Bears Repeating. "Don't Worry."

Don't worry.
It's not a light switch. But at least you can become more aware, and regain control in that awareness. So, maybe it's at least a dimmer switch, and only your hand is on the knob.

Spend some time as a group discussing what it might look like to "gain traction" in the area of our worry, anxiety and fretting about things we can and can't control.



Thaw

• Who was the person who taught you what you believe about worry?
• What would be different about your life if it had no worry in it?
• How does your answer reveal to you whether worry seems necessary or not?
• What has most stayed with you from Sunday?

Read

• Matthew 6:25-34
• Thoughts?
• What is the difference between worry and concern?
• Why do we believe being upset is necessary to accomplish a goal?
• How did Jesus do what he did without worry, and do you have to have the "son of God" card to be able to live that way?

Read

• Philippians 4:4-9
• Thoughts?
• What does Paul have to say about waging war on worry with gratitude?
• What does Paul have to say about how to see the rest of the picture rather than "just the one dot on the board"?

Apply

• How is worry and anxiety causing friction in your relationships, and how might naming that be helpful?

Meditation

• Name something that is currently worrying you. Play out the worst case scenario with it. See if you can disarm the thing that is worrying you to the point of paralysis and misery by naming all the things that could happen, and what you would do if they did.

Leader note: This is a mindfulness trick. Say a member reveals they are scared they are going to have their house foreclosed upon or get a bad diagnosis or flunk a test. Play out the worst case with them. Enter the question, "then what?" Each domino falls, and rather than worry (which paralyzes) the member applies thoughtful concern (which takes responsibility.) The line of questions isn't to prove there is "nothing to worry about," although it can have the affect of neutralizing unnamed boogeymen. This trick helps people identify the parts of their stress they can control and which parts they cannot. It unlocks and empowers the mind. When Jesus says don't worry, and when he says 'seek first the Kingdom', he may be understood to be saying "you are worrying to the point of blindness and ineffectiveness. Find the power available to you as a kingdom citizen, and ask the King to do the rest." That is, he is helping us put fear away so we can be properly concerned with living our lives well. These peaceable, well-lived lives are Kingdom lives.

Bears Repeating. "It's Your Church" (Late late edition)

"A delayed blog post is better than no blog post at all."

-Harriet Tubman

Here's a few thoughts to discuss the message from Sunday.

Discuss as a group the implications that your group is church, your families are church, your church is church, etc. In the deemphasizing of the institution of "Church" it suddenly pulls into focus our role, or lack of it, in the way of Christ. Not as a guilt trip, but as a clarifier of whether we are in direct contact with our own faith, or if the church mediates for us. It's an important distinction as we consider both the relevance of our own belief, and how we think of God in our world.

Read and compare

• Numbers 11:24-29
• Mark 9:38-40
• 1 Corinthians 3:16

Discussion questions

• What most stuck with you from the message Sunday?
• What effect does finding out you are the church, authorized by Christ to carry out The Way with or without a formal assembly of church leaders?
• Does this idea scare you, inspire you? Explain?

Bears Repeating. "Words Matter"

Words are why you think what you think about yourself and everything. They are the shape of every thought you have! So you might as well pay attention to them.

Spend some time as a group reminding yourselves, as we must often do when it comes to our mouths, the power of our words to do good and harm.

Thaw

• What is something someone said to you at a young age that has stuck with you the most?
• How do those words shape your current behavior?

Read and discuss each

• Proverbs 18:21
• Matthew 12:34
• Proverbs 26:18
• Proverbs 15:1
• Proverbs 12:18
• Proverbs 16:24
• Ephesians 4:29

Apply

• What are some ways you have learned to speak with less regret in your life?
• How do you ready yourself for others whose words are reckless and unmeasured?
• How has pre-determining to go into any given scenario as a listener helped you, and are there any opportunities coming up where you can prepare to listen more than to speak?