WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? 1.

For the next few weeks we're going to put the focus back on out fears and anxieties, and the way that they shape our style of relating to others and the world.

Not that we can totally abolish these fears. We take them for the most part to the grave.
But we can  learn to see them, understand them, and therefore take away their ability to subtly control so many aspects of lives.

As a group this topic is interesting but hard to tackle for all but the vulnerable. As leaders, we must create a space where people feel safe to share what their fears and anxieties are as they currently understand them, as well as safe enough to explore anxieties they don't yet even see. Until we are a people who can tame our fears and get them in their proper proportion, we'll not know the love and peace into which Christ invites us.



Thaw

• What Thanksgiving plans do you have?
• Rake or leaf blower: defend your answer.
• What most stayed with you from Sunday morning?

Read

• Matthew 6:25-7:3
• Thoughts?

Discuss

• Why does Jesus connect worry/anxiety to judgment?
• How do these two things affect our relationships?
• What is the difference between being "realistic" or "prepared" and being cynical, fearful and a teller of bad stories?

Read

• Philippians 4:4-7
• Thoughts?

Discuss

• Why do you think Paul puts gentleness and rejoicing and gratitude and the reduction on anxiety together?
• What does the Lord being near have to do with anything?
• When we are feeling fearful and filling in gaps to get a sense of control, what would praying to God do for us?

Apply

• How do you feel about people who create bad stories about you to fill in the gaps? Why do they do it?
• Do you see your demand for certainty and your fear of not having things/people figured out quickly a strength or a weakness

Leader note: you may find your people can't answer this well because, though they wish they weren't so anxious or even judgmental, it has served them well. Like soldiers who wish they didn't have to carry ammunition, shooting up the jungle as they went, they are after all still alive because they do it. This is why Paul finishes his thought in the Philippians passage with peace. It's not just about surviving or getting by. It's about having a transcendent peace that ends the war we all feel like we're trying to survive in. In fact, most of us come to see there was never any war to start with. Just vigilance taught to us by the fearful generation before us.

• How can giving thanks for what already is help you to stop worry about "What happens next"?
• How can this group help you to restore gentleness and openness to the ambiguity of life and relationships and faith?
• How can we begin telling better stories in the gaps we have about the world, each other and ourselves?

Leader note: remember, just as fear is a creative force, so is hope. We will talk more about that side of it in coming weeks. For now, encourage your group to begin entertaining that it's more powerful to put hope in the gap, but it's far riskier to our nervous minds.