LAUNCH:

Which emoji would you use if…

  • You wrecked your dad’s car
  • Your grandma gave you $500 for Christmas
  • Your girlfriend broke up with you
  • You got into your first choice of colleges
  • You slept through your final exam
  • Someone stole your iPhone

EXPLORE:

God is an emotional being. Scripture shows us that God expresses a range of emotions – grief (Genesis 6:6), anger (Psalm 106:40) joy and excitement (Zephaniah 3:17) and love and compassion (Isaiah 54:10). Because we as people are made in the image of God, we too have the ability to experience a huge range of emotions.

1. What are some of the emotions Jesus experienced as he lived life on earth? (If you need help, here are some passages: Mark 1:40-41, Mark 3:3-5, John 13:21, Luke 7:9, Luke 10:21, Mark 10:21, Matthew 9:36, John 15:11, Luke 19:41) Are you surprised by any of these emotions?

2. Read Luke 9:18-22, Luke 18:31-33. What does Jesus say he knows about what will happen to him? If you knew those things were going to be happening to you, what do you think you would be thinking and feeling?

3. Read Matthew 26:36-46. This passage describes the night before Jesus is betrayed and killed. Read the passage slowly, imagining yourself there on that night.  What are some of the emotions Jesus is experiencing?

4. Who does he share those emotions with?

5. What do you observe about the way Jesus prays to God? (look at v. 39, 42, 44)

6. He knows his closest friends are going to go through a time of trouble as well. Why does he tell them to “watch and pray” (v.41)? Why do you think he prayed?

7. Verses 39, 42, and 44 make it clear that going to the cross was not what Jesus felt like doing.  What would have happened if he would have given into the temptation to follow his feelings and not gone to the cross?

APPLY

8. What is your normal way of dealing with emotions?

9. How can handling our emotions in a wrong way hurt us and others? (ex. denying our emotions and never express them or expressing them without concern for others?)

10. What might keep people from expressing their emotions to God? And what would you tell someone who is having a hard time with that?

11. Why do you think it is important not to make decisions based solely on feelings?

12. What if our feelings are telling us something different than what God’s word says?

13. What is one thing you learned from this study about emotions that you want to apply to your life?

LAUNCH:

Option 1:

Worry Stones:

Bring a bag of smooth stones and several permanent markers. Give each student two or three stones. Ask each student to write something they often worry about on each stone. Tell them that these are small reminders of the larger boulders of worry that each of them carry each day. If your pockets were filled with stones like these, representing your worries, how would their presence affect your day?  The weight would make it hard to walk, do sports, sit down in class or for lunch. If there were too many to fit in your pockets, you might put them in your backpack. How would this affect your day? It would hurt your back, be too heavy to carry, you would want to get rid of it or ask for help. Imagine Jesus saying to you, “I will carry your backpack. Whatever concerns you have, I’ve got this. Will you hand me your backpack?” How would you feel if Jesus made this offer?

Option 2:

What are three things you worry about? How does worrying affect your life? Imagine life without worries or anxiety. What would it look like? If you could be freed from your worries, would you accept that freedom? Why or why not?

EXPLORE:

1. Read Matthew 6:25-34. According to this passage, what are some reasons we can experience anxiety?

2. How does Jesus describe our worth in verse 26?

3. How does this passage describe God?

4. What does verse 33 mean by “seek first his kingdom and righteousness?”

5.  If we are more concerned about God’s plan rather than our own plans, what will be given to us according to verse 33?

APPLY:

God allows us to experience challenges in life. He doesn’t always remove challenges, even when we trust him with our lives. How we react to these challenges determines whether we have peace or worry.

6. What were some of the worries you thought of at the beginning of our time?

7. What are some of the reasons you have these worries?

8. Matthew 6:26 says we’re worth much more than the birds of the air. Read Romans 8:32. What does this verse say about our worth and God’s power to handle anything we’re worried about?

9. When we realize our great worth in God’s eyes and his power to handle any problem we face, how can this turn our worry into peace?

10. Close in prayer by asking the members of your group to think back to the thing they said they worry about. Invite them to offer short prayers along the following lines: “Lord, thank you that because you sent Jesus to die for my sins and have promised to meet my needs, I don’t need to worry about __________.”

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

Thrive studies:

  1. God is…series (This will help reiterate God’s character and ability to take care of our worries.)
  2. The Me Series (This will help remind you of how God views you.)

Articles:

Free MP3 Download:

http://www.gospelinlife.com/peace-8617  Sermon on Peace-Overcoming Anxiety.

LAUNCH:

Can you think of a poem or a song where people express feelings of depression?

EXPLORE:

One of the challenges of depression is that we often feel alone in it. Today we are going to look at some different passages from the Bible that show us we are not alone and give us perspective.

