Housegroups 
Series: Shaping Church Culture
Theme: Remembrance
Sermon date: November 10th


Icebreaker
  • Do you have a good memory? Do you remember all things equally clearly, or do you tend to have large gaps, especially when the memory is not a good one?

  • Do you remember the funerals of people who have been significant to you? Or do you remember just their lives?

  • Is it helpful and healthy to spend time remembering the more difficult times of life, or should we put them behind us and go forward?

 If remembering is good for you, do you have/do anything tangible to help you? 


Study

Please Read Habakkuk 3. 1-7 and 17-19 [though you may choose to read the difficult bit in the middle as well!]
The prophet Habakkuk has been having a dialogue with God, throughout this book. These were days of violent wars and one nation trying to take over another, [so what's new?!]

Life was cheap in terms of numbers lost in battles etc. But in this dialogue Habakkuk wants to know how long this must go on. And there is a sense of God asking Habakkuk to wait and watch, because God is ultimately in control.  And after this comes the last chapter, with Habakkuk's prayer. Sometimes all we can do is acknowledge God's ultimate wisdom and authority and trust him, as seen in the last three verses.
 
Q.1 looking back, can we see God's hand in some of the major world conflicts? Are we looking just from our own perspective? To what extent can war make us aware of the needs of our enemy?
 
Q.2 we all wish there were no more wars, under what circumstances might you feel they are justified?
 
Q.3 when have you had cause to remember a time of conflict in your own life, did you use tangible things to remember? If so, how did they help?
 
Q.4 how should our remembering of the heroism of others inform how we treat them now?
[Ex-service men and women; police officers etc.]
 
Q.5 how do we come to terms with being the losers? Our present conflict of opinions over Brexit will require much healing for approximately half the country. What good or bad remembrance of these days can we help to influence?

 

Please Read Luke 22.7-20
It's the night before Jesus knows he will die, his last meal together with his closest companions. He plans and prepares for it carefully, so they won't forget it. “I have eagerly desired to eat this meal with you before I suffer”, what an opener to a meal together!!
 
Q.6 the annual reason for this meal together was to remember something from the past. How does that event, [Passover: Exodus 12.], relate to the event that is about to take place?
 
Q.7 what made this meal so memorable?

Words; actions; physical elements; communication; Jesus' presence
 
Q.8 one of the few commands Jesus gave his followers was to re-enact this meal when they met together?  Why might this be? What is the power of it?
 
Q.9 where does the balance lie between “remember” and “don't forget”?
 
Q.10 both passages [Habakkuk and Luke] are part of the Word of God. They show different understandings of God. How might we understand each in the context of its time?
 

Action
Suggestions

  • Devise a way to remember something difficult and painful, using a positive image, item or words.

  • Think of ways to harmonise differences in our society when Brexit finally occurs/or doesn't!

  • Suggest how we might remember things in church, using tangible things, movement or ceremony.

 
Prayer
Spend some time praying as a group for all that you have shared and then close by saying the words of the grace together.
 

 ask this in Jesus’ name and in the power of his resurrection

Christine Bailey

 

Christine Bailey, 30/09/2019