Here's How (Part 7): Here's How To Always Be Celebrating

TO START

This week, our Lead Preaching Minister, Zane, invited us into the seventh and final part of a series called Here’s How, a series that has invited us to live out our mission to Live Love together through our 7 core behaviors. This week, we leaned into the seventh way that we practice living love: always be celebrating

  • How have you seen the practice of always be celebrating in your life? What did it look like? How did it make you feel? (Encourage your group to share how they’ve seen it in this group if they have an example) . 

TO DISCUSS

To begin Zane’s sermon, he pointed us to the reality that as Christians, we often live in the tension of simultaneously rejoicing and mourning. Sometimes our bodies, our spirit and so much more can feel like we don’t want to celebrate and that’s okay…. Let’s start there. 

  • What are you mourning this week? What has been hard? What has been on your mind?

The Psalmist helps us to consider what it looks like to embody celebration through initiation, meditation and appreciation. Read Psalm 145:1-9 together

  • Initiation: Do you struggle to have a posture of celebration throughout your day, your week, your year? Is it hard for you to always be celebrating? 

    • What keeps you from initiating a posture of celebration? Could it be laziness? Could it be busyness? Could it be something else?

  • Meditation: Part of the posture of celebrating is remembering the ways God has done great things in the past. What is one thing that God has done in the past that you can name right now that you’re thankful for? 

  • Appreciation: God invites us to celebrate the goodness that God grants to every person. Invite your group to share one thing we can celebrate this week. Each time someone shares say together, “Look what God has done, thank you, God. We loved it!”

TO CLOSE

We want to invite your group to hold to the reality that we live in the middle of rejoicing and mourning. So we want to encourage your group to pray for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine who are mourning in many ways. Close by praying this prayer adapted from Zane’s sermon:

King of Nations, have mercy on us. 

Spirit, help us in our weakness

Death has taken word from our mouth this week. 

Spirit, we’re told in Your Word that You will intercede for us. 

We need it. The world groans at the pointless death brought on by war. 

Speak for us. Save life. Bring about Your peace. Not humanity’s version of peace.

Have mercy on our distant hearts because of the physical distance we have from this pain.

God, bring about another way. 

And be with our brothers and sisters who are picking up the pieces of their lives.

May yours be the kingdom, and power, and glory forever. 

Amen. 

Matt DeLano