Sunday, June 20, 2010

Holy No’s:  Rightly Focused Protest…Reminds

• Open your time together in prayer asking God to speak to your hearts about what it means to say a holy "No" – and a holy "Yes" in PROtest.
• Let’s face it – we need reminding.  And the more time passes, the more reminding we need.  Anniversaries (men!!)  Father’s Day (this Sunday ladies!!) People’s faces.  Important events.  Appointments.  We forget because we are human.
• Talk about some ways that we help remind ourselves or others of things OR tell a story about a time you didn’t remember and should have.
• Before reading Scripture, here’s the setting:  Israel has been freed from slavery in Egypt.  They had the Red Sea parted for them as they left so they could escape Egypt’s army.  They have spent 40 years in the wilderness.  Now there is a river (the Jordan) between them and the land of milk and honey.  But God comes through again by parting the water – seems that’s one of God’s specialties. Israel passes through to the other side.  This is where the reading begins…
  • Read Joshua 4:1-7
  • What did God tell Joshua to do in order to remind future generations of what happened there?
  • Why do we need to remember or be reminded of things like this?
  • How can we spark the curiosity of our children to ask questions about things that will give us an opportunity to tell them about what God has done?
• Israel had many ways of reminding and remembering – feasts/festivals, practices, rituals, memorials.  What are some of the ways that the Christian church remembers – is reminded – of God’s work? (I’ll get you started: Communion is one…)
  • How have we failed to remember and what does that cost us?
  • What are some creative ideas to keep us from forgetting what God has done?
• As we consider issues of social justice, how does our "collective memory" cause us to sin by forgetting? 
  • Nationally and internationally:  Talk a little about 9/11 or Vietnam or WWII or the holocast – How should our memories of those events shape our character to become more Christ-like?
  • What about some memories of church history: The crucifixion, Pentecost, the reformation, the crusades or the inquisition (if you don’t know what these events are, take a moment to google one or two OR make a commitment to research an issue and report on it next time you meet).
    • Someone once said that those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.  How can we remember past mistakes in a way that prevents us from repeating them?
  • The law of Sabbath is mentioned often in Scripture.  Read Deuteronomy 5:12-15 and see the rationale for sabbath.
    • How does remembering our own suffering give us compassion for others’?
    • What are some ways we can keep from forgetting our own hard times and the ways that God has been there for us? (e.g. Journaling…)
• Discuss how a holy NO reminds people and how that reminder can change our heart.
• Close with a time of extended silence – jogging your memory by remembering ways that God has been faithful to you today, this week, this month, this year, this decade, this lifetime.  Pay attention to how remembering this can bring change to your soul.

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