April 16, 2023
(The most recent previous digital Spotlight materials can be found here.)
Icebreaker question:
What was/is your least favorite school subject?
✞
What was/is your least favorite school subject? ✞
Start your midweek Spotlight with the song Always Good, by Andrew Peterson.
Lyrics can be found below the video player.
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.
Your’e always good,
always good.
Well, 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.
So 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 movin 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 ot 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,
and you’re always good,
always good.
You’re always good,
always good.
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.
Your’e always good,
always good.
Well, 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.
So 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 movin 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 ot 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,
and you’re always good,
always good.
You’re always good,
always good.
Watch this snippet of Garrett's preaching from Sunday.
You're now going to look at the larger passage of 1 John that the above verse is found within. Take turns speaking the verses below out loud, one person per verse, until you've gotten through the entire passage.
If you'd like to watch a 2-minute introduction to this Bible book, click here to go to the YouTube page for a snippet of BibleProject's overview of John's letters.
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Discuss the following 3 items, taking them one at a time.
- What is your favorite verse from that passage?
- Agree or disagree: Some of the verses in this passage shouldn’t make for someone’s favorite.
- Garrett said that love is foundational to our understanding of God and of living under God. What does that mean to you?
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Ephesians 6:18
What would you like to ask each other to pray about?
Wrap up this midweek Spotlight with the song Just Because by Judah.
Upcoming Events:
- April 24
Outreach Events Planning Meeting 6:00pm
- August 14-17 Vacation Bible School
- October 21 Fall Family Fun Night
God bless!
