When Life Attacks Small Group Lesson

Have you ever been attacked by a wild or tame animal? If so, what happened?
How would you define fear & anxiety?

Sometimes life attacks. We all experience pain & struggle. Cars break, accidents happen, we get sick, someone we love gets sick, or we lose something or someone. When life attacks, it hurts. Jesus knows that when life doesn’t go our way, that we have a tendency to be overwhelmed with anxiety, worry, & discontentment. Notice how many times Jesus uses the word worry as we read Matthew 6:25-34.

In v.25, what does Jesus say about food and clothes? What is His point?
Idea: Vic’s opinion, life is more than those things. Your thoughts?
In v.26, Jesus illustrates the lesson by talking about the birds of the air and the storing of resources in barns. What is Jesus’ point here?
Why is it dangerous to live with the idea that we “live to eat”, “live for clothes”, or “live to store up resources”?

When we live that way we make clothing, food, and resources our god. We put our faith in things when we live for them. Why would living for things cause worry?
IDEA: It causes worry because we are afraid we will lose those things.

READ 1 Chronicles 4:9-10
“9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.” 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV

Why was Jabez given his name?

How would you like it if you were defined by the pain that you caused others?

What struggle do you allow to define you as person?

Notice in the NKJV that Jabez asked God to bless him so that he will longer cause others pain. It is possible that the guilt of causing his mother pain caused him great pain. **Some thoughts here were inspired by Bruce Wilkerson the author of "The Prayer of Jabez".

Why do we allow guilt, fear, and anxiety to define who we are?

Because of his faith and prayer life, Jabez is no longer synonym nous with pain, but with blessing. Prayer has the power to redefine who we are and what we do. If we seek first His Kingdom and righteousness as Jesus said we should in Matthew 6 we will have the power to overcome the storms and struggles that life may throw our way. Close in Prayer.

Jesus Everyday part 1

When do you see Jesus? Do you see Him everyday, once a week, or maybe you have never seen Him at all. My short little thought for the day is this, it revolves around the notion that we all have the ability to see Jesus if we want to. Have you ever seen the movie “A Beautiful Mind”? The story is about a math genius named John Nash who was able to see math equations in every day settings. His work earned him the Nobel Prize in 1994. John was a troubled man who battled Schizophrenia, but no one can argue that this man was capable of seeing things that most of us cannot.
We might not be able to see mathematical equations like John Nash, but I do believe we are all blessed with the ability to see the work of Jesus in everyday life. The Holy Spirit empowers us to see the work of our creator if we allow Him to. The problem is that we are either too busy or too misguided to see what God is doing in right front of us. The prophet Elisha had to comfort his servant who went outside one morning to see the giant Aramean army surrounding them. Elisha prayed for his servant that he might see God at work in that event; and at that moment Elisha’s servant saw an even more powerful army of God surrounding the army that surrounded him. We often panic over things that God has complete control over, and it is out of panic that we make some of the most regrettable decisions we could ever make. So the next time you feel surrounded by trouble, take another look to see that God surrounds that which surrounds you. That way you can react not out of fear but by faith in Him who loves you.

Facebook. Colossians Series

I have been preaching a sermon series through the book of Colossians called "facebook, what is your status?".

If you own a computer, you probably are on a social networking site called Facebook. On Facebook, people have a place to update their status; it allows us to tell our friends what we are doing or what's on our mind. Your Facebook status basically informs your friends of what you’re doing or feeling. The status of things like our heart, attitude, and thoughts are often determined by where we are going in life. Whenever I’m about to take a vacation my excitement is difficult to contain (it is usually mentioned on my Facebook status). In every moment my status is influenced by the excitement of wherever I am about to go or what I am about to do. Funny thing about facebook is that most us update our status with mundane updates like "I went to the dentist today", "I had a great burrito", or simply "my kids are driving me crazy". The world may look at our status update and say "who cares", but as we read Colossians we begin to see that God cares deeply about our status, he cares about the little things, the simple things, or even the difficult we go through in life. I’m excited about this series because I love the message of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossian church. Paul was reminding the Colossians (and us) that we are to live a life that honors and acknowledges God. He also wanted to remind them that their hope in Heaven and their faith in Jesus would give them the strength to live a life that honors Him. Most importantly our status should always include Him, because with Him we have life.