Icebreaker question:
Who's your favorite superhero?
✞
Who's your favorite superhero? ✞
Begin your midweek Spotlight with a look back at some of Sunday's preaching.
We will be connecting 3 Bible passages to one another. To do this, first listen to (and maybe sing along with) and note the linking of Hebrews 12 with Psalm 22 in the following song, Well Done, as performed by the song's arranger & writer Andrew Peterson.
(You just heard the Hebrews 12 passage and after this song you'll look at Psalm 22.)
If you're going through this digital Spotlight in a group, have group members take turns reading Psalm 22, moving to a new reader with each cluster.
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the LORD,” they say,
“let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
19 But you, LORD, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!
Those are incredible words. The description of being crucified is powerful. But these words' context amplifies them even more. It turns out, this poem by King David, from about 1000 BC, was written centuries before crucifixion was invented.
Take a moment to discuss the possible ramifications of that.
Watch this video by Chosen People Ministries, a group that focuses on sharing the good news of Jesus of Nazareth with ethnically Jewish people. The video shows the effect of giving Jesus a listen in light of Psalm 22 and another passage that GVT focuses on often (with the song With His Wounds), Isaiah 53.
Note: you might find the background music in this video to be distracting.)
Notice that this man was already interested in God from the Old Testament. So, seeing the connections between Isaiah 53 and, say, Matthew 1 or Luke 4, was critical for him. Maybe you think about the people in your life who don’t have a good grasp on Jesus and ponder specifically on what they already think or feel about God and how that thinking or that feeling provides an open door for you to talk about Jesus. Or, maybe you don’t ponder on that.
Discuss as a group whether that’s important or not to ponder, and why.
Read the following note from Jen Shea, coordinator of Winona's Grace House shelter.
Think back on the contextualized work of Chosen People Ministries, how they tailored their ministry to the backgrounds of the people they sought to win for Jesus.
Discuss: How does the possibility of helping Grace House connect to showing Jesus to 21st century Winona people?
Close with the song With His Wounds, performed by the original arrangers The Corner Room.
Upcoming Events:
- Sundays, 4-6pm
Youth Group
- In the next couple weeks Sanctuary Display Update Project
God bless!
