1. Can you remember when you first ‘tasted’ the goodness of God for yourself? Share the story with your group.

2. Read Psalm 34:1-6. What is David’s aim in these verses? Who is he addressing in the psalm, and what is he hoping will happen? How is he going about achieving his aim?

3. In his sermon today, Robb spoke about the importance of both telling and hearing stories of God’s goodness. Why is this habit important to a spiritual community? What are some contexts in which we can practice hearing and telling?

4. Read verses 7-10. What does it mean to fear the LORD? What is the relationship between the fear of the LORD and tasting/seeing the goodness of the LORD?

5. Read verses 15-17. Note the ‘body language’ used to describe the LORD in these verses (eyes, ears, face, etc). What is David communicating with this kind of language?

6. Read verses 19-22. In the sermon this morning, we saw how Jesus fulfilled v20 on the cross (John 19:30-36). How else does the life, death and resurrection of Jesus fulfill these verses?

1. How have you experienced mercy-shaped community in your own life? Share an example of how your community has been shaped by God’s mercy.

2. Read Jonah 3:6-10. Rehearse the 3 marks of mercy-shaped community we discussed in the sermon:

   • The Word moves in power.

   • Corporate confession & repentance.

   • Mercy-shaped people (individuals).

   Explain how each of these marks is represented in the text. What other marks of mercy, if any, ought we to expect to see in a healthy Christian community?

3. What happened when Jonah spoke the Word to Nineveh (Jonah 3:4-5)? Why is it so important to speak God’s word to one another? What hinders us from speaking God’s word? How can we help one another overcome those hinderances?

4. What did corporate confession and repentance look like for the Ninevites? How do you think it ought to look for us? What keeps Christians from this life-giving practice in our context?

5. In the sermon this morning, Robb noted that the work of God in Nineveh (chpt 3) began with a work of God in Jonah (chpt 2). How can we as individual Christians prepare our own hearts for the movement of God in our community?

1. Describe a time in your life when you sought a word from the Lord? What were you after (an answer, forgiveness, clarity of direction)?

2. Read Jonah 3:1–5.

   What is the Lord’s word to Jonah? How does the Lord’s message offer divine mercy and demand human responsibility? How does Jonah respond to the word of the Lord, the second time?

   What is the Lord’s word to Nineveh? How does the Lord’s message offer divine mercy and demand human responsibility? How does Nineveh respond to the word of the Lord?

3. Read John 1:1–18. What does it mean that Jesus is the Word? How is Jesus—fully God, fully human—the fullest expression of God personally addressing his people?

4. Read 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5. Why does it make a difference to “know from whom you have learned it” (v. 14)? How does understanding God’s Word as a personal address to you change the way you think about teaching ministries, as a teacher and as a recipient?

5. Where do you need your community to speak God’s mercy and your responsibility into your life?

1. What memory helps you appreciate the joys and/or challenges of motherhood? Tell a ‘mom story,’ either of your own mother or of your experience as a mother.

2. Read Jonah 1:17. Try to imagine Jonah’s experience in this verse. What physical sensations might he be experiencing? What emotions?

3. In what ways is the great fish an example of God’s great mercy in Jonah’s life?

4. Read Jonah 2:1-9. Which words or phrases note Jonah’s downward descent away from God’s presence? Which words or phrases mark the upward motion of God’s redeeming grace?

5. How does Jonah’s experience ‘in the belly’ help Christians today to endure with patience their own lonely experiences of suffering?

6. Are you in the belly of suffering and solitude? Share with one another and ask God to meet your brothers and sisters in the midst of trying circumstance with his great salvation.

1) VBCC’s core value of ‘Reaching Out’ states: “We will take Christ’s message of grace to the lost and disconnected people in our community and to those parts of the world where the local church is weak or nonexistent, and we will use every available Christ-honoring means to pursue, reach and mature them.” Where have you seen this happen since you’ve been at VBCC?

2) In light of Scripture and today’s sermon, how would you describe God’s presence in this world?

3) How important is it that a believer feels the presence of God in their life? Where does Scripture give us the assurance of God’s presence with us?

