Grateful or Hateful

Home Church or Small Group/Class Questions. • Breaking the Ice question (group facilitators will have). • Check-ins: what’s been happening in your week(s) since last meeting? Check-in with each other and introduce yourself if new/new people in group. Group and church wide-announcements. • Care: needs in the group (name needs and sentence prayers (short sentences, open ended not long-winded) at end). • Compassion: What compassion work is the group planning? Are you inviting your neighbors to join? • Group Announcements (church-wide and your group-only): BBQs, Group compassion projects, etc. • Any reflections, discernments, disagreements from last week’s teaching? (Or since you last met). • Look at the Bible passage(s) again and read some of them out loud in the group Big Picture (and other verses that may have been mentioned). What jumps out at you? • A note: these questions are only guides. You may go other directions based on the David Brooks on grumpiness and gratitude Bible passage and teaching as well! • Psalm 44, Ephesians 5.18-21, Col. 3.17, Phil. 4.6-9 • Name something that you recently were happy about, that made you celebrate have positive emotions about with the group (big or small but 1 Thessalonians 5.12-23 share a little detail)! • Where is the balance between not denying our feelings and yet not living by feelings? • How does mental illness interplay with these commands? Eight short commands concerning prayer, worship, and use of the gifts of the Spirit in church. The church is a community that is to expect Christ's • What has helped you grow in rejoicing, prayer and thanksgiving? presence and return. We worship and serve while we wait the new creation. • The NT churches were faced with many very real pains and struggles as a movement that ran afoul of the claims of the empire. So these instructions * 12-13 Attitudes towards leaders were not to a privileged community. What circumstances today would * 14-15 The ministry of everyone in the church seek to keep us from joy, prayer and thanks? * 16-22 Worship gathering and Holy Spirit End and Homework: Final questions, prayer huddles for personal requests. Consider breaking into small groups (huddles) of 2-4 by gender if large enough. • Go around speak to each other something you are thankful about them for. Zooming in on V. 16-18 • What else did you experience (feel or think about) in Sunday’s gathering and teaching? Three continual actions for the believer and church that shape us into God-likeness. • Which of these commands/instructions from the Apostle Paul seem the most important to your life right now? Why? Sources: as noted. General thoughts on gratitude Hatefulness? Does gratitude really exist if not expressed in thanks? Practices of Thanks Daily Patterns Weekly Patterns Tending to Thanks in Relationships Today’s Take Outs