Grace South Bay

Lamentations 5

1 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
     look, and see our disgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
     our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, fatherless;
     our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink;
     the wood we get must be bought.
5 Our pursuers are at our necks;
     we are weary; we are given no rest.
6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria,
     to get bread enough.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
     and we bear their iniquities.
8 Slaves rule over us;
     there is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
     because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven
     with the burning heat of famine.
11 Women are raped in Zion,
     young women in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes are hung up by their hands;
     no respect is shown to the elders.
13 Young men are compelled to grind at the mill,
     and boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The old men have left the city gate,
     the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;
     our dancing has been turned to mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head;
     woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this our heart has become sick,
     for these things our eyes have grown dim,
18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
     jackals prowl over it.
19 But you, O Lord, reign forever;
     your throne endures to all generations.
20 Why do you forget us forever,
     why do you forsake us for so many days?
21 Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
     Renew our days as of old—
22 unless you have utterly rejected us,
     and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

1. Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you had nothing left to say — just a raw, wordless cry instead of a "proper" prayer or thought-out response? What did that feel like?
2. The sermon points out that in Lamentations 5, the writer prays "remember" to God — not because God is forgetful, but as a way of asking God to act on what he's already promised. How does God’s track record of faithfulness help you face your suffering and difficulties?
3. The sermon describes belonging to God's people as having "no gatekeeping" — you don't need to be successful, educated, from a good family, or a good person to be included. Do you find that idea appealing, hard to believe, or maybe even suspicious? What makes an offer like that easy or hard to trust?
4. The sermon claims Jesus fully identified with human suffering — not staying distant from pain, sickness, or grief, but entering into it. Does that affect how you think about him? Does it draw you to him or repel you? Does it seem believable, appealing, hard to accept — or something else?
5. The sermon says true peace isn't the absence of suffering or having it all figured out, but confidence that suffering doesn't get the final word because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Where in your life right now could you use that kind of peace — not answers, but confidence that the story isn't over?

1. Think of the best leader you've ever been under — a boss, coach, teacher, parent, officer, anyone. What specifically did they do that made you willing to follow them?
2. Most of us have been on the receiving end of bad leadership. Without naming names, how did you suffer under their leadership? What did it actually cost you? An opportunity, a friendship, your confidence, something else?
3. Ancient Israel had three kinds of leaders, each with a different job: prophets told the truth even when it was unwelcome, priests represented people before God, and kings were supposed to rule justly on behalf of the most vulnerable. Which of those three leaders do you long for now, given your current life circumstances?
4. When was the last time you felt genuinely seen by someone — not flattered or managed, but actually noticed? What did they do? Why do you think that's so rare? How are you comforted by the fact that Jesus sees you?
5. Lamentations 4 ends with the confidence that what was lost would be restored. Is there something in your life you'd want restored — not fixed or replaced, but made new? What would that look like?

1. The sermon says suffering can become so overwhelming that "it begins to set the narrative for our lives"—shaping how we see our value, our identity, and even how we treat others. Have you ever noticed a hard season changing the way you saw yourself or the world around you? What was that like? How does the steadfast love of the Lord affect that narrative?
2. Jeremiah says that in his deepest despair, he "called to mind" something that gave him hope. What are the things people typically turn to for hope or stability when life falls apart? Which of those have you leaned on, and how well have they held up? Why is the steadfast love of the Lord a better thing to turn to?
3. The sermon uses the illustration of turning away from something harmful as part of healing, not just a hurdle before healing. What things give you a false sense of identity, purpose, or value that you need to turn from? What would it look like to turn from them and turn to God?
4. The sermon quotes Phil Ryken saying, "There are times when the only thing a sufferer can do is wait." What's your honest reaction to being told to wait during a hard situation? When has waiting for something ever been worth it?

Lamentations 2

1 How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!
He has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.

2 The Lord has swallowed up without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought down to the ground in dishonor
the kingdom and its rulers.

3 He has cut down in fierce anger
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.

4 He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes;
in the tent of the daughter of Zion,
he has poured out his fury like fire.

5 The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel;
he has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
mourning and lamentation.

6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins his meeting place;
the Lord has made Zion forget
festival and Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.

7 The Lord has scorned his altar,
disowned his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.

8 The Lord determined to lay in ruins
the wall of the daughter of Zion;
he stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to lament;
they languished together.

9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
he has ruined and broken her bars;
her king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and her prophets find
no vision from the Lord.

10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have thrown dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.

11 My eyes are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out to the ground
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because infants and babies faint
in the streets of the city.

12 They cry to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosom.
13 What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?

14 Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
that are false and misleading.

15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”

16 All your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; we see it!”

17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago;
he has thrown down without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the might of your foes.

18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!

19 “Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”

20 Look, O Lord, and see!
With whom have you dealt thus?
Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of their tender care?
Should priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?

21 In the dust of the streets
lie the young and the old;
my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
you have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering without pity.

22 You summoned as if to a festival day
my terrors on every side,
and on the day of the anger of the Lord
no one escaped or survived;
those whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.

