Grief & Gratitude
TO START
This week, we had the joy of hearing from guest preacher Manny Dominguez this Sunday. In light of this and the Thanksgiving holiday, we don’t have a traditional discussion guide for this week. Instead, we want to encourage your group to gather together for a meal and to spend time reflecting on gratitude and grief.
TO DISCUSS
So often as we move into the season of Thanksgiving, we are hit with the question over and over again of “what are you grateful for?”. This is an important question but we also need to remember we are often walking with gratitude and grief together in many seasons. The two don’t cancel one another out and often we are feeling one much heavier than the other during the holidays.
This week, we want your group to spend time acknowledging that we can be thankful for what remains and what’s coming and still be sad for what is lost or missing. So, we want everyone to feel supported in whatever their feelings are this season. To set a space to listen and acknowledge rather than to push and to fix. Thus, this week we’d like for you to spend the majority of your time asking group members to respond to these two prompts:
What is one thing that you’re grieving or missing in this season?
What is one thing you're thankful or grateful for in this season?
TO CLOSE
We want to encourage you to close the group by praying over what has been shared along the lines of both grief and gratitude. Then close with this call-response prayer (one person leads & the group responds with the phrase in bold:
Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us
For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea
We Thank You, Lord
For all that is gracious in our lives, revealing the image of Christ
We Thank You, Lord
For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve
We Thank You, Lord
For health and strength to work and leisure to rest and play
We Thank You, Lord
For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity
We Thank You, Lord
For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty and justice
We Thank You, Lord
For the communion of saints, in all times and places
We Thank You, Lord
Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord
To Him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.