February 3, 2019 - JEREMIAH SERIES, Start Speaking!

February 3, 2019 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 GUIDE + “Breaking the Ice” question (group facilitator) + CHECK-INS: Introduce, check-in + CARE: Needs in the group + COMPASSION: What is the group planning? Are you inviting your neighbors to join in? + GROUP ANNOUNCEMENTS Church-wide, group-only + DIG IN: Discuss 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: NOTE these are a guide. If there is good conversation going around - pursue that discussion! 1. God gave Jeremiah an assignment so-to-speak. Have you ever sensed God giving you an assignment? What did or does that look like? 2. Re-read Jeremiah 1 in three sections (1-3, 4-10, 11-19) pausing after each to reflect as a group. What do you hear and see in the text? 3. Jeremiah expresses objections to God’s call. What are common objections people have to speaking out against injustice? 4. What are some fears we may have about following God’s leading? 5. In a sense, chapter 1 summarizes all of Jeremiah’s life and work. There are two positive and four negative (deconstruction) words. Talk about “deconstruction” work in life and groups of people/structures. What does that mean for you, your friends, marriage, family, us or society today? What needs to be deconstructed for a better world? “Get up and prepare for action. Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say. Do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of them. —Jeremiah 1:17 “Behind the Scenes” OPENING STORY + Outline of Jeremiah 1-25 Dismantling Judah’s Idolatrous World 26-52 Rebuilding Out of the Ruins + Historical Context Prayer Requests: TODAY’S BIBLE PASSAGE: Jeremiah 1:4-10, Jeremiah’s Call + Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany 1-3 Editor’s Preface Family, location, time, and words Born ~645 BC 4-19 JEREMIAH’S CALL 4-10 Call Narrative + Jeremiah’s sense of misgiving, or “imposter syndrome,” makes him “everyone’s” prophet 13-16 Boiling Pot + Jeremiah’s ”fear, anxiety, resistance, inadequacy, even resentment” reactions to representing God in the world do not disqualify us. + Open space for others is opening space for the Spirit of Jesus to be released in that potential relationship. God equips us in His Kingdom relationship building business. 17-19 The Particular Destiny of Jeremiah + (10) Four negatives and two positives. Perhaps the deconstruction is harder labour. New life is God’s work. It’s easier, less painful, and perhaps even swifter once the demolition is done. TO DO/BUSINESS WITH GOD What is God’s assignment... 11-16 TWO VISIONS + “It is a recurring temptation for every concentration of power to imagine itself self-sufficient and therefore free to order its life for its own purposes without the requirements of Yahweh (cf. Isaiah 10:13-14; 47:8; Ezekiel 28:2, 9; 29:3).” -W. Brueggemann 11-12 Almond Vision + Wordplay on almond (shaqed) and watching (shoqed). + YHWH is watching which isn’t obvious to everyone. What are your fears of... Some may sense God wants you to… To come to Christ and find new life...