03 Oct Discussion Guide: (IN) BREAKING Week 7
Prayer
Take the first 10 minutes of your time together to listen to what God is doing in one another’s lives and pray for any specific needs people in your group may have.
Today we continue our series titled (IN) BREAKING. We will be working through the gospel of Matthew and learning how God desires to have His Kingdom come, and His will be done, in our lives as in Heaven. God wants to break into our hearts, our emotions, our actions, our existence so that we might know Him, and be known by Him, in ways that we will never be the same.
Discussion Questions
What is the biggest crisis you have experienced in your life, or in your family’s life?
David Allen Coe, Musician
”It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; its the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time.”
What is the purpose of a foundation?
Webster’s Dictionary: stone or concrete structure that supports a building from underneath. Philosophically, a foundation is something that supports the weight of something else. The purpose is to enable the supported structured to remain stable and firm over time.
What can happen to a structure if the foundation is not solid or firm?
If a foundation is not solid, or is not constructed in a such a way that it can support the weight of the structure that sits on it over a period of time, then the structure will begin to shift along with the foundation. Cracks will appear in the walls. Support beams can begin to buckle under the pressure. The structure can begin to lean. Eventually the structure will begin to fall apart or even collapse.
How does pain, suffering or loss reveal the foundation we are building our lives upon?
When the foundation of our lives, the thing that we look to support us and stabilize us, is tested by difficulties and stress then it reveals whether we are looking to something weak and shifting to stabilize us, or something firm and solid. To put it another way, it shows us if our hearts are trusting in broken and finite creation or perfect and infinite Creator.
Matthew 7:24-27
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
What is the foundation Jesus says we should be building our lives upon? Why do you think that is?
Jesus tells us we should be building our lives upon Him and His unconditional love and grace extended to us. The reason why is because if we are made in the image and likeness of a God, who is love, then our deepest need is to be loved. We base just about every personal decision on that one simple fact. What will give me love? What will take love away? Will this decision make me lovable? Will this decision cause me rejection? And if we build our lives upon the constantly shifting sand of creation, and are looking to other people, or our reputation, or our money or anything like that then we may feel loved one minute and rejected the next. When we feel loved we have happiness and peace and we give love. But, when we feel unloved, or like someone is taking love from us, then we grasp for control and either take back what was taken from us, or withhold what we think that other person needs. So, Jesus says we are to build our lives on the never changing, consistent, eternal and unconditional love He has for us which, regardless of our circumstances, tells us we are loved and affirmed by the King of the Universe. So that, when a person or a situation begins to tell us otherwise, we have a Truth that supersedes those feelings and circumstances and stabilizes us in a way that we can respond in unconditional love.
Why do you suppose pain and suffering allow doubt and accusation towards God to creep into our hearts?
Going back to that crisis moment you shared earlier, how did that impact your relationship with God?
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
When you look at the whole Gospel (Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and God’s desire to fix the brokenness of our world) how does that impact our view of God in those moments of crisis?
How can we, as a community, help one another continue to trust in God’s unconditional love when difficult times come our way?
How could that possibly affect our neighbors, family, friends, co-workers, etc. to see this community supporting one another in those times of need?