Evergreen Christian Community Jim Ladd

Lamentations 3:22-26

Big Idea: Through honest lament and unwavering trust, we find hope in the midst of suffering.

The pain and suffering of the individual does not go unnoticed by God.

1. Acknowledge Your Pain 

Lamentations 3:1-3
Lamentations 3:17-18

2. Talk Yourself into It 

Lamentations 3:21
Jeremiah 17:9-10

We move in the direction of our predominant thoughts.
Lamentations 3:22-23

"Great is Your faithfulness" was a declaration not based on what he felt; it was based on what he knew.

"Ten thousand mercies are forgotten in the presence of a single trifling moment."  - C. H. Mackintosh 

3. Cultivate a Willingness to Wait 
Lamentations 3:24-26

There are three answers to prayer God always gives: Yes, No, Not Yet.

Response:
• Do not disassociate from lament. 
• Hold fast to the truth. 
• Wait upon the Lord. 


DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY
► Study passage: 1 Peter 5:10-11

► Connection questions:

1. What are you thankful for?

2. What is a challenge you are facing?

3. How did you do with last week’s “I will” statement?

► Have at least one member of the group restate the passage in their own words

► Individual answers to five questions:

1. What stands out to you?

2. What does this passage tell us about people?

3. What does this passage tell us about God?

4. Based on the passage, what is one thing I could do differently starting now and what would happen if I did? (each person commits to their action for one week using an “I will…” statement)

5. Who are you going to tell about what you discovered? (each person commits to having that conversation before the next meeting)

Big Idea: God’s judgment of sin becomes the seedbed of our hope.

Lamentations 2:10-19

1. Sin has consequences

2 Kings 21:1-2, 9
Romans 6:23

2. Do not be led astray

Jeremiah 14:13-14
Galatians 5:19-21

3. Be broken for the broken

Lamentations 2:11-13

4. Pour yourself out to God and change your mind

Romans 7:21-25
Romans 8:1-2
Lamentations 3:22-26

Response
• Confess your sin to God and resolve to walk in new life with Jesus
• Receive God’s love and forgiveness 


DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY
► Study passage: Psalm 63:1–5

► Connection questions:

1. What are you thankful for?

2. What is a challenge you are facing?

3. How did you do with last week’s “I will” statement?

► Have at least one member of the group restate the passage in their own words

► Individual answers to five questions:

1. What stands out to you?

2. What does this passage tell us about people?

3. What does this passage tell us about God?

4. Based on the passage, what is one thing I could do differently starting now and what would happen if I did? (each person commits to their action for one week using an “I will…” statement)

5. Who are you going to tell about what you discovered? (each person commits to having that conversation before the next meeting)

Big Idea: Lament Introduces Purpose out of Pain.

1. WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Lamentations 1:1-11
Hebrews 5:7

2. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? 
Colossians 3:17

“We live in a world that is beyond our control, and life is in a constant flux of change. So we have a decision to make: keep trying to control a storm that is not going to go away or start learning how to live within the rain.” - Glenn Pemberton, Hurting with God

James 1:2
Psalm 88:1-2

3. GOD PROMISES, AND GOD REDEEMS 

Jeremiah 7:3-11
Jeremiah 6:10
Genesis 3:15

Response: 
• There is participation in the pain.
• Hold on to hope 
• Find compassion in the constant God 


DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY
► Connection questions:

1. What are you thankful for?

2. What is a challenge you are facing?

3. How did you do with last week’s “I will” statement?

► Have at least one member of the group restate the passage in their own words

► Individual answers to five questions:

1. What stands out to you?

2. What does this passage tell us about people?

3. What does this passage tell us about God?

4. Based on the passage, what is one thing I could do differently starting now and what would happen if I did? (each person commits to their action for one week using an “I will…” statement)

5. Who are you going to tell about what you discovered? (each person commits to having that conversation before the next meeting)

If you don’t first live in God’s revealed will, then you can't possibly hope to understand His concealed will.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Big Idea: God’s will cannot be discovered by seeking IT, it unfolds as you seek HIM.

