Get it Started

Best thing you ate today was…

On a scale of 1 (the worst) to 10 (the best), how would you rate your day? (5’s are not allowed!)

If you could do something to make your day one point better what might it be?

Dig In

The first question Josh asked was, Why is God allowing this (bad things) to happen? How would you answer this question to a friend at school?

Read John 9:1-12. How do the words of Jesus help us with the question Josh asked.

John 9 New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
⁶ After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷ “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
⁸ His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
¹⁰ “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
¹¹ He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
¹² “Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.

An Excursus

The key to healthy spirality is always honesty. How is your soul doing in light of these last several weeks?

Lament is what happens when people ask, “Why?” and don’t get an answer.

Take a few minutes to take turns practicing the rhythm of Lamenting. Here is a lament from the prophet Habakkuk that can serve as a template for you to follow

Habakkuk 3:17 (his lament turns to praise)

Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

You try it:
Though ( say out loud what is off, hurting, sad, mad, or frustrating)
Then say, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior

Discuss

God longs for our attention. He loves when we put Him first and love Him more than anything else in Life.

Josh talked about 4 ways God gets our attention.

HOW DOES GOD GET OUR ATTENTION?
1. God’s care and creativity revealed through his creation (Psalm 19:1- 4; Romans 1:20; Matthew 5:43-48; Acts 14:17; James 1:17).
2. The law of God, written upon every human heart (Romans 2:14-15).
3. The Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin (John 16:8).
4. The teaching and example of Jesus, in his life and his death, that
draws all people to himself (John 12:32), (Romans 8:28) 

What do these ways say about our God and our relationship with Him?

How has God been getting your attention over the last few weeks?