Dreaming Again (05.10.21)
Together Processing Our Sermons and Checking In on Rule of Life
Leader’s Note
- If your group needs more time to process and discern around the church building, you can feel free to revisit last week’s guide, The Future of Our Church.
- Or use this sermon series to discuss last Sunday’s sermon together, and then check in on the Rule of Life.
Opening Prayer
After the group welcomes one another, have one person open in prayer and then take 5 minutes of silence. As you sit in silence, ask the Holy Spirit to help you be lovingly open to God and your groupmates.
Sermon Response
Sunday’s sermon focused on grieving past hurts or traumas in order to embrace joy and peace. Use these questions as a jumping off point for an open, vulnerable, and intimate group discussion:
- Learning: Read Psalm 126. How does this scripture describe grief and joy? Why would this be a part of the book of psalms (which was like the collection of worship songs and poetry for the Jewish people)? What stood out from the sermon?
- Confession: How are you tempted to disregard or avoid the grief of past hurts?
- Invitation: How do you believe God has invited you to respond to this message?
- Practice: In a heart posture of humility, courage, and empathy, what would you like the group to know about things you’re grieving? Perhaps griefs around relationships, work, the pandemic, or memories from the past? When a person shares, respond compassionately and empathetically, and pray for them.
Repeatable Sharing on Rule of Life
If time permits, open up some space for sharing about Rule of Life.
Though over the coming months and years we will slowly expand to eight practices, our church is officially keeping three foundational practices in our Rule of Life right now:
- Scripture: Reading the Bible daily.
- Fasting: Abstaining from food for a brief period of time weekly.
- Sabbath: Pausing work and tech for a time to rest in God weekly.
Share about your experience of the Rule of Life honestly, prompted by the questions below, and follow these steps for each person sharing:
- Share – A person responds to any of the prompts below.
- Discern – The group pauses for 30-60 seconds to take in what was shared. After pausing the sharer can add anything they want, and the group can ask clarifying questions.
- Offer – The group gets to make offers of support for the person, such as offering prayers, one-on-one connections, financial care, acts of service, verses from scripture, or words of encouragement.
- Bless – One person in the group prays blessing over whoever shared.
If helpful, set a timer to make room for everyone to share or allow your group to focus on just a few people each week.
Take turns responding to any of these questions:
- What is something you believe God’s teaching you or revealing to you through practicing our Rule of Life? (For example, a reaction to a scripture, an insight from fasting, or a challenge from sabbath.)
- How do you believe God is at work in your life circumstances (work, family, social life, etc.)?
- What are some requests to your group for help or prayer?
- If you have anything you really want your group to know about you right now, what is it and why is it important to you?
Closing Intercession
Pray for your group, our church, our city, and our world.