The first one is about a guy named Elijah. Elijah was a prophet of God. He had just boldly stood up to an evil king named Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Elijah took a stand, and called people to return to God. He challenged the false prophets of the false gods to a test and saw God reveal himself in a powerful way. Elijah had just had a huge victory. Let’s see what happened next. (1 Kings 18)

Read 1 Kings 19:1-18

1. What happened in this story? What was Elijah thinking/feeling? (Make a few observations from verses 3, 4, 10, 14)

2. How did the Lord respond to Elijah?

3. How long did Elijah’s depression last?

4. The book of Psalms is a collection of poems and songs that express a variety of deep feelings. Many can give encouragement and perspective to people struggling to have hope in the midst of their circumstances.

Look at the following three psalms. What was the person experiencing? What did they do? What did God do?

Psalm 40:1-3

Psalm 32:1-5

Psalm 42:3-8 

APPLY:

5. In the midst of his depression, Elijah believed that he was all alone. God showed him that not only was God still with him, but that there were other prophets who had not turned away from the one true God. Have you ever been upset about something only to find out later that what you were believing was not true? How did finding out the truth help you?

6. When things around us or inside us feel dark, what are some truths we can cling to/place our hope in?  Divide up the verses below and match them the truths.

TRUTHS

  • Trouble and suffering are normal and not a surprise to Jesus. He is greater than anything we will face.
  • Jesus will never leave us or forsake us.
  • God’s love and faithfulness are never dependent on us.
  • Our sins can be forgiven.
  • Even if we feel like our suffering is our fault we can still cry out to God.
  • Someday all pain and suffering will be gone.

VERSES

  • Revelation 21:1-7
  • 2 Timothy 2:13
  • 1 John 1:9
  • John 16:33
  • Hebrews 13:5
  • Psalm 107:10-22

7. If you were struggling with depression, how do you think the Lord would respond to you? What are some truths we have discussed that are helpful to remember?

8. How do you think the Lord would want you to respond to a friend who is struggling with depression? How can the Holy Spirit help you in this situation?

9. Write your own psalm (poem, spoken word, rap, or prayer) to God about a situation in your life. Express your emotions to him (whether anger, sadness, frustration, happiness, hopelessness, or excitement). Include truths about God and things you can choose to praise him for in the midst of your circumstances.

If you’re depressed, tell someone. Tell a doctor, friend, family member or counselor. Please do not suffer alone, especially if you feel suicidal. If your depression is caused by a physical condition, a doctor can prescribe medication to relieve the problem.

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

LAUNCH:

Imagine your friend handing you a 2-liter of your favorite soda. He says, “I’m giving this to you to carry for the week. Every time you’re upset, shake this bottle as hard as you can.” You notice that after you’ve shaken it a number of times that it seems really firm. You’re tempted to screw off the cap just to see how big of a mess it will make, but you resist and continue carrying it in your backpack. At the end of the week, your friend asks you how it felt to shake it up every time you were angry. How would you feel? How often would you shake up the 2-liter? What kind of mess would it make if you opened your bottle after a week?

EXPLORE:

1. Read James 1:19-22. What does this passage say about anger?

2. What are some ways verse 19 tells us to avoid becoming quickly angry? How might being quick to listen and slow to speak make a difference in how quickly we become angry?

3. What does verse 20 mean by “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires?

4. Verse 20 tells us there is something called godly anger (also known as righteous anger) in addition to human anger (also known as unrighteous anger).  What comes to mind when you think of godly anger?

5. What does verse 21 call us to reject, and what does it call us to receive? What does humility have to do with receiving God’s word and being slow to anger?

6. In John 14:16-17, Jesus talks about sending the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit and how can he help you deal with your anger?

APPLY:

7. In the beginning of the study, you imagined carrying a 2 liter with you for a day. What situations anger you the most and what would cause you to shake up the 2 liter?

8. How do you normally respond when you become angry?
Allow students to discuss.

9. What often results from your anger?

10. Think of a particular time you were angry. How would you have responded differently if you had considered the person who angered you as more important than yourself?

11. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out against injustice, but did so humbly. Has there ever been a time your anger was the result of injustice against someone —  more of a godly anger rather than human anger?

12. Choose two of the Bible verses discussed in this lesson to think and pray through over the next several days. Take a moment to write them in a journal or notes on your phone. Then spend some time praying as a group or individually (or you could invite your group to write down a prayer).

Ask God to:

  • help you think of others as more important than yourself and
  • help you to develop humility.
  • help you to pause in a situation in which you’ve become angry and to help you see things from the other person’s perspective.
  • help you pray for that person and whatever is going on in their life.

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

Articles:

Creative:

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