30/04/2023
The Power of Persistence
Parable 2
Connect Group Study Notes: 30 April 2023
Message: Rev Tim Rist
Theme: “The Power of Persistence” (Parable 2)
This format is a guide to you for your small group meeting. Feel free to change and adapt it according to the needs of your group. The objective is for you to build authentic relationships within the group, relationships that enable you to learn to love others who are different to you, and to discover as a reality the treasure of relationships built on the foundation of a relationship with Jesus, his life, and his teaching.
Meeting and Greeting:
Begin with general conversation and sharing about how the past week has
gone. Try not to go over time.
Worship and Prayer
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_tQW5n9RqeZ
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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.
READING: Luke 11:1-13, 18:1-8
Warm up for the discussion time:
What are your thoughts on prayer? Do you have any personal stories about the role of prayer in your life? Did anyone ever teach you how to pray? Did you perhaps learn about prayer from watching others praying – such as a friend or family member?
Discussion Questions:
In Luke 11, Jesus does not tell the disciples that they must pray; he gives them an example of how to pray – and we use this as the basis for our Lord’s Prayer today. What are some of the key aspects that prayer should focus on (verses 2-4). Do you find this format a useful example of prayer?
Jesus uses this prayer to explain how we should approach God in prayer. What image does he use to explain the nature of God in relationship to us (verse 2)? Is this a helpful image for you?
Are your prayers different when praying alone than they are when you are praying aloud in worship in church, or in your small group?
What is different? Why is it different?
Would you like to learn more about prayer?
Faith building:
Take little time to think about the key players in each of the stories – the determined host, the grumpy neighbour, the judge, the widow… express this parable as a modern parable. Use contemporary people, settings, and events that correspond to the first century examples Jesus used.
Express the parable using events from your own life that correspond to the events in the parable. What would Jesus say to you? 1
Remember the parables are about the power of persistent prayer. Jesus is not saying that the characters in the story represent God. Sometimes the
people we rely on for support might let us down when we need their help,
or they might respond reluctantly (the grumpy neighbour); sometimes the
very systems we rely on in society for justice and fairness might let us down (the judge); but Jesus makes it clear we must have the courage to persist in prayer (the widow). Jesus teaches the disciples that God is good, and therefore God always responds to heartfelt prayers, that are within his will, at the right time. How might these parables help you in your prayers this week?
Prayer: Share prayer requests and then pray together.
Closing Prayer: And now may the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now, and forever more. Amen
Have a wonderful week. God bless. Tim.