Prayer
Because the primary goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together?
Introduction Video
Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Praise the Lord, my soul.– Psalm 103:1-12
Opening Question
When you need to feel like everything is going to be okay, what are some activities, foods, or places that comfort you?
What is a soul?
“Soul” is from the Hebrew word “naphash,” which means “breathing animal, breathing creature.”
Your soul is the place where your deepest needs are met.
How could viewing your soul as a “breathing creature” help you understand it better?
What specific thoughts, feelings, or actions typically arise to tell you your soul is particularly needy?
What does the soul need?
In the sermon, we discussed these needs of the soul:
Forgiveness (Who forgives all your sins)
Healing (who heals all your diseases).
Redemption (Who redeems your life from the pit)
Crowning (who crowns you with love and compassion)
What kinds of things do people wrongly think will satisfy their needs for forgiveness, healing, redemption, and crowning?
How has your need for forgiveness drawn you closer to God?
When has your need for physical healing made greater space for God in your life?
When has God’s redemptive mercy been transformative in your life?
How has God’s love and compassion crowned and encircled your life?
Where the soul’s needs are met
In the sermon, Pastor Morgan shared three paths people take to meet the soul’s deep needs from the book Fill These Hearts by Christopher West:
The stoic takes a path that ignores their soul’s needs.
The addict takes a path that idolizes something outside of themselves to meet their needs
The Christian mystic takes a path that allows their needs to draw them to God.
What is appealing about the first two paths described?
In the past, have you tended to take either the path of the stoic or the addict?
What practices or perspectives can help us to take the path of the Christian mystic instead?
Closing Thought
In your final time together, pray for the group, that God would use your soul’s needs to draw each person closer to him.