1. Think about a season of suffering in your life. What helped ease the pain in that season? Was it something in your relationship with God with others? Something else?

2. Read Psalm 39:1-6. What tensions is the psalmist navigating in these verses? What imagery does he use to express himself, and what does the imagery mean?

3. Read Psalm 39:7-13. What tensions is the psalmist navigating in his relationship with God? Have you ever felt like this psalm in your relationship with God? Explain.

4. In the sermon today, Robb spoke about suffering as a ‘journey into tension’. Briefly review Psalms 34-38. What words, phrases or themes from those passages make their way into Psalm 39? Do you sense a trajectory across the psalms? Where are we going as we read?

5. Read Psalm 40:1-4. What does the relationship between the tension of Ps 39 and the resolution of Ps 40 mirror the gospel story of Jesus’ death and resurrection?

1. What are some of the ways suffering can affect our relationship with God? Consider a time of deep suffering in your life. Did it cause you to move closer or further from God? Why do you think that is?

2. Read Psalm 38:1-9. What issues is the psalmist grappling with in his life? How might these issues be related to one another?

3. Verse 9 ends the first of 3 cycles of lament in the psalm with a personal call upon the Lord (“O LORD!”) What is the significance of these calls placed at the end of each cycle of lament (vv9, 15, 21)? Why can it sometimes be difficult to gain a glimpse of God in the midst of suffering?

4. Read Psalm 38:21. Why does the psalmist ask for God to ‘be not far off’? What is it about the nearness of God that makes him long for it?

5. Read 1 Peter 3:18. How does the suffering of Jesus intersect with our own suffering in this verse? How does the cross give us hope in the midst of suffering?

6. Spend time praying for one another, especially for those who are in a season of suffering.

   If you have time, you can click here to take a short assessment based on Gary Thomas’ book, Sacred Pathways. Thomas’ nine ‘pathways’ are below. Remember, these are not substitutes to the word, prayer, fellowship, etc. They are simply a description of habits that may help us practice the nearness of God in our everyday lives:

Activist

Activists meet God in the vortex of confrontation. They want to fight God’s battles. God becomes most real to them when they are standing up for justice or working on the frontlines to build God’s kingdom.

Ascetic

Ascetics meet God internally. They prefer to shut out the world and meet God in solitude and austerity. For ascetics, the best environment for personal worship is a quiet place with a rather orderly environment, and they usually don’t like the distractions of group worship. They are often advocates of all-night prayer vigils and many of the classical disciplines, such as fasting and meditation.

Caregiver

Caregivers love God by loving others. Providing care or meeting needs in Jesus’ name spiritually energizes caregivers and draws them closer to the Lord.

Contemplative

Contemplatives are marked by an emotional attachment and surrender to God. They are God’s lovers, and they want to spend their time in God’s presence — adoring Him, listening to Him and enjoying Him. They often find benefit in journal writing, where they can explore their heart’s devotion.

Enthusiast

Enthusiasts like the excitement and celebration of group worship and probably buy more praise CDs than books. They feed off the enthusiasm of other believers and typically revel in God’s mystery and supernatural power. Their exuberance tends to lead them to embrace creative forms of worship.

Intellectual

Intellectuals really like books — even the reference kind — and live in the world of concepts. They want to come out of their devotional time with new understanding. If their mind isn’t engaged, their heart may feel cold.

Naturalist

Naturalists’ hearts open up to God when they get outdoors. God seems more real to them when they’re hiking under a big expanse of sky or at least sitting under a tree.

Sensate

Sensates are more aesthetically inclined. These are the artistic types, and they prefer creative and original music or even good architecture to open their hearts to God’s presence. Their worship is about seeing, hearing, feeling, touching and even tasting God’s presence.

Traditionalist

Traditionalists find great meaning by worshiping God according to set patterns — their own or historical ones. They may organize their life around scheduled times of prayer and may even choose to carefully observe the Christian calendar, aligning themselves with centuries of faith. Traditionalists often make good use of Christian symbols.

1. Read Psalm 36:1-4. In this portrait of “life under the influence of sin” the psalmist employs a number of vivid images. What imagery strikes you the most? What is the psalmist conveying with the imagery about life under the influence of sin?

2. In vv1-2, there are two references to the eyes. What does sin do to our spiritual vision? Why is this an important strategic move on the part of the enemy?

3. Read Psalm 36:5-9. This is a second, contrasting portrait, illustrating life under the influence of God’s love. How is the imagery different than verses 1-4? What words describe how these verses make you feel, compared to the first 4 verses?

4. Verse 9 says, In your light we see light. In the Bible, spiritual enlightenment is the supernatural, miraculous work of God in a person’s life (see Ephesians 1:18ff, 2 Corinthians 4:6). What has been your experience of spiritual sight, personally? How would you explain it to someone unfamiliar with the Bible?

5. Read Psalm 36:10-12. Do you identify with this sober prayer for safekeeping? How do we maintain this posture of humility and dependence on Christ in our daily lives? Spend time praying for one another and thanking God for his steadfast love.

1. Read Psalm 37:1-11 aloud as a group. What stands out to you as you hear these verses recited? What does it make you feel or think?

2. List the negative commands (ie, fret not, be not envious, etc) and positive commands (ie, trust, dwell, etc) in Psalm 37:1-11. How do these parallel commands shed light on what it means to ‘delight in the Lord’?

3. Verse 3’s ‘dwell in the land’ is shorthand for living within God’s blessing under the Abrahamic covenant (see Exodus 32:13 for clarification). You will find similar language in vv 9, 11, 22, 27, 29, 34 . “The land/inheritance” language represents not just the land but all the covenant blessings of God. How does this relate to verse 4’s “he will give you the desires of your heart”? In other words, how does the language of covenant in v3 shape the way we understand the promise of v4?

4. Read Matthew 5:5. Here, Jesus uses the language of Psalm 37:11 to pronounce a blessing on his New Covenant kingdom citizens. How is the blessing different under Jesus than under Abraham? How is it the same?

5. What gets in the way of delighting in the Lord in your personal life? How can you pray and encourage one another to prioritize delighting in Him?

1. Read Psalm 35:1-10. How do you envision David’s physical posture as he prays this prayer (standing, sitting, kneeling, etc)? What emotions does this psalm evoke for you?

2. In the sermon today, we discussed the 5 elements of imprecatory psalms (and other laments). Can you identify each of them in these verses? How about in the 2nd and 3rd stanzas (vv 11-18 and 19-28)?

   • Invocation - direct address to God.

   • Complaint - announcing the problem

   • Petition - asking for the resolution

   • Trust - declaring faith in God’s faithfulness

   • Praise - proclamation or promise of praise and adoration

3. Read Matthew 5:44 and Romans 12:19. How do we reconcile these verses with imprecatory (cursing) psalms like Ps 35? Do you think that New Testament believers can and should continue to pray these psalms in Christian worship? Why or why not?

4. Read 1 Samuel 24:1-12. How would you describe David’s conduct toward Saul? How does his conduct compare/contrast with what we read in Psalm 35?

5. In the sermon today, Robb suggested 4 theaters in which believers can pray through the imprecatory psalms. Have you ever prayed in any of these ways? How else might we utilize the imprecatory psalms in our spiritual lives?

   • Pray as you encounter personal injustice

   • Pray for the persecuted global church

   • Pray against spiritual enemies

   • Pray through the goodness of God as seen in the imprecatory psalms

6. Spend time sharing with one another ways to be praying for each other in the week ahead.

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?