“Our commonest expedient is to call it beauty and behave as if that had settled the matter. Wordsworth’s expedient was to identify it with certain moments in his own past. But all this is a cheat. If Wordsworth had gone back to those moments in the past, he would not have found the thing itself, but only the reminder of it; what he remembered would turn out to be itself a remembering. The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.” —C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Discussion Questions:
In what ways do you feel “homeless?” What longings do you have? How is God your dwelling place?
How does your heart respond to the Psalm’s reminder that we are temporary, that death is inevitable? How does Jesus tasting death for us change your heart’s response?
Which of the 6 prayers in Vv. 12-17 stand out to you the most? Why? How will you pray each of those this coming week?
1) How are you coming into the New Year? Do you feel refreshed and motivated to step into 2023?
2) How does this passage help us take the focus off of ourselves and how we’re performing? How can that reality help our energy level and hope for the New Year?
3) Where is a space you can step into in the ministry of Reconciliation? If there anyone in your relational circles or DC with whom you could work together?
Straight Talk Leads to a Straight Walk (Galatians 2:11-21)
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Sermon Outline
From Hypocrisy to Humility
From Works to Faith
From Death to Life
Table Discussion
Have you ever had a conversation about not walking in line with the truth of the gospel? How did it go?
What do you think is your “plus” to the gospel?
What does it mean to you that Jesus not only took away your sins, but gave you his righteousness?
**This sermon was preached by Lucas Turner, a former partner of missio Dei: Falcon, currently on mission in Central Texas as a College and Young Adult Minister at a Baptist church.
In the kingdom, we receive comfort in a very different way than we’re taught to in American culture. We receive comfort not by, on the one hand, whining in our sense of entitlement or, on the other hand, pretending as though we’re happy. We are comforted when we see our sin, our brokenness, our desperate circumstances, and we grieve, we weep, we cry out for deliverance. —Russell Moore—
Four Parts of Lament (Mark Vroegop)
Turning to God
Bringing your complaint
Asking boldly
Choosing to trust
Until Jesus returns, the world will be marked by tears. Children will continue to be born and their first cry will announce their arrival into a broken world. To cry is human, but to lament is Christian. —Mark Vroegop—
Table Discussion Questions:
Why do you think it is difficult for us to Lament? What is the big difference between lamenting and complaining? (Hebrews 4:16)
What are some harmful things that can happen when we always try to edit our lives (internally or externally) towards the positive?
Pray for anyone at your table who is facing a difficult circumstance right now.
This Sunday we had the privilege to hear from one of our previous elders, Perry Marshall. Perry taught through the passage on “taming the tongue”. James warns of the power and harm that can come from our tongues. In seeking to be not just hearers of the Word, but also doers, Perry encouraged us to recognize the significance of this part of the body. Most of us have been built up by someone else’s words, but also hurt by them. It “ought not be so”, and we need not look any farther than Jesus for grace when we have a slip of the tongue. What comes out of our mouth points to the condition of our heart, and reminds us all the more that we are sinners in need of the saving grace of Jesus.
Discussion Questions:
Have you ever had a time where someone’s words lifted you up or inspired you? What happened?
In what situations or circumstances do you find it most difficult to tame your tongue?
How can the link between our words and our hearts help us lean more heavily on the grace of God given through Jesus?
**This sermon was preached by Perry Marshall from Calvary Bible Church in Boulder, Colorado.
