Evergreen Christian Community Jim Ladd

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)

Big Idea: God’s great plan for salvation provokes a response in all of us.

Triumphal Entry
Matthew 21:1-11

The Temple

Ezekiel 10:18-19
Ezekiel 43:1-5

Messiah from the line of David

1 Kings 1:32-35
2 Samuel 7:11-13
Zechariah 9:9

Palm Branches (Independence) 
John 12:12-15

Hosanna (Save, we pray)

Matthew 21:9
Psalm 118:22-26

Who are you becoming in this story? 

Religious Leaders
Matthew 23:1-7

“We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.” - Tim Keller

The Crowd
John 6:60,66

Jesus People
Galatians 5:22-26

Response:
Choose to follow Jesus

Slow down and journey with Christ during Holy Week:
• Holy Monday: Jesus clears the Temple.
Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48, and John 2:13-17
• Holy Tuesday: Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives.
Matthew 21:23–24:51, Mark 11:20–13:37, Luke 20:1–21:36, and John 12:20–38
• Holy Wednesday: Judas Iscariot plots to betray Jesus. 
Matthew 26:12-16, Mark 14:10-12, Luke 22:3-6
• Maundy Thursday: The Last Supper, Jesus washes his disciples' feet, and Gethsemane.
Luke 22:7-22; John 13:1-17, 34; John 17; Matthew 26:36-46.
• Good Friday: The crucifixion of Jesus
Matthew 27:1-61; Mark 15:1–47; Luke 23:1–56; John 18:28–19:42. (Good Friday Gathering at 6:30 PM)
• Holy Saturday: A time for personal reflection/ Guards posted to the tomb.
Matthew 27:62-66.
• Easter: He is Risen! 
Matthew 28:1–20; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–53; John 20:1–21:25. (Gathering Times: 9:00, 10:45, 12:30)


DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY

► This week's passage: Galatians 5:13-26

► 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)

Philippians 4:4-13

Big Idea: Life carries worry, but Jesus carries peace. 

1. Worry Won’t Win 

Philippians 4:4-7

“You cannot stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair” - Martin Luther

Jeremiah 23:23-24
Proverbs 4:23
Matthew 22:37-40

2. Invest in the Whatevers 

Philippians 4:8-9
Psalm 139:23-24
Matthew 28:19-20

3. God Doesn’t Like Secrets 

Philippians 4:10-13
Matthew 19:26
Romans 8:31
2 Timothy 2:20-21

Response: 
• Trust the Lord to grant peace in place of fear. 
• Put the ‘whatevers’ to action 
• Choose contentment 
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18


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)