Christ Community Leawood
Life Is Too Big for Us - 9:00 & 10:45am
Jeremiah 1:1-10 ESV
Jeremiah 12:5 ESV
Title: Life Is Too Big for Us
Scripture: Jeremiah 1:1-10; 12:5
Speaker: Tom Nelson, TomN@ChristCommunityKC.org
>> The Obstacles Are Too Big
>> The Task Is Too Great
>> Our God Is Bigger Still
“Jeremiah’s troubled life spanned one of the most troublesome periods in Hebrew history... Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And Jeremiah was in the middle of it all, sticking it out, praying and preaching, suffering and striving, writing and believing. He lived through crushing storms of hostilities and furies of bitter doubt. Every muscle in his body was stretched to the limit by fatigue, every thought in his mind was subjected to questioning, every feeling in his heart was put through fires of ridicule.”
- Eugene Peterson
Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service. - Os Guinness
Conversation Starters – Leawood Campus
Date: Oct 8, 2017
Text: Jeremiah 1:1-10; 12:5
Title: A Life Is Too Big For Us
OPENING UP: Tom raised the often asked question, “How do I know what to do with my life.” In what way have you answered this in your own life?
REFRAMING: Tom reframed the idea of calling as being more about what is being asked of us, than what we simply want to do. In what way have you found a tension between these two ideas? In what way have you prioritized one over the other?
SCRIPTURE: Tom related the story of Jeremiah’s life to Moses’ 12 spies and the reality of fear that overcame 10 of the spies in the face of an obstacle that was seemingly too big. Are there any other stories from scripture that follow a similar pattern of God calling people to a task too big for them to accomplish on their own? Why might this be a common pattern?
DISCERNMENT: How do you discern between the outside voices that give important guidance and those that are actually calling you away from God’s call on your life?
LOOKING AHEAD: The sort of life we have been talking about is characterized by risk and sacrifice. God calls us to a life too big, one that can’t be accomplished without His presence. Where in your life might God be calling you into risk and sacrifice, and how do you remind yourself of God’s presence along the way?
PRAYER: Pray together for boldness and courage in the face of a life that too often seeks comfort instead of facing God-sized opportunities.