November 18, 2018 - The Thinking Christian - THE BIBLE - Writing & Psalms

November 18th, 2018 The smaller groups in our church community are inside our homes where we go deeper, build friendships, and walk out the Christian life with each other. HOME CHURCH/SMALL GROUP/CLASS GUIDE + “Breaking the Ice” question (group facilitator) + CHECK-INS: Introduce yourself if new/new people in group, check-in with each other. What’s been happening in your week(s) since we last met? + CARE: Needs in the group; name these needs and have sentence prayers (just short sentences/open ended, not long-winded) at end of the gathering time + COMPASSION: What compassion work is the group planning? Are you inviting your neighbors to join in? + GROUP ANNOUNCEMENTS (church-wide and group-only) + DIG IN: 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 (and other verses that may have been mentioned). What jumps out at you? Discuss some of the questions as a group. + End and Homework: Final questions, prayer huddles for personal requests. Consider breaking into small groups (huddles) of 2-4, by gender, if large enough. DISCUSSION questions: 1. Group check-in and opening question... The Writings: Acts of Imagination & Psalms - The Art of Wrestling With God KEY VERSES: SERIES MAIN IDEA: Basics of the Old Testament Hebrew Bible - Three sections: Torah, Writings, Prophets 2. We wrap up our three-part summary of The Bible series this week. What one thing has stuck most for you? 3. The Psalms have been used as a worship book in the church (Psalter). Some churches have argued that ONLY singing Psalms is warranted in the worship gatherings of the church. What do you think of this idea and why do you think it is powerful for some and not for others? 4. What do you think of the kinds of words we use in worship? What does an ideal worship gathering look like? Why? 5. Have everyone in the group randomly pick a psalm. Go around and read each, pausing after each. Ask if its a psalm of Orientation, Disorientation or New Orientation, and any key ideas. 6. Of the Psalms read, which one speaks the most to the group today/this time? 7. In prayer time, end by reading Psalm 23 out loud together. Prayer Requests: 3. THE WRITINGS + Uniting the writings are post-exile communities trying to figure out how to ‘best live faithfully in difficult times’. But this does not mean they agree on one way to view the Torah and prophets theologically, socially or otherwise (Brueggemann,307). 4. GROUPS IN THE WRITINGS 1. The three great books of Psalms, Job, and Proverbs 2. The five Scrolls (Megilloth) - Song of Songs/Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes/Qoheleth, Esther 3. The apocalyptic book of Daniel 4. Historical books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles The Psalms “The Psalter is the favorite book of all the saints … [Each person], whatever his circumstances may be, finds in [the book] psalms and words which are appropriate to the circumstances in which he finds himself and meet his needs as adequately as if they were composed exclusively for his sake, and in such a way that he himself could not improve on them nor find or desire any better psalms or words.” —Martin Luther Background Psalm 8 An Orientation psalm, creation psalm + 2-3: God’s majesty and might I want to suggest to you…that our ordinary experiences of beauty are given to us to provide a clue, a starting-point, a signpost, from which we move on to recognize, to glimpse, to be overwhelmed by, to adore, and so to worship, not just the majesty, but the beauty of God himself. —N. T. Wright, For All God’s Worth + 4-5: Humankind’s sense of insignificance + 6-9: God’s role for humankind You have never talked to a mere mortal. —C. S. Lewis, in The Weight of Glory + 10: Concluding praise. Contribution of the Psalms (Bob Diffenbaugh) Composition TAKE AWAY: How can we respond to this word? + Do not abdicate your royal responsibility! + Do you see the other humans as more than an animal? “The other”? Three Categories + Orientation + Psalm 8 comes after suffering in 3-7, so we can understand that suffering is part of being awake, like God. + Disorientation + New Orientation Resources: https://bible.org/seriespage/7-bible-holy-canon-scripture