4) Identify areas in your life where God may be giving you opportunity to extend grace with a foreigner/share the Gospel with an unbeliever.

5) What are ways the enemy can try to neutralize our witness?

6) What has been your experience with racial divisions and with racial reconciliation?

7) How might God be leading you/your Connect Group to help VBCC continue to carry out the core value of Reaching Out? Would you pray for this Summer’s Sunday School class called The Engagement Project as well as VBJ1 ministry to international students?

1. If you could be anywhere, doing anything right now, where would you be? Why? What does your answer say about your vision of the ‘good life’? Are there any correlations between that vision and the things that cause you to feel anxious or worried?

2. Read Matthew 6:25-34. How many times does Jesus use a term like ‘anxious’ or ‘worry’? What does this kind of worry/anxiety look like practically in life? What other actions would you associate with the idea?

3. Look again at verses 32-33. Here Jesus shifts from anxious/worry language to ‘seek’ language. What is the relationship between seeking and being anxious?

4. In v32, Jesus says, “The Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all.” What is Jesus referring to with the words, ‘all these things’? If you were to make an ‘all these things’ list for yourself, what would be on it?

5. This morning Robb said, “anxiety is a symptom of seeking.” What does that mean? What does the ‘ringing bell’ of anxiety tell us about what’s going on in our hearts?

6. CS Lewis says, “I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.” Practically speaking, what are some ways we can do this? How do we keep our hearts calibrated toward God?

1. What is your earliest memory of feeling anxious? Does the memory relate at all to the things that make you feel anxious in your life now? In what way[s]?

2. Read Matthew 6:25, 31, & 34. These three verses mark the beginnings of three sections of instruction about anxiety. Summarize each section’s content. What reasons does Jesus give to lay aside worry?

3. In v25, Jesus repeats three times ‘what you will’. These words represent good things taken to a bad future via anxiety. Do you have a ‘what you will’ issue in your life? What is it?

4. In the sermon this morning, Robb said, “Jesus replaces the WHAT with a WHO.” Who does Jesus offer to meet us in our anxiety (v26, 30, 32)? What do we learn about this person from verses in Matt 6?

5. Review the Worship/Worry Seesaw below. Have you found this principle to be true in your own life? How can we use this simple tool to help us when we face anxiety on a day-to-day basis?

Dr Burchett says, “As worship goes up, worry goes down. Worry tends to dethrone God and elevate problems. Worship magnifies God and refuses to allow molehills to become mountains.”

1. What is your favorite treasure hunting story? Why do you think we tell stories about searching for buried treasure?

2. Read Matthew 6:19-24. What stands out to you in this passage? How are these verses connected to verse 1: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven”?

3. Jesus is using three different illustrations or metaphors (verses 19-21, 22-23, & 24) in this text. What do you think he is describing? How would you summarize what these three metaphors mean?

4. Jesus concludes this section by saying, “You cannot serve God and Money.” Besides Money, what are the alternative masters that compete with God for your service?

5. Read Matthew 13:44. What makes the Kingdom of Heaven like a buried treasure to you? Why is it an act of joy to sell everything and buy the field?

6. What is one action step you can take this week in order to apply this passage to your life? Pray for one another toward this step.

1. Take a few minutes to debrief this week’s sermon. What stood out to you? What questions did you have? Were there any takeaways you had?

2. Read Matthew 6:14-15. What is Jesus teaching in these two verses? How are these verses related to the Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6:9-13)? Does this mean that our salvation depends on whether or not we forgive others?

3. Read Matthew 18:21-22. Why does Jesus tell Peter to forgive seventy-seven times? How does this teaching help us understand Matthew 6:14-15?

4. Read Psalm 103:12. What is the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation? How can you know whether or not you’ve forgiven someone when reconciliation hasn’t happened yet?

5. Think about a specific individual you are needing to forgive. What are the obstacles to forgiveness for you? How does the cross break down those obstacles?

6. Take a look at the practical helps below that Cron Gibson gave in the sermon. Which of these is the next step for you to practice this week?

