Make sure that you see your discussion this week as connected to both the previous week and the week to come. We are hoping numerous people who have hid behind their presentations of control as well as those who have disqualified themselves from the the life of Christ because of their pasts will feel drawn into faith like never before.
Let's lead our groups in such a way as to create an atmosphere of openness, challenge and courage to take on the life we've been invited to since the beginning.
Thaw
- What do you find yourself thinking a lot about in the last week and why do you think it's been so prominent in your mind?
- How does a recurring thought shape our life, if even a little?
- Read Philippians 4:8
- Take a moment (a minute) and find a good thing to focus on. The friends gathered with you now. The snack someone brought. Air Conditioning. Your favorite phone call with a friend or family member recently. Something about work or school that is going well. Think about this for a minute, and observe how often you mind tries to worry or become cynical. When it happens, remind yourself that your life is more than what's gone wrong, and come back to enjoying the thought. Thank God for this thought and enjoy the results of re-centering as Paul discusses in Philippians.
- What most stuck with you from Sunday morning?
- Did anyone in this group place a decision card in the trough?
Read*
- Jonah 1-3:2
*Leader note: It may be good to have one person read aloud, after priming the group to listen for not just the narrative of the story, but all the minute details and metaphors that are useful for applying to those of us that have never been swallowed by a fish, but feel chewed up and spit out by life in our own way.
- Thoughts?
- Which parts of Jonah's story do you find yourself identifying with? Why?
- While listening, did you ever have the thought that Jonah was evil? Explain.
- Do you think God considered Jonah evil?
- Do you think God considers you evil for running away from the life he has for you? Explain.
Discuss
- The element of being swallowed by the fish happens to also be God getting Jonah where he was supposed to be (even though Jonah didn't know that until he was vomited on to Nineveh's shore). How do you see some of your least favorite circumstances?
Read
- Jonah 3:1
- What are the implications for the "again" to be happening at Nineveh, and not back where God first called Jonah?
Leader note: The idea here is that God, fully aware of the disobedience and the consequences of Jonah's actions, still has the same path for Jonah to walk. Where Jonah may have disqualified himself, God is still building a story and arranging it so that Jonah could do what only Jonah could do. On the beach, he's ready, even though Jonah is probably thinking of starting completely over.
Discuss
- The prayer in Jonah 2 contains no request for forgiveness or admission of guilt. It's simply Jonah acknowledging who God is and what he has done. Why might this be, and how does it apply to you taking steps and growing in your faith today?
Leader note: This is a simple way of getting at God, forgiveness and how guilt and fear aren't employed. Admission of guilt and forgiveness are key, but not in a groveling, hung-over-your-head-forever sort of way. It's waking up to his Lordship, humbly, and reorienting life around his will rather than our own. Living in condemnation and fear is a human trick for lasting control. God doesn't seem to do this.
Apply
- What does the step of baptism have to do with the individual baptized and the world around them?
Leader note: Go through some ways that the individual obviously benefits, but then the benefit they become to others as a co-receptical of God's Spirit in the world. Jonah's obedience put him AND Nineveh right with the Universe!
- How can this group support those that wish to take the step of baptism?
- What hurdles are in your way as you seek to grow in your trust of God and become part of what he is up to in the world?
- How can the group or your church help with that?
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