Week 3 - Fall Focus 2024
Week Three: Inner Peace and Outer Chaos
Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)
Ice breaker
What is your favorite holiday and why?
Opening Question
Would anyone like to share a crisis they went through that changed their lives?
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Read v. 1-3
Verse one starts with a bold affirmation. The language is not literal but poetic, he is describing personal earthquakes, not geological ones.
What does he claim that God offers him during trial?
Read v. 4 -7
These verses are a vision of heaven. How might this comfort one go through a profound personal crisis?
Look up Revelation 22:1-5 This gives us a fuller picture of heaven. What strikes you about this vision?
How does this far-fetched vision of restoration help us when our life feels chaotic?
Read v. 8-9
This is an allusion to the story of Exodus, where God rescues his people from slavery by destroying the army of Egypt. (For background, see Exodus 14:26-31).
How do you think that commemorating this historical event helped people deal with their troubles in the present?
Believers are urged to remember the work of Christ. How does Jesus' victory over death by his resurrection give us a path to hope? (see 1 Corinthians 15:53-58)
Read v. 10-11
These verses contain a command—”Be Still and Know that I am God” How is this even possible?
How might contemplating heaven help us be still?
How might contemplating the victory of Jesus help us be still?