   1. Confess your honest resistance to forgiving the other.

   2. Give thanks for the offender.

   3. Each time the offense comes to mind ask God to bless the offender.

   4. Each time the desire for justice comes upon you thank God for his mercy to you and ask God to enable you to show mercy rather than demand justice.

Remember to join us tomorrow night for our 2nd Hopewell Session. Register here.

1. Tell about a time when forgiveness (or unforgiveness) had a profound affect on your life. Were you the one needing or extending forgiveness? What was difficult about the situation? How did forgiveness play out?

2. Read Matthew 6:12. Jesus uses the language of ‘debts & debtors’ to describe wrongs done by us and to us. In what sense is sin like debt? In what sense can such a debt be forgiven?

3. When Jesus instructs us to pray, “as we also have forgiven,” he is introducing the only phrase in the Lord’s prayer that describes human action rather than God’s. Why is it so important that we forgive as the Lord forgives us?

4. Which is more difficult for you personally: to ask forgiveness, or to extend forgiveness? Why? How does the Gospel empower us to work out forgiveness in our relationships?

5. In the sermon today, Robb warned against ‘shortcuts’ that keep us from having an authentic exchange of forgiveness. For instance, saying “I’m sorry” and “That’s OK” is not the same as saying, “Will you forgive me?” and “Yes, I forgive you.” How has forgiveness been practiced in your family? What have you found most helpful for working out forgiveness on a regular basis in your closest relationships?

6. Because we are broken people living in a broken world, forgiveness is something that is constantly needing to be worked out in our relationships. What situations might require an exchange of forgiveness in your lives right now? Share and pray for one another.

1. Recall a time when you had a need you couldn’t meet on your own. In your experience, was it a crisis? How did it make you feel?

2. Read Matthew 6:11. In the sermon today, Robb said the bread represents all of our normal needs as human beings. What needs are you most inclined to bring to God in prayer? What needs are you inclined to just address without prayer?

3. Read Exodus 16:2-4. “Daily bread” alludes to the manna God provided daily to the Israelites in the wilderness. What do we learn from the Israelites in this passage about the nature and challenges of daily dependence?

4. In their need, the Israelites accuse God and longingly remember their Egyptian slavedrivers as deliverers. How do these bad responses to neediness corelate to our modern experience? How do we appropriately grapple with our neediness while avoiding these pitfalls?

5. Read Luke 4:3 and 23:35-39. What is the refrain that is repeated by the religious leaders (v35), the soldiers (v37) and even the criminals (v39)? How does it relate to Satan’s temptation in the wilderness? What does this temptation look like practically in your own life? How did Jesus respond (see 1 Peter 2:23)?

6. How does Jesus help us in our need? What can we thank him for today? Spend some time worshipping and thanking Jesus together as a group in prayer.

1. Read Matthew 6:9-10. After addressing God as Father, Jesus leads us to pray three petitions in these verses. What are they? How are they different from one another? How are they the same?

2. In today’s sermon, Robb said these opening petitions reflect “Radical God-Centeredness,” which means God is the always the main character in the story, and everyone else is in a supporting role. If a human is self-centered, we consider it a flaw in character. Why is it OK for God to be God-centered?

3. Consider the verses below as they relate to the three petitions for God’s Name, Kingdom and Will. How do the promises of scripture inform our faith as we take up these “eschatological pleas” in prayer?

   1. NAME: Exodus 9:16; Isaiah 42:8

   2. KINGDOM: Psalm 29:10; Daniel 4:3

   3. WILL: Isaiah 46:8-13

4. Reflect together on the phrase, “on earth as it is in heaven.” When you look out your window, what do you think will be different when God’s kingdom comes in power, here? Which of those things can we ask God to accomplish in our day? When you think about that day when his kingdom comes, what excites you most?

5. How does the cross of Christ mediate the Godward petitions of Matthew 6:9-10? What difference does it make in your life to know that Jesus fulfills these pleas on our behalf?

6. Spend time praying together. Consider praying through the 4/4 Pattern of Worship Based Prayer from Daniel Henderson.

1. Briefly share your experience with the Lord’s Prayer. When do you remember first saying it? Was it ‘mindless recitation’ or something more? How has your relationship with this prayer changed over time (if it has)?

