06/08/2023
Wrestling with our hunger for God
Home Group Study Notes: 6 August 2023
With Acknowledgment and thanks to: Discipleship Ministries | Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A -… (umcdiscipleship.org)
Theme: “Wrestling with our hunger for God”
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.
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_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.
You do not have to answer all the questions below.
READING: Genesis 32:22-31 and Matthew 14:13-21
Discussion and Sharing
- Have you ever wrestled with God? The Genesis passage is a powerful one of Jacob struggling with God. What do you think the struggle was about?
- Worship invites us to seek the face of God “when we gather for worship at work and in other opportune spaces.” Where did the people meet Jesus in the Matthean passage? What does it mean to meet God in places besides the worship setting (besides being in church)? What is your favourite place (if you have one) to worship, or to pray, or to think about God?
- Focus on the uniqueness of the Matthean version of “The Feeding of the Five Thousand” for including women and children (verse 21). Such intentional inclusion wrestles with the “hunger” or the need to address social justice issues as disciples of Christ. What social justice issues do you “hunger” for? What keeps you up at night?
- One of the difficulties with addressing social justice issues is the cost. The disciples’ concern about the cost of feeding thousands of people is logical and realistic (verse 17). How do we, as modern disciples of Christ, reconcile the need to respond versus the cost of responding?
- Although Jesus’ command did not make sense at first, the disciples followed Jesus by bringing five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish to him. It seems that the Matthew passage is arguing that discipleship requires such a leap of faith to trust in Jesus’ ways. Do you agree with this kind of discipleship?
- Being a disciple of Christ is not just being one of the twelve apostles but also recognizing that we are also part of the hungry crowd. Disciples of Christ should wrestle with our own hunger and recognize that we also need Christ. We are not the Messiah or the bread and fish. Rather, we are channels and co-recipients of God’s grace and mercy. Please share your thoughts on how we can keep ourselves grounded and humble as we become disciples of Christ. How do we find dignity in being a channel of God’s grace and give God glory for how God uses us?
Prayer: Share prayer requests and then pray together.
Faithful God, we thank you for providing us with our daily bread whenever we are hungry. You have sustained us in every possible way, more than we could ever ask. We are blessed. We are fed. We are filled with your grace and love. With our nourished selves, we pray that we will be able to partake in the goodness of your gospel. We pray that you will guide us in sharing your blessings, especially to those who are marginalized. In the name of the one who broke the bread for us, Amen.
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.