TURN (Part 5): Turned Back

TO START

For this series, TURN, we want to invite your group to move through a process of turning to God together. Each week we are inviting your group to move through questions and prompts in the following order: STUDY → CONFESS → REPENT → PRAY (feel free to choose a few questions/prompts from each section) 

  • Is there someone or something in your life, whose success or failure affects your emotional state (family member, friend, celebrity, sports team, etc.)?

In this series, we are focusing on the spiritual practice of repentance. Repentance is the practice of turning away from sin and toward God. Each week, we want to invite your group to turn towards God by reflecting on a weekly prompt of repentance. Here is this week’s prompt: I have thought of myself too highly when it comes to _____ 

READ JONAH 4:1-11

STUDY                           

  • Do you find similarities between Jonah’s attitude in v. 1-4 and the older brothers’ attitude in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:25-32)?

  • Why does God leave the wickedness in Nineveh unpunished? Is God’s mercy on them unjust?

  • What was God trying to convey through the illustration of the leafy plant, the worm, and the scorching east wind? And why do you think Jonah ended with that?

CONFESS

  • Share about a time in your life when you were angry with God because God didn’t respond in the way you wanted. 

  • Who in your life do you have the hardest time forgiving? If you dug deeper, what about their actions most bothered you?

  • In what ways are we like Jonah, enjoying God's love and mercy for ourselves, but refusing to extend it to others?

    REPENT

  • Share a time in your life where you experienced mercy from God. 

  • Has there been a time in your life when someone showed you mercy that you felt you didn’t deserve? 

  • What might it look like for you to take specific steps to reach out to those who are far from God without judgment or acting superior?

PRAY

  • Ask for forgiveness for the times in your life where you lacked compassion or mercy for someone else due to a superior view of yourself. 

  • Pray for God’s mercy on you to enable you to have mercy for your enemies. 

  • Ask the Spirit to help you create a rhythm of repentance in your life.

Matt DeLano