Matt Zainea Rockford Campus June 4, 2023
The Ordinance of Suffering
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
REMINDERS
Leader Appreciation – Adult Life Group Leaders, if you haven’t picked up your thank you gift yet, we have one set aside for you. Please reach out to either Kathryn Jones or Trent Heaton.
TOGETHER IN LIFE
QUESTION: What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
QUESTION: If you could take a sabbatical would you and how would you spend it?
TOGETHER IN THE WORD
THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Note: We encourage you to read the entire text together as a group out loud.
Big Idea: When do you feel most Christlike? It’s through suffering that we have a unique connection with Jesus himself that cannot be duplicated through any other way. It’s through being faithful to God during our most difficult times that we relate most to Jesus.
QUESTION: How would you explain communion to someone who has never practiced it?
QUESTION: Do you see the connection between communion and suffering? Is that something you would have seen in the text before listening to Matt’s message? Why or why not?
QUESTION: What part of the text stands out to you the most and why?
QUESTION: How do you think society in general sees suffering?
QUESTION: Do you think that the Global Church views suffering differently than the general public? Why or why not?
- Betrayed : Relational pain – “…on the night He was betrayed…”
- Broken : Bread – Wheat must be ground and crushed. It’s in it’s crushing that now it can be made into bread. Christ’s body was crushed. He is the bread of life.
- Blood : Wine/juice – Grapes are crushed all it’s juices are squeezed out, in it’s crushing it becomes life. Jesus blood was shed. Without this we have no opportunity for life.
- Death – “…proclaim the LORD’s death until He comes…” His death is the model for ours. He chose death and suffering for us when He didn’t have to.
QUESTION: In the home that you grew up in, how did the adults around you handle hard times? Did your famiy talk openly about difficulties or were they hidden?
QUESTION: What did you learn about suffering by watching your family members deal with their difficulties in life?
QUESTION: Do you believe that how your family handled suffering still effects you today? If so, how?
QUESTION: Has there been someone in your life who modeled faithfulness to God in suffering? What did that look like and what did it mean to you?
QUESTION: Share about a time where you felt the closest to God.
QUESTION: Can you remember a time where you felt crushed? Did God use that pain in your life? If so, how?
QUESTION: If you had to choose, would you rather go through physical suffering or relational suffering, which would you choose and why?
QUESTION: How often do you think about the suffering that may come to you in the future? How do you feel about it?
QUESTION: What do you think it looks like to remain faithful to God during suffering? Can faithfulness include asking God honest questions?
The communion table is waiting for the marriage supper of the lamb – just a snack waiting for the feast.
Matt’s QUESTIONS of Reflection: Who has betrayed you? How have you responded? How would God want you to respond?
TOGETHER IN PRAYER
1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”
Pray together as a group, “Father, the way of life that you ask of us feels completely opposite of the life we think we want. We confess that we long for comfort, affluence and convenience. Help us to want intimacy with you more than anything in this world. Help us to trust you and cling to you during our sufferings and teach us what it means to be faithful to you during difficult times. Reveal your glory through our lives. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.”
