Small Group

the week of September 12, 2021

Last week’s Small Group can be found at this link.

welcome! please watch this small group intro video, even if you’ve seen it before.

I. Worship

Pick a leader so you can speak the following dialogue together.

Leader: Now the dwelling of God is with men,

Group: and he will live with them.

L They will be his people,

G and God himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)

L Lord, you have been our dwelling place

G throughout all generations.

L Before the mountains were born

G or you brought forth the earth and the world,

L from everlasting to everlasting

G you are God. (Psalm 90:1-2)

L Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.

G Everything is uncovered and laid bare

L before the eyes of him

G to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13)

L We are consumed by your anger

G and terrified by your indignation.

L You have set our iniquities before you,

G our secret sins in the light of your presence. (Psalm 90:7-8)

L Teach us to number our days aright,

G that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

L This is how God showed his love among us:

G He sent his one and only Son into the world

L that we might live through him.

G This is love: not that we loved God

L but that he loved us and sent his Son

G as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10)

L Praise be to the Father

G and to the Son

L and to the Holy Spirit.

G Amen.

Pray and worship along with the song “so will i (100 billion x)” by hillsong united.

that song makes strong connections between the creative power of God and our lives of faith. Do any of those connections brought out in the song stand out to you? discuss this for just a few minutes as a group.

II. learn

Listen to the following excerpt from garrett’s message this sunday on jonah chapter 2.

Pick someone to read lamentations 3:13-26 from the New International Version. in this passage the prophet jeremiah sat in the ashes of the destruction of jerusalem, God having provided that space for Jeremiah to wrestle with the truth.

13 He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.

14 I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long.

15 He has filled me with bitter herbs and given me gall to drink.

16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust.

17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18 So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.

20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.

21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Now pick someone else to read the same passage (lamentations 3:13-26) from The Message.

13 He shot me in the stomach with arrows from his quiver.

14 Everyone took me for a joke, made me the butt of their mocking ballads.

15 He forced rotten, stinking food down my throat, bloated me with vile drinks.

16 He ground my face into the gravel. He pounded me into the mud.

17 I gave up on life altogether. I’ve forgotten what the good life is like.

18 I said to myself, “This is it. I’m finished. God is a lost cause.”

19 I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.

20 I remember it all—oh, how well I remember— the feeling of hitting the bottom.

21 But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

22 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.

23 They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness!

24 I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.

25 God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks.

26 It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God.

Discuss: as we keep in our minds this journey that jeremiah was on and the journey that jonah was on, do you see a pattern in how God works?

Pick someone to read out loud the following passage — Hebrews 12:2-11 (from The Message translation).

As you listen to the words, pay particular attention to the words highlighted in green and the words highlighted in blue. Be thinking through the following questions:

How do the words in green help you picture Jesus’ attitude toward God the Father when Jesus was living his life here on earth?
How do the words in blue encourage us powerfully to do the same as Jesus?

heb 12 2-11 the msg with highlights-1.png

Discuss:

How do the words in green help you picture Jesus’ attitude toward God the Father when Jesus was living his life here on earth?

How do the words in blue encourage us powerfully to do the same as Jesus?

Wrap up your learning with the sing “Always Good” by Andrew Peterson. (lyrics below)

Do You remember how Mary was grieving?
How You wept and she fell at Your feet?
If it's true that You know what I'm feeling
Could it be that You're weeping with me?

Arise, O Lord, and save me
There's nowhere else to go

You're always good, always good
Somehow this sorrow is shaping my heart like it should
And You're always good, always good

Well it's so hard to know what You're doing
Why won't You tell it all plain?
But You said You'd come back on the third day
And Peter missed it again and again

So maybe the answer surrounds us
But we don't have eyes to see

That You're always good, always good
This heartache is moving me closer than joy ever could
And You're always good

My God, my God, be near me
There's nowhere else to go
And Lord, if You can hear me
Please help Your child to know

That You're always good, always good
As we try to believe what is not meant to be understood
Will You help us to trust Your intentions for us are still good
'Cause You laid down Your life
And You suffered like I never could

You're always good, always good
You're always good, always good