspiring and hopeful if it only pertained to rebuilding one wall. Yet, Nehemiah feels this saves them from disgrace.
- What's the first thing you would have rebuilt? Why?
Leader note: The significance of the wall is about the identity of Israel, which had been largely lost by falling into babylonian and then Persian rule. These walls were many meters thick, and towered over the heads of onlookers. This was an obvious symbol of strength and security, both terms important to having any sort of national identity.
Read
- Nehemiah 2:19, 4:1-3, 6:2-4, 6:9
- Thoughts?
Discuss
- How do you handle constant negativity in the face of something that's overwhelming to start with?
- Are you ever that voice of criticism? What does it mean to be a voice of encouragement, even when you think someone else's decision is unrealistic?
- When you are paralyzed by the size of a decision that needs made or a step that needs taken, and the only voices you're hearing are of doubt and criticism, how do you remain tuned into God's voice?
Read
- James 4:17
- Is there anything in your heart that you feel like God has been asking you to become, do, say or just generally dive into that you have felt completely overwhelmed by? Will you share what it is?
- How can the group help you start with just a couple bricks?
Apply!
- Nehemiah 6:15-16
- The wall was done is 52 days, which blew the minds of everyone watching, and pointed to a tremendous faith in God. This next year has 52 weeks. Write down what you feel like your "Wall" should look like in a year, impossible as it may seem to you know, and commit that to God. Your wall may be something to begin. Something to become. Something you have sensed God calling you toward but you have been to scared, overwhelmed or even lazy to move into it. It may be something you've always wanted to quit or remove from your life, but you can't imagine the difficulty or the consequences and so you just push it off to address another time. Take ahold of a brick this week, look to the members of your group for support and encouragement and accountability- to God for strength, and begin building.
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