Suffering and Response

This plan is designed to have a Nurturer guide the study, feel free to have other cell members support any of the sections as part of nurturing. All instructions are identified for Nurturer. A separate document (cell content) is meant to be shared.

This cell plan is based on the sermon shared on Sunday, October 26th, by Pastor Ted.

Prepare Ahead

• Read Cell Vision Statement
• Meditate on Revelation 6
• Pray and discern next steps for your cell for outreach / prayer partners / grad transition
• Link to sharable version for members: Cell Content

Opening

Nurturer: If there are new members today joining for the first time ask everyone to share something about themselves.

• Note: Has it been a while since your cell has reviewed the cell vision statement? Review it together at: Cell Based Ministry

Icebreaker: What is a fear that you have? (e.g. spiders)

Worship

Bible Reading Sharing:

Ask: How was your bible reading in the last 2 weeks, share something from your readings with the group!

Note: If sharing is scarce and always the same people, can start a rotation schedule

Go into musical worship if someone is scheduled. Continue to ask if members of the cell are willing to lead this portion in the future.

Please pray for the group to begin the study.

Nurture: For those who would like to allot this portion of the night to something else feel free to use the prayer exercise:

• Prayer Exercise
• Lectio divina

Word

Revelation 6 NIV

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” ² I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

³ When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.

⁵ When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

⁷ When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

⁹ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. ¹⁰ They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” ¹¹ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

¹² I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, ¹³ and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴ The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! ¹⁷ For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

Discussion

Reminders and Recommendations for Nurturers:

• Spend some time in the sermon review to ensure the group has a grasp of the main point of the sermon
  • Ask if there’s anyone who wasn’t able to join, if there is, spend a bit of time to go through the sermon summary being going in to the review questions
  • If everyone was at the sermon, skip directly to the review questions
• Review the questions ahead of time and decide which questions to ask your group. Typically, a good discussion will only be able to accommodate 2-3 questions for a meeting.
  • If being asked in a large group, invite others to join in and response if they have shared similar experiences or thoughts
  • Try to avoid from going around in a circle, as the nurturer, ask follow-up questions and avoid giving advice.
  • In order to allow for deeper discussion, consider breaking the group up into smaller groups to allow more space for sharing.
• Reminder to leave space and time for prayer and witness

Sermon Review

• Core theme: Suffering will come, and Jesus will respond, protect, and shelter us through all suffering.
• Main Takeaway: God is sovereign, so we can have hope through all present and future suffering that He is Lord, he hears us when we call to Him, and that Jesus will protect us.
• Sermon Review questions:
  • What is Jesus’ response to suffering?
  • How is God’s sovereignty displayed in the passage?
• Discussion Questions:
  • Introductory
    • What is your relationship with Jesus like? Do you trust in Him to protect you through hardship and suffering?
    • How have you experienced Jesus’ protection?
  • Exploratory (4-6 people)
    • Trusting in God’s sovereignty:
      • Adults: in what ways are you challenged to trust in God’s sovereignty as you build God’s Kingdom through your career and family?
      • Young Adults: how do you find it challenging to trust in God’s protection and sovereignty as you discover your calling to advance God’s Kingdom through your career?
      • ⁠Retired: how are you being convicted to trust in God’s sovereignty as you advance His Kingdom?
  • In Depth (2/3 people)
    • What is your approach to difficult times? In the past, or currently, how do you respond? Is your first response, when faced with hardship or suffering, to turn to God?
    • Do you trust in God’s sovereignty?: How might you trust more completely in God’s sovereignty, now or in the future?
• Additional questions:
  • How can we be reassured that Jesus has us in our suffering?
  • Do we feel like God doesn’t hear our prayers?
  • In what ways do we feel like society is sovereign over God?

Witness

• Urbana: Are you a young adult interested in missions and discovering God’s plan and purpose for you? Join the team going to Urbana this year and reach out to Pastor Santos for more details!
• Help Needed for Adult Zone!
  • We’re looking for help in the following specific areas:
    • Administration – Help organize zone wide information
    • Cell Planners – help review sermons and create biweekly cell plans!
• Bible Reading:
  • This year, we will be going through a 2 year bible reading plan together. Access to plan at gcgcny.link/readbible. Use this to share regularly in your cell about what you’re hearing from God.
• Prayer and Outreach
  • As discussed in our last meeting, we will be shifting outreach to be a zone wide initiative to encourage similar life stage members to partner together to witness to their friends, with cell being a place for them to join once they are ready to be a part of the community, as part of this shift:
    • New Outreach Chat to invite others along when you are looking to do something with friends
    • Establish prayer partners
      • Suggestion: Monthly same gender rotations to encourage biweekly checkins to strengthen relationships.
      • Note that the above is a suggestion and may not be the best approach based on the make up of your cell, pray and discern how best to approach this for the benefit of your cell