Brian Webster // Rockford Campus // July 7, 2024
Praise as Re/Orientation
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
REMINDERS
Summer Events: Reminder to check out the Events page on the website for a list of summer events for men, women, families, and students. You can see a list of Sunday night programming, Guys Nights Out for men, women’s bonfires and playdates, and Kids Worship Arts Camp.
TOGETHER IN LIFE
What’s your favorite 4th of July memory and why?
TOGETHER IN THE WORD
THIS WEEK rather than one key passage, we will look at 5 different Psalms.
You may wish to explore all 5 or select a few to focus on together in greater depth.
Read This First: Thinking about the Psalms
There are 150 Psalms, and Brian mentioned that they serve to orient, disorient, or re-orient the reader. He said “praising God in the Psalms gives us a framework for understanding ourselves in our world under His authority.”
QUESTIONS:
- How often do you encounter a Psalm?
- Not including this week’s sermon, what’s one of the most recent Psalms you read? How did you come across it? What effect did it have on you?
Brian listed a number of specific opportunities provided by the Psalms:
- To be in God’s presence
- To be humbled and situated in the fear of the Lord
- To tell the truth
- To be joyful, exuberant, and full of feeling
- To embody worship
- To be strengthened and anchored
QUESTIONS:
- Which of these opportunities resonates with you the most? Why?
- Do these match your experience? If not, what is your experience with the Psalms? Why do you think it might be different?
Scripture #1: Psalm 95
We encourage you to read this passage out loud as a group.
Brian: “Psalm 95 links the invitation to worship and celebrate with the imperative of humility.” We can mention our mistakes in the context of worship if we have processed them correctly: moving through sadness over sin to repentance, then on to the joy of forgiveness. Once our sins are seen in the light of who God is and what He has done, they can humble us without discouraging us.
QUESTIONS:
- What does this psalm say about who God is? How does it describe Him?
- What does this psalm say about who we are? How does it describe us?
- What does this psalm call you to do? Is there anything that prevents you from doing it?
- Are you able to recall your sins in this way? That is, can you talk about them honestly with humility but without discouragement?
Scripture #2: Psalm 96
We encourage you to read this passage out loud as a group.
Brain: “Psalm 96 asserts that God’s glory and might, and His deliverance and justice are universal—they extend over all.”
QUESTIONS:
- What does this psalm say about who God is? How does it describe Him?
- What does this psalm say about who we are? How does it describe us?
- What does this psalm call you to do? Is there anything that prevents you from doing it?
- Do you believe that God is really over all things? If not, how can you re-orient your thinking about this?
Scripture #3: Psalm 29
We encourage you to read this passage out loud as a group.
Brian: “the powerful King empowers His people and gives them peace.”
QUESTIONS:
- What does this psalm say about who God is? How does it describe Him?
- What does this psalm say about who we are? How does it describe us?
- What does this psalm call you to do? Is there anything that prevents you from doing it?
- What does the peace of God look like in your life? How often do you experience it?
Scripture #4: Psalm 76
We encourage you to read this passage out loud as a group.
PRELIMINARY QUESTION: we read this psalm together in church. If you participated in that in person or online, what was that experience like for you? How does it compare to reading it by yourself or hearing it read by one person?
QUESTIONS:
- What does this psalm say about who God is? How does it describe Him?
- What does this psalm say about who we are? How does it describe us?
- What does this psalm call you to do? Is there anything that prevents you from doing it?
Scripture #5: Psalm 136
We encourage you to read this passage out loud as a group.
PRELIMINARY QUESTION: we read this psalm together in church. If you participated in that in person or online, what was that experience like for you? How does it compare to reading it by yourself or hearing it read by one person?
QUESTIONS:
- What does this psalm say about who God is? How does it describe Him?
- What does this psalm say about who we are? How does it describe us?
- What does this psalm call you to do? Is there anything that prevents you from doing it?
TOGETHER IN ACTION
Consider how God might use the psalms in your life to help re-orient your understanding of who you are, the way the world is, and who God is. If you don’t have one already, find a psalm that helps you re-orient your thinking and meditate on it each day.
TOGETHER IN PRAYER
Choose one or two of the psalms you read together and pray through it as a group. Declare what it declares, pray for what it commands, and confess where you struggle. (If you’re new to praying through Scripture, don’t worry too much about getting it right or saying something impressive. There is no magic in praying through Scripture. It’s simply a trail you can follow as you talk to God from your own heart, a guide to help keep your thoughts on-track.) If time permits, you might each choose your own psalm to pray through from anywhere in the book.
