He Gets Us Week Two

Suffering

• Do you think we have a true handle on suffering in America? What are some things we Americans considering “suffering” that people in the rest of the world won’t thing is a big deal or they can’t relate at all?

• God is God so do you believe and remember in the heat of the moment that he truly relates to your struggle? How so?

• “Who for the joy set before him endured the cross.” Joy was set before Jesus at a distance beyond the cross and suffering. How do we overcome the obstacle of seeing only the immediate suffering to seeing the joy of the future?

(Leaders: We need to the cling to truth in the moment to set us free. How bad off am I really right now? For example: I have a friend successful friend who is a high-level  executive at Home Depot who often says when a crisis comes up, “In 24 hours, it will look different”. )

• How can humility take the edge off our suffering?

(Leaders: One – it’s humbling to be honest with ourselves and realize when we have interpreted inconvenience as suffering. They are not the same! Two – when we are truly suffering from loss or tragedy we need to remind ourselves of the temporary condition of our suffering (2 Cor 4:17) and respond with gratefulness for the support we have (1 Thess 5:18). Three – Stop reacting and start listening. In the midst of this am I hearing what God is saying to me right now?

Bonus Reflection from the Biblical Text

• If you want to be an overcomer, then there will be things to overcome.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God…He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death….He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”

(Rev 2:7, 11, 17)

He Gets Us Week Two

Psalm 119:60-61

Luke 5:31-32

Prov 14:29

Psalms 27:13-14

The Big Idea from Sunday

Pastor Jason preached on a heavy topic about critics or “haters”. He said that Jesus acknowledged that his critics were there (aka “I see you”), but Jesus decided “I’m not stuck with you” and instead focused on the mission from the Father.

Reflective Questions

Pastor Jason gave a transparent review on Sunday about how he tried to impress his critics. He would literally watch highlights of the Miami Dolphins so he could have something of interest to talk about with his critic. If we are honest with ourselves, who are some people in your life who were critical of you that you tried to “win over”? What did that look like?

What would your life look like if you did not spend all that energy on trying to win over someone that has been a critic in your life?

Discerning Question

The late US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia famously said, “I attack ideas. I don’t attack people. And some very good people have some very bad ideas. And if you can’t separate the two, you gotta get another day job. You don’t want to be a judge.” In looking back on your life, has there been times when someone may have skeptical or criticized your ideas and you felt like they hated you? How does separating the two help us in dealing with criticism?

Sometimes we need time to assess people’s intentions towards us. If someone is making us feel insecure, how does focusing on the mission at hand (like Jesus did) help us?

Bonus Reflections from more Biblical Texts

Pastor Jason said, “Patience over outcome – renounce your rights to a timeline” when hoping for a change in people. How does Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 confirm this thought?

We can hold grudges against our critics. Mark 6:18-19 NIV “For John (the Baptist) had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias nursed a grudge against John…” The fastest way to stop a critic from affecting you is to stop replaying the conversation over and over in your head. A grudge is like a baby, if you stop nursing it, it will die. We keep negative emotions alive every time we hit the rewind button and replay conversations with critics in our head. In doing so, we allow people to keep hurting us over and over again.

Pray for one another in your group to be able to leave behind from critics what needs to be left behind and to learn what needs to be learned. Amen!