21/07/2024

ALL IN GOD’S TIME

Please use the questions below as a guide for your personal devotions this week, and for your group meeting if you belong to one. You might not get through all the questions – that is Ok – but I pray that they will help you grow in your faith and in your understanding of the Bible.

If you would like me to visit your group, then please let me know – contact Lesley on 0445333430 or admin@plettmethodist.co.za to set up a visit. If you are not part of a group, and would like to join one, then contact Don on 0834129877 and don@prism-ic.co.za

Theme:         All in God’s Time[i] 

Start

If you are a person who goes to church, or if you prefer to worship quietly at home, is there anything you do to prepare yourself for worship?

Into the Word

Read 2 Samuel 7:1-14a.

  • What did David want to do for God according to 2 Samuel 7:2?
  • Why do you think David wanted to build a house for God?
  • What does this reveal about David’s character and relationship with God? How can we examine our motives in serving God?
  • Nathan initially told David to proceed with his plan to build a house, as the Lord was with him. Then God told Nathan to tell David that he was not the one to build a house for God.
  • Imagine you are tasked with communicating God’s message to David today. How would you convey this promise in a way that is relevant to contemporary believers? What elements would you include to ensure the message is clear and effective?
  • 2 Samuel 7:12-13 states that God will have David’s offspring make a house for God.
  • Knowing how willing David was to build the house, how do you think David felt hearing that he was not the one to build the house for God?
  • Reflect on a time when your plans didn’t align with God’s plans. How did you respond? What did you learn from the experience? How can we better align our actions with God’s will?
  • “When we gather for worship…we gather with our multitude of stories and experiences and particularities. We gather with our certainties and our doubts, with our faith and our questions, with our hopes and our fears. This is the wholeness, as messy as it is, in which we gather. When we are called into worship, we are invited into a new perspective, a new way of seeing and being in the world. It’s not that we leave all with which we gathered aside, ready to be picked up again when we leave the worship experience. We do not leave anything aside when we come to worship. But we are called into this new (or renewed) way of seeing ourselves and our connections with God and with the wider community as we worship. We are invited into a relationship of support and acceptance and worship is the arena where we experience this first.” What are your thoughts about this paragraph?

Suggestion for a Closing Prayer:

Father God, we thank You for the promises You made to David and for the ways You guide us in our lives. Help us to trust in Your plans and to serve You with pure hearts. May we always seek to align our actions with Your will and find strength and purpose in Your love. Amen.

Focus for the week ahead:

What specific action will you take this week to deepen your relationship with God and trust in God’s plans for you? How will you ensure you stay committed to this action?  

God bless,

Tim. 

[i] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/worship-with-rejoicing/ninth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-b-lectionary-planning-notes/ninth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-b-small-groups