Every Sunday, we'll update this section with a recap of the weekend's message, as well as some discussion questions for groups to use. As always, use them as little as much as you want. They're meant to be a helpful guide, not a rule book!
Each message will be uploaded every week by Monday morning here.
_______________
TRUE GRIT: HIDDEN IDOLS HIDDEN PURPOSE
TRUE GRIT Part 4 | PASTOR TAYLOR MURRAY | 11.22.2020
KEY SCRIPTURES
Romans 12:9-13 - Don't be lazy but be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer...
No one likes prolonged seasons of discomfort, pressure, pain. But it's those seasons that bring out the gold (and often the not-so-gold) in us. The Apostle Paul tells us to be "joyful in hope, patient in affliction..." Sometimes hope is tangible, and other times it seems impossible considering the continual nature of affliction and pressure in this season. Pastor Taylor likened it to a kids applesauce pouch that gets squeezed. Kids often consume many pouches, leaving a large amount still to be eaten. When they're ready for a new pouch, dad is saying "finish the one I gave you first." Maybe it's like this with our walks with God and our lives in this season. We're ready to be done - but God is saying he's still got more for us to learn here.
PATIENT = to remain, stay under without resisting
AFFLICTION = prolonged pressure or discomfort
So, to be "patient in affliction" is to stay under the pressure when we feel it. When it intensifies, we feel it. When it hurts, we don't run - we stay under it.
The beautiful thing is, when we stay under it, things come out that needed to: hidden idols and hidden purpose
HIDDEN IDOLS:
These are things that we didn't realize had our attention, affection, time, even our worship.
> work
> success
> phones
> routines
> church as we were used to it
When we allow the hidden idols to be exposed, it makes room for the purposes in us that we didn't even know were there.
HIDDEN PURPOSE:
These are the things in us that God placed in us when he created us.
> gifts, skills
> new job opportunities
> deeper relationship with God
> heart of worship beyond Sundays
> etc
The gift of this prolonged season of discomfort has been what it has exposed, things it's brought out of us, old hangups that needed to be dealt with, even new future possibilities. Let's allow the squeeze to bring out the idols - and the purposes - so that we can step into what God has next for us.
QUESTIONS:
1. What has been the best part about this COVID season? What's been the worst?
2. We've been squeezed in similar and unique ways. Where have you felt the squeeze / pressure the most?
3. In what ways have you resisted rather than asking God what he's trying to get you to learn?
4. What are the idols in your life? (ie phone, finances, success, routine, church, hobbies, depression, attitudes, etc)
5. How can you begin this week getting rid of the idols?
6. In this next season, what kind of hidden purposes might God want to reveal in / through you?
Have any questions or needs relating to your group? Let us know!