Connect Group Study Notes:  19 June 2022

Theme:   Living the Holy Spirit Life (Week 3)! Chaos to Calm!

Fellowship (10 min)

Begin with general conversation and sharing about how the past week has gone. Try not to go over time.

Worship and Prayer (15 min)

Click on the link below on your smartphone, Smart TV, or computer, to select songs to sing; and then spend a few minutes in song and prayer.

PLETT METHODIST YOU TUBE CHANNEL SONG’S PLAYLIST:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbsAkwbV_S1vXdZVPkZ0_tQW5n9RqeZX0

And if you need to check on the Message for the week again, then click on:

PLETT METHODIST YOU TUBE CHANNEL (MESSAGE):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU1X4YYw1KLpda1yGnqKgfw/videos

This time of worship and prayer will encourage you to move your thoughts from daily worries and pressures to our time of Bible study and prayer.

Our scripture readings this week are about chaos and calm, noise and silence. In this season of Pentecost, we are emphasizing what it means to live in the Holy Spirit. Part of that life is discerning the presence of God, even in the midst of the chaos of our world, and part of it might even be serving as a calm presence for someone else when all is chaos in their life.

Readings: Luke 8:26-39 and 1 Kings 19:1-15a.

  • Before reading 1 Kings, observe two minutes of silence. After reading the passage, observe another two minutes of silence. Did observing silence before reading the passage help in your ability to focus on the passage? How so?
  • The main character is Elijah, who has actually just been part of an amazing miracle a few days before. He has challenged a group of false prophets and proved that God is real. Now the queen of the land is angry because she prefers the false prophets and their own gods. She is after Elijah’s head.
  • Do you find it surprising how God encounters Elijah in a still small voice [sheer silence – NRSV] (19:12)? Why or why not?
  • Are there times in our lives that might be so loud, busy, and chaotic that we, like Elijah, might find it hard to know God is present?
  • Why do we find it so hard to be quiet (still)?
  • How is being intentionally focused on God connected with the ability to be intentionally focused on others?
  • How do we see madness in the part of the story when Jesus encounters the man among the tombs? How do we see madness in the people who encounter the man with Jesus now “in his right mind”? How might we experience madness through our inattention or scatteredness?
  • Is there anything else in these stories that has you thinking deeply or wondering?

A prayerful thought for the week:

  • How is being intentionally focused on God risky?
  • We all likely know someone who is feeling more like they are in the midst of an earthquake, fire, or hurricane, or in a place of personal chaos, than hearing a calm word from God. So, let’s be that calm word. Think of someone, or more than one person, that you would like to send an encouraging word to. Perhaps it is someone who is ill, or grieving, or struggling with a relationship, or facing a big change. Maybe it is a friend you really appreciate. Take some time now to write that person a word of encouragement or give them a call.

Prayer for each other: (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.

Sending Prayer: (2 minutes).

God of might and God of stillness, you have and continue to bring order from chaos. Help us to long for your order more than the “attractiveness” of the chaos in our life and in our world; help us to desire the stillness of your presence over the noise of life which so easily catches our attention. Give us the commitment and purpose to speak out loudly about how much you have done for us. Amen.

Have a blessed week,

Tim