Small Group

the week of September 19, 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: May we always ask of God,

Group: the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,

L          the glorious Father,

G         that He would give to us

L          the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,

G         so that we may know him better.

L          Our prayer is that the eyes of our heart

G         may be enlightened

L          in order that we may know

G         the hope to which God has called us,

L          the riches of God’s glorious inheritance

G         in his holy people,

L          and God’s matchless power

G         for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:17-19)

L          God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

G         make us a people

L          characterized by this

G         hope.

L          Praise be to the Father

G         and to the Son

L          and to the Holy Spirit.

G         Amen.

Discuss:

In that prayer dialogue above written by the apostle Paul, how are the three knowledges (a. the hope to which God has called us; b. the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in his holy people; c. God’s matchless power for us who believe) beautiful synonyms of one another? (Don’t spend more than a couple minutes discussing this before moving on.)

Pray and worship along with the song “Deliver Me” by John Mark McMillan.

Discuss:

How does the word play of that phrase “deliver me” express two powerful, godly hopes?

II. learn

First, pick a responsibility of yours that people would expect is a responsibility of yours. (Garrett’s example: I’m a pastor.) You can keep this choice to yourself for now.

Next, pick a responsibility of yours that people would be less likely to realize is a responsibilty of yours. (Garrett’s example: I’m getting underway with volunteering at the Kids First after-school program.) Again, you can keep this choice to yourself for now.

We will be looking for a while at a longer episode from Old Testament history. Watch and listen (maybe a couple times, if you’re feeling masochistic) to the following song “Bible History in 10 Words”.

The leadership of Goodview Trinity is proud of you for watching that song video.

We will be looking at 1 Samuel 13:16 through 14:23. At this point in Bible history, the nation of Israel, carrying the promise of a human-born yet divine Savior, has hit one of its all-time lows. The Lord had been their king, but they asked for a human king instead, to match the attractive, godless neighbor nations. Then, their first king Saul made life difficult for Israel by making selfish and foolish choices. In response, the Lord made a further promise to raise up a new king from a family different from Saul’s family (this king would be David). As the nation waited for a better king, the Philistines attacked and plundered Israel.

We pick up from there by listening to the second half of 1 Samuel 13 in this video.

Discuss:

How would the plight of the Israelites at this point be both physical and spiritual?

We continue with 1 Samuel 14:1-23.

This episode feels like a mash-up of Hollywood blockbuster movie moments.

Any blockbuster moments in this passage stand out to you as worthy of a cinema ticket purchase? Discuss as a group.

Now we zoom in on our key verse, Jonathan’s words in 1 Samuel 14:6. Here it is:

Listen to Garrett’s explanation of 1 Samuel 14:6.

With the example of Jonathan and his armor-bearer in your mind, consider and discuss this abstract question:

What’s the connection between hope and bravery?

…And one more question to consider and discuss:

How was the life of Jesus a life of both complete hope and complete bravery?

Bring your learning minds and hearts to God in praise, with the song “All Is Well” performed by Meghan Baird.

III. Serve

Take your two responsibilities from earlier and think on your own of how the connection between hope and bravery impacts those responsibilities.

Share with the group your thoughts on one (either one 😊) of these responsibilities (and its intersection with hope and bravery).

Listen to this 4-minute discussion on the soon-to-open transitional housing in Winona called Grace House.

Pastor Garrett has met with the director of this program, Jenny Shea (jenny@graceplaceinc.org), and found out that the house is almost fully set up for 8 or 9 families at a time to find transitional housing for up to a year for each family. However, in lead-up to its October opening, the project is in need of volunteers to spend a few hours a week getting to know the families, providing help here and there, and connecting the residing families with community programs and events. They especially are looking for female volunteers.

Speak out loud to one another what you are moved to pray about.

Then pray together. (3 minutes maximum for this prayer session)

Prepare your hearts for lives of service with the song “We Will Feast in the House of Zion” by Sandra McCracken.

Reminders before you go…

Sundays

Service time 10:30am

Trinity Kids (kids church) during the service

Trinity Teens (youth group) 5:00p - 7:00p

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,

and the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.

(2 Corinthians 13:14)