Date: July 20-21, 2013
Series: The Bible
Message: Daniel
Passage: Jeremiah 29:4-14
INTRODUCTION—5 MINUTES
Leader tip: The goal of this question is to get everyone in the group talking. Generally, if the leader models the answer the rest of the group will be more likely to engage.
What do you love about summer?
Answers you may hear:
- Beach
- Relationships
- Baseball
- No school
- Movies
- Summer concerts
- Long days
- Watermelon
- The fair—chocolate covered bacon
OBSERVATION—20 MINUTES
Read: Jeremiah 29:4-14
Leader tip: Context for the passage—the people of Israel were exiled in Babylon. They were living in a land that was not their own. This displacement brought the Israelites to feel the heavy loss of their homes, wealth, identities, communities, traditions, cultures, lands, ability to defend themselves, hopes, and spiritual moorings.
According to the passage, how does God want us to live in a land that is not our own?
Live fully—Live as if it is our own city.
Answers you may hear:
- Seek prosperity
- Marry and multiply
- Plant gardens
- Don’t forget who you are—the false prophets will tell you lies about what God wants or who He is: God is not faithful and He does not care for you. The longer you are in captivity, the greater the captivity of the lies.
- God has not forgotten you—God has plans that include you.
- Be for the people that you are living amongst
- Pray for the peace of the city—peace for your captors. If they prosper, you prosper.
According to verses 10-14, what are we to do in difficult times?
Answers you may hear:
- Seek God
- Pray
- Hold onto promises
- Believe in God’s faithfulness
- Listen
- Stay true to the faith you have in God
UNDERSTANDING—20 MINUTES
Leader tip: these questions are posed with the understanding that we too are living in land that is not our own.
What things in the passage do we do well as people today?
Answers you may hear:
- Live in the land well and settle in it as if it is our own.
- Marry and have families
- Consume
- Pray for our own prosperity
What are we not doing well?
Answers you may hear:
- We do not pray for peace because we ourselves are creating division.
- In difficult times we don’t hold onto God’s plans for us.
- Plant
- Pray for our city’s prosperity
- We don’t seek the Lord with all of our hearts.
APPLICATION—20 MINUTES
In difficult times, what do you struggle to hold onto?
Leader tip: It can be easy to question the promises God has made in Jeremiah 29 when life gets hard. Describe a time when it was not your first inclination to trust God’s faithfulness. How did this affect your experience?
Answer you may hear:
When I was going through my divorce, I turned bitter and angry at God for allowing this to happen to me. I felt abandoned by and isolated from everything I trusted. I can see now how God was clearly with me through that entire struggle, but I definitely lost hope when I felt my dreams were ripped away from me.
I entered a very dark place in the wake of a devastating miscarriage. I had been so hopeful and joyful in anticipation of the gift I was being given, that having it taken away felt like the deepest betrayal. I felt like I had nothing in my life to ease the pain and sunk into depression. Without God, I was alone.
Describe a time when you have held the principles from this passage well.
Leader tip: Believing and trusting that God is with you and will remain faithful to His promises changes our posturing towards difficult times. How has God shown up when you called on Him in times of crisis?
Answers you may hear:
My son got in with a rough crowd during high school. Restless and rebellious, he got in over his head with drugs and alcohol. I was terrified for him, but I remember realizing that I had to hand him over to God on some very specific altars. I trusted God had a plan for my son that was for his good, and I clung to the promises He gave me. God rescued and restored my son in a way I could never have done.
When I got diagnosed with cancer, I realized I had a choice to make: I could lose myself in fear and self-pity, or I could grasp ahold of the promises God made me and fight for my life. The act of turning to God and believing in His greater plan gave me a sense of personal agency in a powerless situation. When I am weak, He is truly my strength.
What is God asking you to hold onto from this passage?
LIVE IT OUT—10 MINUTES
What if we engaged our communities the way God has asked and prayed for our cities?
Pray over your group.
Almighty and faithful God, thank You for not abandoning us in exile. Thank You for the knowledge that when the situations in our lives strip us of our identity and our security we can have peace by grasping ahold of the promises You have given us. You enter the dark places and rescue us from where we have wandered. You have remained faithful and true to Your promises in all the seasons of our lives. We see that You have fully devoted Yourself to Your people and remain steadfast when they are lost. Stay with us, make Your presence clear. Help us to see the validity and reality of Your goodness. Fill us with gratitude that we don’t have to live this life alone.