2. Read Matthew 6:5-9. How many times is God called ‘Father’ in these verses? What specific truths do we learn hear about God as Father? Why do you think Jesus stresses the fatherhood of God so much in his teaching?

3. Read Matthew 6:9-13. In the sermon today, Robb encouraged us to see the Lord’s Prayer as ‘an introduction to our heavenly Father.’ Which truth about God as Father stands out to you most in this season of life, and why?

4. Read Galations 4:4-7. How is the Fatherhood of God & our sonship mediated by the cross of Jesus?

5. Read the list of contrasts below. Which items from the ‘orphan’ side of the list do you most often struggle with? Share with one another and pray for each other to live daily in light of our Father’s love for us. Remember, struggling with these things does not mean that you are unsaved or should entertain guilt and shame. These are simply evidences of the fact that living as sons and daughters can be difficult.

1. Reflect on VBCC’s Global Outreach Month. What have been the most significant moments for you personally? What take-aways do you have from the month?

2. Read Mark 2:1-12. What does Jesus see in v5? How does it influence his action? What does it mean to ‘see’ faith? Is that something we can all do, or is it only Jesus who can see it?

3. When Jesus first speaks to the paralytic in v5, what does he address? How might you have responded if you were the paralytic? If you were one of his friends?

4. Why does Jesus heal the man’s paralysis (v10)? How does the man respond to Jesus’ authority? How do the Scribes respond?

5. Read Mark 2:13-17. How does this story about the calling of Levi relate to the previous story? In what way is Levi in ‘need of a physician’? What does his story tell us about what it means to follow Jesus, in light of its connection to vv1-12?

1.        What is the significance for us at VBCC, of the scene around the throne?

2.        How is the scene around the throne different from any other scene you can imagine?

3.        The scene in Revelation 7 is one of perfect unity.  What differences might there be within this unity (language, actions, motions)?  What is the significance of this?

4.        Why do you think God has chosen to call out individuals to bring about this plan?

5.        How have you seen God working in ways that are hard to imagine?

6.         What part might you have in bringing the scene in Revelation 7 to fulness?

7.        What is the relationship between God’s call to individuals and the responsibility of the Church?

1. How did you see our youth engaged in serving our church family this Sunday morning?

2. How do you picture God’s compassion? If you were to draw it, what would it look like?

3. One at a time, read Mark 1:29-34, 35-39, and 40-45. For each section, answer this question: How is Jesus’s compassionate heart on display in these verses?

4. Read Mark 3:6. The opening of the Gospel of Mark is structured around three cycles, each of which includes (1) Jesus calling his disciples to follow him and (2) increasing levels of opposition to Jesus’s ministry. What does it show us that Jesus served and ministered to others on a road filled with opposition and persecution, ultimately death? What does it mean for us that Jesus called his disciples while he walked that road?

5. God’s compassion is at the core of God’s mission. How does our church participate in God’s mission? How do our students participate in God’s mission? How do you participate in God’s mission (or how do you want to)?

6. What circles do we draw to limit the extent of our compassion? How do we decide what opportunities are worth pursuing as part of God’s mission?

7. Reminder: Our youth are assembling blessing bags on February 25. If you’d like to help, you can bring (1) individually pre-packaged snacks, (2) hand/foot warmers, and (3) mini hand sanitizer/wipes. These items can be dropped off at the church offices or in a box at the back of the sanctuary on February 18.

1) Read the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
What are your observations about the Samaritan?
What about the Innkeeper?
What opportunities might you have to be neighborly and show mercy?

2) Christopher Grundmann’s 4 historical motives for sending medical people to the Mission Field:
-Care for bodily needs (the body)
-Use medicine to attract people to hearing the Gospel (the soul)
-Support the missionary team where good medical care is not available
-Heal because Jesus healed
Which one most resonates with you, and why?

3) If someone told you, “I don’t think we should send medics as missionaries; medical missions is expensive and we need medics here,” what would you say?

