26 Feb Discussion Guide Zoë Week 3
Before We Get Started
For our discussion today, we will be using the sermon series discussion guides. If you would like to follow along you can access this discussion guide on the website at mosaicchurchaustin.com and then select “community group resources” in the menu options.
Prayer
Because the primary goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together?
This Week’s Topic
Today, we continue our series titled Zoë, in which we study Jesus’s incredible claim that he came to bring us abundant life, even in the midst of our spiking cultural anxiety and fragmentation. We will explore how the life Jesus lived is the best way to tap into that promise as we seek to establish specific rhythms and practices to cultivate a life marked by a gospel-centered abundance of strength, health, and vitality.
Today’s Topic
Lament/Celebration
Discussion Questions
What was your best moment this week, and what was your worst moment?
John 16:20-22
Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
Lament
Latasha Morrison, Be the Bridge
To lament means to express sorrow or regret. Lamenting something horrific that has taken place allows a deep connection to form between the person lamenting and the harm that was done, and that emotional connection is the first step in creating a pathway for healing and hope. We have to sit in the sorrow, avoid trying to fix it right away, avoid our attempts to make it all okay.
How did your family or community approach pain and sorrow when were growing up?
Do you tend to lean in and lament painful experiences or try to fix or resolve them quickly and move on?
What promise about sorrow did Jesus give his followers in John 16:20-22?
Celebration
Bob Goff, Love Does
Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. It’s not a trip where He sends us a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is He’s made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us, He whispers, “Let’s go do that together.”
What kinds of celebrations have been most meaningful in your life?
How are our acts of celebration a way to answer a spiritual invitation to know God?
What promise of celebration did Jesus leave his followers with in John 16:20-22?
The Practice of Scripture
Romans 12:14-19
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
The practice of reading God’s word both in our private moments and in community shapes us into people who, like Christ, show our deep love and care for one another through lament and celebration.
What comfort does God’s word offer when we encounter pain, suffering, or injustice?
How does God’s word encourage us to celebrate on special occasions and find joy in our daily lives?
Do you regularly read scripture throughout the week? If you do, can you share how that practice has shaped your ability to lament and celebrate?
Closing Thought
Charles Spurgeon
Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.
Before your next community group meeting, choose a passage of scripture to memorize or select one psalm to read every day. At your next meeting, share how that scripture impacted you. (You get bonus points if the topic of the passage or psalm is lament or celebration!)