Sermon Questions:

1. Think of a time you felt completely out of control — an illness, a job loss, a relationship ending. What did you do with that feeling? Did you try to regain control, or did you have to just sit with it?
2. The sermon compares trusting God to trusting a pilot you've never met. Is there anyone or anything in your life you trust that way — where you don't need to understand every detail to feel secure? What makes that trust possible?
3. Einstein's quote — "The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know" — got used to make a point about faith. Where in your own life have you had to accept "I don't know" as an answer, and how did you make peace with that (or not)?
4. The sermon suggests that sometimes the best response to someone's suffering isn't a theologically deep explanation, just showing up. Can you think of a time someone's presence helped you more than their words did? What did they do (or not do)?
5. Do you think personal pain can become part of something meaningful over time — a "bigger story," even if you can't see it yet? Or does that idea feel like wishful thinking to you?

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 

23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

1.     The sermon opens with the "how's it going" that isn't really a question — quick, shallow, going nowhere. Do you experience much of that shallow interaction in your day-to-day life?

2.     Paul's list of greetings cuts across every social line Rome used to keep people in their place — status, class, ethnicity, gender. Where in your own life do you find it hardest to cross those kinds of lines (there are others in our culture)?

3.     Paul tells Apelles he’s "approved in Christ" — you've been through the fire and held on, and also, your approval was never in yourself to begin with. Which of those two do you need to hear more right now?

4.     Sometimes the same quality that makes a church warm and welcoming is exactly what wolves exploit. How do you hold those two things together — staying genuinely open and also genuinely discerning?

5.     If you are a Christian, what do you find to be your personal hurdles to engaging in free, full-hearted worship of God?

6.     Quartus — "Number Four" — a nobody with a slave's name, whose name ends up in the most important letter ever written. Is there someone in your life right now who feels invisible or nameless to the people around them, and what would it look like for you to do what Paul did?

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,

“Those who have never been told of him will see,
     and those who have never heard will understand.”

22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

1.     The sermon opens with Viktor Frankl scribbling notes in a concentration camp — already living in a story that hadn't happened yet, for people he didn't know. When you're honest with yourself, what size is the story you're living in day to day?

2.     Frederick Douglass could have disappeared into a safe, quiet life after escaping slavery. Instead he gave up his anonymity for a story bigger than himself. Is there something you've already been given — a platform, a skill, an experience, access — that belongs to a bigger story than you've been using it for?

3.     "A story the size of your own comfort doesn't need a very big God." Does that land for you? Are there areas of your life where you suspect you're not experiencing much of God because you're not in any situation that you think requires him?

4.     Or- Is there something in your life right now that you need others to actually be striving in prayer with you over? Have you told anyone?

5.     What's your Spain? The godly ambition you keep circling but haven't let yourself pursue. What comes to mind — and what's kept you from taking a step toward it?

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

• Jonah, Abraham, David, and Peter all got second chances from God. Is there someone in your life — a parent, a friend, an old relationship — who might need a second chance from you? What’s held you back from offering it?
• Jonah walked into a genuinely scary situation not on his own confidence but on God’s word. In a culture like ours that prizes competence, credentials, and self-reliance, where is God asking you to do something you don’t feel equipped for — and what would change if you trusted the strength wasn’t meant to be yours to begin with?
• When you read the “wrath” passages of Scripture, do you tend to skim past them? What might you be missing about God’s character by doing that?
• The sermon says God’s word came to Jonah, and that a healthy relationship with God involves both speaking and listening. How has God spoken to you in the past — through Scripture, prayer, other people, circumstances? And honestly, are you actually listening for his voice these days, or mostly just talking at him?

1. Jerry Sittser's story illustrates that "the only way out of the
darkness is to walk straight through it." Has there been a moment in
your life where facing pain head-on — rather than avoiding it —
actually led somewhere meaningful? What sustained you?

2. The sermon suggests that minimizing or burying our suffering is
like "trying to heal cancer with a bandaid." What does it look like
practically to be honest about your pain, rather than just
moving on quickly? Is there a loss or grief in your own life that you
haven't fully acknowledged yet?

3. The sermon points out that Israel had a habit of crying out to all
the wrong things — money, alliances, false gods — instead of God. When
you're in pain, what are the things you tend to reach for first? What
does that reveal about where you're actually placing your trust?

4. Jeremiah directed his raw, unpolished grief straight at God. What
tends to be your first instinct when you're in pain — and how does it
compare to Jeremiah's response? What would it take for you to feel
free to bring God your anger, your questions, or your "half-baked
thoughts"?

13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

151 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. 

1."Annoyance is the price you pay for community." Do you think that’s an accurate statement? How do you personally navigate that tension? 
2.Paul tells the strong to restrain their freedom for the sake of a tender brother or sister, even when they're right. Is there an area where you've had to hold a freedom loosely for someone else's sake? What did that cost you? 
3.RC Sproul called it "the tyranny of the weaker brother" when someone tries to make their personal conviction everyone else's law. Have you seen that happen — or done it yourself? What does it look like when a disputable matter gets treated as indisputable? 
4.It seems there can be a tension between living out the kingdom of God vs having the modern optimized, maximized life. Do you see that tension in your life and if so, where?
5.Mrs. Leonard's whisper — "I wish you were my little girl" — is offered as a picture of what it feels like to really be welcomed by Jesus. Have you experienced Jesus’ welcome? When/how?
6.How can the gospel make you and our community more welcoming?

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."