4) Does God use illness in our lives? How might it affect our faith?

5) What are the differences between Christian healthcare missionaries and medics from secular ‘sending’ organizations? (ie. purpose, procedure, church involvement, community, patient interaction, etc)

6) Discuss the spiritual component to illness:
Why do you think so many prayer requests are about illness and medical care?
Why do you think there are so many healing miracles in Cambodia?
What does Scripture say about spirits and curses causing some illnesses?

7) What does Scripture say about the church’s role in ministering to the sick? (Matt. 25:31-46; James 5:13-16)

8) How can you minister in illness and healing, even if you have no formal medical training?

1. Is fasting a discipline with which you have much personal experience?
   If your answer is ‘no,’ share with the group what connotations does fasting have when you think about it?
   If your answer is ‘yes,’ share with the group your experience with the group. Has it been mainly a good or bad experience? How has your relationship to fasting changed over time?

2. Read Matthew 6:16-18. This is the 3rd in a series of three teachings on giving (6:2-4), prayer (5-8) and fasting (16-18). How do these three sections mirror one another? How does today’s passage differ from the others?

3. Read Matthew 4:1-11. This account of Jesus’ fast in the wilderness comes just after his baptism (Matt 3:13-17). Why do you think Jesus engaged in these spiritual exercises? In the sermon today, Robb called fasting “a way of immersing ourselves body and soul in the story of Jesus.” In what way does fasting do that?

4. Review the ‘nuts & bolts’ instruction below which was shared in the sermon today. What stands out to you as particularly helpful? What else might you add, from your own experience?

   • Consider fasting for Lent: February 14 - March 31, 2024.

   • Choose a fast that is stretching but do-able.

   • Remember that fasting is not the same as repenting.

   • Don’t look gloomy.

5. Why does Jesus instruct us to “not look gloomy” when we fast? In what way does a gloomy fast betray its meaning and purpose?

6. Read Acts 13::1-3. Fasting “in secret” does not mean that we can’t fast together. Regularly in Scripture, communities share the experience of fasting and prayer. Consider if your group might want to enter the season of Lent together this year. You needn’t all fast the same way, but a community can help spur one another on during seasons of spiritual discipline. Discuss what a group fast might look like, but don’t put pressure on one another to do it. Performative fasting is what Jesus is protecting us from! Pray for one another.

   • The Good of Giving Up, by Aaron Damiani, is the book Robb quoted today. He’s still got copies! Let him know if you’d like one by emailing robb@vbcc.church. Or you can purchase your own copy here.

1. Can you think of a time when you had something you felt that you couldn’t keep contained? Share with the group. Bonus points if it’s an embarrassing story.

2. Read Matthew 6:5-8. How would you summarize what Jesus is teaching in these verses? What examples of hypocritical or empty prayer have you seen?

3. Read Matthew 6:1. How does our passage illustrate what Jesus is teaching in this verse?

4. Read Matthew 6:6. What alternative does Jesus give to hypocritical prayer? How does praying in the “secret place” guard us from hypocrisy?

5. Read Matthew 6:9-15. What alternative does Jesus give to empty prayer? How does the Lord’s Prayer instruct us in our own prayer?

6. What is one step you can take this week to move toward increasing humility, gratitude, and honesty in your prayers this week?

1. If you had to pick one word or phrase to describe your relationship with money, what would it be?

2. Read Matthew 6:2-4. Jesus begins his teaching with the word 'when,' not 'if.' Why do you think Jesus considers giving such a central discipline in the lives of his followers?

3. What would 'sounding a trumpet' look like practically in our modern context? Are there common ways people expect to be recognized for how they steward their money?

4. Why is it important to Jesus that we give in secret? 

5. Jesus says those who give in secret will be rewarded by their heavenly Father. In the sermon today, we discussed 4 kinds of reward (below). What has been your own experience with giving? Have you tasted any of these rewards? How did it affect your faith? 

1. Watching investments bear fruit

2. Freedom from financial slavery / idolatry

3. Storing up treasures in heaven

4. Intimacy with our heavenly Father