Q1. What stood out to you from the message on Sunday?
Q2. If you are comfortable to share, what are some of the griefs and losses you have experienced in life?
Q3. What is one thing that has helped you get through or is helping you get through?
Q4. What is something that you learnt from these challenging times?
The Bible does not prescribe how we are to grieve in every situation. It is more descriptive of people who are facing loss and grieving, than prescriptive on exactly how to grieve. Despite this, there are some key biblical principles in the bible around loss and grief.
Principle 1. It is OK to feel pain, loss and confusion.
Read - 2 Samuel 18:33
Read - John 11:17-37
Q5. Why do you think Jesus wept?
Q6. How does Jesus's expression of emotion help establish a pattern for emotionally healthy spiritually?
Principle 2. It is OK not to be OK, to ask hard questions before God
Read - Psalm 13
Q7. Why do we sometimes feel guilty for asking hard questions of God?
Principle 3. Be real with people close to you about your struggles and ask them for help
Read – Matt 26: 36-39
Q8. Read and discuss the following quote as a group – “What everyone has in common is that no matter how they grieve, they share a need for their grief to be witnessed. That doesn’t mean needing someone to try to lessen it or reframe it for them. The need is for someone to be fully present to the magnitude of their loss without trying to point out the silver lining, or fix them…The more difficult it is for us to articulate our experiences of loss, longing and feeling lost to the people around us, the more disconnected and alone we feel” adapted from David Kessler
Discuss as a group “The deeper the pain the fewer words that you use”?
Principle 4. Encouragement to Hope and Trust in God
Read - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Discuss – “We don’t move on from our grief, we move through it and forward from it with God and each other.”
Discuss – “Grief is more like a rollercoaster than a staircase”.
Q9. What does it look like to grieve with hope?
We need hope like we need air. Yet, hope and struggle go together – we develop hope not during the easy or comfortable times, but through growing our dependence on God during adversity and discomfort.
No one seeks to experience grief, in fact, we often do all we can to avoid it. Yet grief in its various forms need not be entirely damaging; and to some degree at least, can be life-enhancing. Grief helps us process the losses we experience in this broken world. Without it, we would not be able to grow through pain. Suffering is not good, but you need not be devastated by it. Ultimately, we can be healed of our bitterness and continue on life's journey. In this way, grief can be good because:
• We come out of our grief experience at a slightly higher level of maturity than before.
• We come out of our grief as deeper people because we have been down in the depths of despair and know what it is like.
• We come out of it stronger, for we have had to learn how to use our spiritual muscles to climb the rugged mountain trails.
• We come out of it better able to help others. We have walked through the valley of the shadow of grief. We can understand.
Q10. Discuss the ideas above with your group. Which point resonated with you most closely?
Close by praying for each other and reading the prayer adapted from Thomas A. Dorsey
Precious Lord, take my hand,Lead me on, let me stand,Sometimes I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.Through the storm, through the night,Lead me on to the light.Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me on, lead me home.