- Jeremiah 20: 10-13
- Psalms 69: 8-10
- Romans 5: 12-15
- Matthew 10: 26-33
- Fear of failure
- Fear of failure often shackles us to our comfort zone. No one wants to see something that they invest in fail to produce the desired results. More profoundly, as God's people, we fear failure because deep down inside we think that failure means that we had missed God's will for our lives, that failure was a result of our sin.
- What are some failures that you have had in your life?
- Why do you feel as though you failed at that?
- Do you think that you took that challenge on because you were led by God?
- How do you think God feels about your failure?
- No longer strangers
- A prophet is someone who says what needs to be said, not necessarily what anyone wants to hear. Perhaps the toughest part about being prophetic is the isolation that the prophet feels in the wake of rejection.
- Who are some prophets that you can think of?
- If they spoke out in the past, how did that message strike you at the time?
- How can we support our prophets in our time?
- Amazing grace
- Actual grace is a little more tangible than sanctifying grace. One definition of actual grace is a "spiritual kick in the pants." St. Ignatius I believe would call such interventions in our lives a divine consolation.
- Think of a time you found the strength, the courage, the vision to be God's presence in a way that surprised you.
- How did that happen?
- What do you think led up to that breakthrough?
- How did that grace change you?
- Fear no one
- Corporations, governments, countries, entire generations can have a discernable character, a personality. Trying to alter the course of something as large as such character, such culture may seem foolhardy at best.
- What are some things that you do that are counter-cultural?
- Why do you do those things?
- What effect do you think that your actions are having on the greater culture?
- Is that effect enough to make the work worth it?
- Preparation for Reconciliation
- What fears do I need to place into God's hand?
- Where are God's prophets calling me today?
- Am I open to the grace that God has for me?
- Where am I living in fear and need to step out of my comfort zone for God.
Three pebbles - two of them are spares
Towering over the valley floor the giant stood - death in a pair of sandals.
His heavy armor gleaming defiantly in the morning sun,
His sword and shield lowered. He felt no fear, no threat -
Not from the lone shepherd boy coming toward him with fierce determination -
And hardly anything else.
"I am offended that you cowards send out this defenseless youth against me!
At least have the courtesy to put suitable armor on him
So that I am not dishonored to slay this miserable specimen
Who dares to desecrate this battlefield by his feeble presence.
Today I will water this valley with his blood and yours."
God's servant sprinted to well within javelin range.
Meanwhile feeling one pebble in his hand, learning its shape, and edges -
Praying that his God would give him strength, aim, and courage.
And land a blow that no one of this shepherd's kinsman could imagine.
And free God's people from the hands of their oppressors.
He stood there, all alone, no army to back him, no one shouting encouragement.
Slowly his sling began to circle, faster and faster.
The boy began to run again, fully present, fully alive,
Straight at certain death at the hands of his towering foe.
Releasing that stone at the top of its arc.
His aim was true, his missile found its mark.
The giant staggered, bled, and toppled.
The boy had no sword to finish him off.
He improvised and finished the battle with his foe's own sword.
Hoisting the trophy of God's intervention for all to see.
The boy's kin suddenly found their lost courage.
Now they saw that God was still with them despite appearances.
And they charged into battle for freedom -
Confident that they were not alone, that they never had been.
Now go, and find your Goliath.
Shalom!
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