This was the final message in this series. You can listen to the whole series on our website. You can even browse through previous message series as well.
Will Your Group Serve For Gilmer?
above: Mary Callihan invites people to Family Day
above: We definitely get all kinds when we’re downtown.
Has your group decided when to serve downtown? This year, we are going to be at the River Street Parking Lot, right beside the Times Courier, and we will most likely be serving more kids and families than ever before. Will you serve a shift?
Thanksgiving “Thank You” Dinner
The other big thing we’re doing is serving together at the Thanksgiving Dinner, which is November 17. This is a GREAT opportunity for us to work with believers in multiple churches from across Gilmer County to say “thank you” to God for our neighbors. This Thanksgiving meal is free to anyone and everyone. Your group can do a shift along with me there!
Lifegroup Discussion Questions: Suffering
If your group hasn’t already discussed our upcoming Halloween outreach, would you please swipe back up to the top of this page and have a look? These questions will still be here when you get back to them.
I mentioned that I had preached about this topic before. Here is my message from April last year that can’t hold a candle to what Lee Stroebel says:
What is one thing you quit doing as a kid or teenager that you wish you would have stuck with? Was it playing a sport? Learning an instrument? A difficult class in school?
Why did you quit? Why do you wish you would have stayed with it?
At some point in our lives, all of us have quit something. But sticking with a challenge is one of the ways we learn to persevere. Perseverance is one of the most important characteristics we find God building into His people throughout Scripture. Nobody knew the value of perseverance more than Job who had every reason in the world to give up. But when our circumstances might make us want to give up because we can’t see what God is doing, we can still trust Him when we take our eyes off those circumstances and place them on Him.
Job 1:1-5 (NLT)
There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.
Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
Based on these verses, what kind of man was Job?
What do you think the people in his community thought about him?
By all accounts, Job was a respected and upstanding member of his community. In fact, based on these verses, he had everything anyone could ever want. But pain and suffering is no respecter of qualities like these; it comes on us all at some point in our lives. Job’s blessed life was about to be turned upside down.
Job 1:6–12 (NLT)
One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. “Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan. Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”
Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
Satan replied to the LORD, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”
“All right, you may test him,” the LORD said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the LORD’s presence.
Who brought Job into the conversation—Satan or God? Why is that important to know?
Job 1:13–22 (NLT)
One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said,
“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
and I will be naked when I leave.
The LORD gave me what I had,
and the LORD has taken it away.
Praise the name of the LORD!”
In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.
Can you imagine responding to these types of circumstances in your life the way Job did? How do we typically respond?
What are some ways Job might have responded to what he was going through?
What does Job’s confession, “Praise the name of the Lord,” show you about his faith?
Why is it hard to remember that God is still God and that God is still good when you’re experiencing pain?
Do you think it would have made a difference to Job if he would have known why this was happening to him? Why or why not?
Job recognized that his circumstances were more than a streak of bad luck. God is sovereign in both good times and bad times. But Job chose instead of focusing on his circumstances to look higher. True faith is not dependent on our circumstances; it must find its root in something that does not change—the character of God.
Hebrews 12:1–2 (NLT)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
How does fixing our eyes on Jesus instead of our circumstances help us to not give up?
2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (NLT)
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
Why is it so hard for us to remember that “our present troubles are small and won’t last very long?”
No matter what’s happening in our circumstances, God is working for good.
How have you seen God use your pain for your progress?
Our job isn’t to know exactly what He’s doing; our job is to hold on and not give up. When things are falling apart around us, the best thing we can do is trust.
How can we best pray for people in our group who are going through pain right now?
Hey, did I mention the Halloween Outreach?