Icebreaker Option: If you have to be stuck in an elevator, which 2 people do you want to be stuck with and why?
HOPE: How did you experience God in the Psalms this week?
SERMON SUMMARY:
Pastor Justin Kendrick's sermon from Mark 5:21-43 explores the stories of Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood. These accounts illustrated the theme of delay in our lives and its connection to our faith in God. He underscored the lessons learned in these accounts of trusting God’s timing, seeing delays as an opportunity for growth, and recognizing that God’s purpose and plan is good even when we don’t see the details. He concludes by encouraging listeners to trust in God's sovereignty despite delays and setbacks.
HEART:
• How has our modern culture positioned us to respond to interruptions to our agenda?
• Do you have a typical way of dealing with things not going the way you planned? Can you think of a time in your life when you experienced a delay and how you handled it?
• What personal experiences or moments in history have reinforced your belief in God's sovereignty?
HEAD: Read Mark 5:21-43
• Compare and contrast the two needs presented in this account.
• How did Jesus intervene in these two individuals’ lives? What is important about the order of events in this passage?
• What do we learn about God’s character from the way Jesus met these needs?
HANDS:
• Considering the lesson of 2 Peter 3:9, how does your perspective need to change when waiting for God's answer to your prayer?
• What steps can you take to become more patient with God's time style and sovereignty in your life?
• How can you lean into the waiting times and recognize this time as an opportunity for you to grow?
HELP: Prayer
• Ask God to help us recognize areas in our lives where we need to trust Him more and be patient in His timing.
• Pray for strength and perseverance to endure delays and setbacks, knowing that God's plan is better than our own.
• Ask God to deepen our faith and help us align ourselves with His time style, trusting that He is always working in His perfect timing.
Going Deeper: Questions to reflect upon and encourage the conversation to go deeper.
Pastor Justin told us that “God gave us all these little breadcrumbs so that it would remind our hearts that he does have a plan, that there is an order in this world that I can't always see or understand.” One of these he referenced was the story of Joseph. Spend time with Joseph’s story in Genesis 37-50.
• Where do we see God's sovereign plan at work, even when Joseph could not see it?
• What lessons do we learn from the way Joseph responded to the injustices in his life?
• How do we see the gospel narrative in Joseph’s story?