Message—weathering storms/Lifeboats & Fears
Week of March 8, 2009

Thematic Focus
Life's storms impact our lives differently. Learn about the different ways we can respond and how to cope with your fears.

Main Points
Storms can create great fears within us:
· Fear of inadequacy
· Fear of what others will say
· Fear of loss
· Fear of death

Fear whispers in our ears that God does not care and we are all alone.

There are different levels of faith we live by:
· Faith that believes based upon signs.
· Faith that believes in spite of our feelings.
· Faith that transcends our feelings and circumstances.

Summary Points
In order to maintain our hope we must remember "whose we are" and "whom we serve." Care for your mind!

Scriptural Lenses:
· Acts 27:13-26

Pursuing clarity
Use the following structure to guide your discussion personal reflection and discussion:

Opening Prayer
Take a moment to recognize Christ’s presence with you.

Opening Question
What are some of the different fears that people experience while being battered by a storm? Consider relational, financial, spiritual, and physical storms in your reflection.

Scriptural Focus
Select a scripture you would like to focus on.

Group Discussion
Use these questions to begin your discussion:

1. When you are in the midst of a storm what things do you do to "hold it together?"
2. What do you perceive is your "lifeboat?"
3. Why do you think God allows us to wind up in stormy circumstances?
4. If God knows what is ahead of us, why doesn't He direct us around some of the storms that we sail into?
5. What type of circumstances have confronted your life in this way?
6. Do you think there is any storm that touches your life that God doesn't know about?
7. How does remembering "whose you are" and "whom you serve" help you maintain hope?

Adjusting Focus
Take time to assess how you face the personal storms in your life.

On a "Fear Management Scale" of 1-10, where would you rate yourself between 1 being ("I'm often paralyzed by fear.") and 10 being ("I almost never let fear stop me.")

1.......................................5......................................10

What lessons did you learn about fear as you were growing up? Was your family more fearless or fearful?

______________________________________

What sources (media, books, friends, activities) most damage your level of hope? What sources most feed your level of hope?

______________________________________

In light of this, how might you want to rearrange your life to create the highest level of hope possible?

______________________________________

Maintaining Focus
How is God's Spirit prompting you to grow on the faith journey? A step I will take this week to grow stronger in my faith:

____________________________________________

Closing Prayer
Take time at the close of your time together to pray for God’s assistance in the journey. Depending on how comfortable group members feel, here are some ways you could pray:

· Write out a personal prayer.
· Have the group facilitator or a designated member of the group pray.
· Have members of the group get into a smaller group to pray for one another.
· Have several members of the group pray aloud and then conclude.

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