Overcoming Sorrow

Before We Get Started

  • Ask how everyone’s week has been! What was the best thing that happened to you last week?
  • What was one thing you could use prayer in from last week?
  • Open your group with prayer! Pray for any requests and for the discussion you’re about to have, that God reveals a next step for everyone to take this week!

 

Getting Started

Ice Breaker: What’s the saddest movie you’ve ever seen?

Scripture:

- “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have OVERCOME the world.” - John 16:33

- “I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger. He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light. He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.  He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.  He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead. He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy chains. And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers. He has blocked my way with a high stone wall; he has made my road crooked. He has hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.  He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated. He has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows.  He shot his arrows deep into my heart.  My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs. He has filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink. He has made me chew on gravel. He has rolled me in the dust. Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is.  I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!” The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.  I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” – Lamentations 3:1-26

- “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

 

Sermon Notes: Take time to let everyone share some of the notes they took or anything that stood out to them from the message. Use this time to get everyone in your group talking (a good tip for this situation would be to go around the room and have everyone share one thing that stuck out to them from Pastor Daniel’s sermon)! Keep in mind, not everyone may feel comfortable talking, so try your best to help assist them in any way you can!

 

Study Questions

1.  Has there been a time in your life where you’ve felt God was angry or upset with you?

2.  Did you feel like your situation or circumstances at that time were because of that?

3.  When was the last time you asked God “why” about something?

4.  Read John 16:33. Jesus tells us that we WILL have trials and sorrows in this life. Knowing this, is there any way we could prepare for these times in our life? What are some examples?

5.  Read Jeremiah 29:11. How do we go from shaking our fist at God to saying what Jeremiah says in this scripture? (Take heart! Have courage! Courage comes from assurance and confidence in the fact God will never stop loving me and will never turn His back on me!)

6.  Read Lamentations 3:24. What do you need to preach to yourself this week? How can you do that?

7.  Can your Group help you at all with this?

 

Pray for your Group!

Pray for confidence and strength for your members as they begin to preach the truth that God has spoken over there lives this week!

Zach Hacker