Biblically, people of authentic Christian faith are many things, not least of which; complainers.
The Church is comprised of people who complain.
This doesn't mean that Christians are supposed to be whiny. This means that the people who take God the most seriously are the people who know how to lament that what should/could be, isn't, and that God is the only hope (late as He may seem to be in providing this hope). As you will hopefully discover more fully in this brief study, the Bible (God's inspired, sacred text) is largely rooted in people looking into heaven and wondering out loud why God delays in bringing relief, justice, redemption and peace. A people that, though considered the faithful superstars of sacred history, want nothing more than for God to speak a syllable into their ears about the difficulty of life- to turn His face toward us and give a single glimpse of salvation.
Thaw
- What's the first thing you imagine God would say to each person in this room if He walked in through that front door?
- What would you say back?
- Why do you think God doesn't just "speak" this way?
- What's something that struck you about the message on Sunday?
Read
- Psalm 6:1-4
- Psalm 79:1-5
- Psalm 89:46-49
- Psalm 90:13
- Habakkuk 1:1-3
- Thoughts?
Discuss
- Does faith look differently to you when you consider that people complained to God this way?
- Do you feel as though you can complain to God this way about what is going on in your own life and around the planet?
- If no, why not? Where did you get the idea that you couldn't?
Leader note: You may have people caught up in the blasphemy and disrespect of "calling God out". See if as a group you can find the difference in the heart of those writing these texts and someone that is actually out of line. The difference may have everything to do with asking God to respond according to His character (which is a fancy way of saying "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...") and telling God He has done something wrong (as though your will is better in some way).
- Are there ways that "predetermining God's voice" results in becoming unaware of His presence and an inability to hear Him? Explain.
Leader note: This is simply a way of getting people to wonder aloud whether they are receiving silence from God or if they are willfully looking elsewhere for a certain kind of interaction. This is not to say that all silence if our fault. Not at all. But often times, what we call silence is merely God speaking to us in ways that we prefer either not to hear or not to listen for. You may want to show this video to see if it helps stir this discussion up well.
- What are the implications for your faith when the church becomes people who support each other even as far as to lament together through the spiritually dry seasons and silences of God?
- As Jesus hung on the cross, He screamed out the first sentence to what we now call Psalm 22. How does it encourage you to find that Jesus doesn't deliver us from death, but delivers us through it- with us?
Read
- Numbers 14:11
- What can this group do to embrace a faith that often means authentically complaining when God's silence gets loud?
- What can this group do to respond to God who also seems to be asking us about our failure to respond as well?
Leader note: Have the group spend the last few minutes reading Psalm 22, writing down thoughts as they come, listening for the voice of God to speak into whatever their circumstances are. Challenge them to not only follow along for the rest of the Prayer Journal, but to continue this simple discipline often.
No comments:
Post a Comment