Fix Your Eyes Forward
Galatians 5:1

Live for the name on the front

"Play for the name on the front of the shirt and they will remember the name on the back." - Tony Adams

Proverbs 3:5-6
Proverbs 16:3

Be Reconciled
Psalms 37:4

“Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.”  - Augustine of Hippo

Colossians 3:17

If God has put a desire in your heart, and it can be done in the name of Jesus Christ then do it!

Response:
• Freedom is found in God’s will for your life.
• Get your eyes off of you, and on to Jesus.
• Chase what God desires.


DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY
► This week's passage: Matthew 6:33

► Connection questions:

1. What are you thankful for?

2. What is a challenge you are facing?

3. How did you do with last week’s “I will” statement?

► Have at least one member of the group restate the passage in their own words

► Individual answers to five questions:

1. What stands out to you?

2. What does this passage tell us about people?

3. What does this passage tell us about God?

4. Based on the passage, what is one thing I could do differently starting now and what would happen if I did? (each person commits to their action for one week using an “I will…” statement)

5. Who are you going to tell about what you discovered? (each person commits to having that conversation before the next meeting)

Romans 11:33-36

Big Idea: We discern God’s will when we submit our whole being before Him as an offering. 

Romans 12

Be a people of love and mercy

Romans 12:
• “Let love be genuine” (v 9)
• “Contribute to the needs of the saints” (v 13)
• “Bless those who persecute you” (v 14)
• “Weep with those who weep” (v 15)
• “Associate with the lowly” (v 16)
• “Repay no one evil for evil” (v 17)
• “Never avenge yourselves” (v 19)
• “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink” (v 20)

Give all of yourself to God

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Romans 6:13-14
Hebrews 13:15-16

Be Transformed 
1 John 2:15-17

“Satan devotes 168 hours a week trying to deceive you. Do you think you can maintain a renewed mind with a ten-minute glance at God’s book once a day?” - John Piper

Response:
What is in your life that you need to leave behind when you walk out of here today?


DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY
► Passage: Psalms 1:1-6

► Connection questions:

1. What are you thankful for?

2. What is a challenge you are facing?

3. How did you do with last week’s “I will” statement?

► Have at least one member of the group restate the passage in their own words

► Individual answers to five questions:

1. What stands out to you?

2. What does this passage tell us about people?

3. What does this passage tell us about God?

4. Based on the passage, what is one thing I could do differently starting now and what would happen if I did? (each person commits to their action for one week using an “I will…” statement)

5. Who are you going to tell about what you discovered? (each person commits to having that conversation before the next meeting)

John 20:1-18

Big Idea: Redemption began and is fulfilled in the Garden.

John 20:30-31

Angels and the Entrance

John 20:11-12
Genesis 3:23-24
John 20:1

"The tomb that sealed the body of Jesus became the womb of our salvation." -Max Lucado 

Face-to-face with the Gardener

John 20:15
Genesis 3:8-9
Genesis 2:22-23

"Easter tells us that every ending is a new beginning." - Anne Graham Lotz 

Folded and Finished

John 20:6-7
Hebrews 1:8-12

"The story of Easter is the story of God’s wonderful window of divine surprise." - Philip Yancey 

John 20:16-18
1 Corinthians 15:20-22

“The resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom. . . . It is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven. The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it.” - N.T. Wright 

Response:
• Your story is redeemable.
• Live in the finished work of Christ. 
• Baptism - connection to the empty grave.


DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY
► Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:12-28

► Connection questions:

1. What are you thankful for?

2. What is a challenge you are facing?

3. How did you do with last week’s “I will” statement?

► Have at least one member of the group restate the passage in their own words

► Individual answers to five questions:

1. What stands out to you?

2. What does this passage tell us about people?

3. What does this passage tell us about God?

4. Based on the passage, what is one thing I could do differently starting now and what would happen if I did? (each person commits to their action for one week using an “I will…” statement)

5. Who are you going to tell about what you discovered? (each person commits to having that conversation before the next meeting)