Friday, January 14, 2011

Surviving Disappointment / Small Group Lesson

Surviving Disappointment / Life Group Lesson
January 16, 2011 / WHCOC

• If you don’t mind, please share a time when things did not go to plan. Go around the group. (Ask everyone to introduce themselves.)

• In life we all face disappointment. How would you define or explain disappointment?
IDEA: We all face spiritual, professional, personal struggle and disappointment in life. The priority is not really to avoid being disappointed but to learn from it and overcome it.

• What has helped you in the past in overcoming disappointment?
Read Romans 8:28-30; 37-39.

• How does knowing that God works for our good help you overcome disappointment?
IDEA: In v.30 it says God has a predestined plan that will help us overcome the struggles of this life; of course the plan is directly connected to Jesus.

• How does following the example of Jesus help you overcome struggle & disappointment?
• Did Jesus ever face disappointment & hardship? (examples I thought of: In Garden He was filled with sorrow, when Lazarus died he wept, he was angry at the money changers at the Temple, He was tempted by Satan, he was crucified)

• What did He do when faced with those struggles?
READ Proverbs 24:16
IDEA: Solomon says sometimes even righteous people fall. The number “7” in the Bible is a number that is indefinite, it means that things can happen over and over. The writer uses the number 7 not to be exact about a number, but to say that all people struggle and fail, unfortunately it happens countless times. But there is also good news, in v.16 Solomon says that even though you at times fall, you can rise again.
• The reason we will rise again is because of God. What examples “rising” or “resurrection” do you know of in the Bible? How does this encourage you?

READ Hebrews 11:1-3
• How is faith in God important especially when we hurt or struggle?
IDEA: The next 35 verses give an account of people who had fallen many times, and yet their faith brought them back to their feet. By faith, these people trusted & followed God, and God was faithful to them.
• How does knowing that God has a purpose for you help you in the most difficult of times?
CONCLUSION: Commit to God that even on your darkest day, in the deepest disappointment, commit to Him saying “I will use this somehow to bring glory to Him.”
Close in prayer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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