Grace South Bay

By the waters of Babylon,
     there we sat down and wept,
     when we remembered Zion.
 2 On the willows there
     we hung up our lyres.
 3 For there our captors
     required of us songs,
 and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
     “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How shall we sing the Lord's song
     in a foreign land?
 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
     let my right hand forget its skill!
 6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
     if I do not remember you,
 if I do not set Jerusalem
     above my highest joy!

7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
     the day of Jerusalem,
 how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
     down to its foundations!”
 8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
     blessed shall he be who repays you
     with what you have done to us!
 9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
     and dashes them against the rock!

1.     Does being angry make you uncomfortable? Is it something you resist or try not to acknowledge?

2.     Is it comforting or upsetting that God gets angry? What do you think of God giving us angry words to bring to him?

3.     Has anger or another strong emotion ever kept you from being able to worship? Do you agree that praying your anger might lead to a spiritual breakthrough?

4.     Can you trust God with all the injustice you’ve experienced or witnessed? Explain.

5.     Do you ever hesitate to pray something that might be theologically incomplete or inaccurate? Does this passage give you permission to?

6.     Are you open to God responding to your anger and asking you questions? Do you see Jesus as the one who meets you in your trauma, as well as the one who redeems traumatizers? Can you accept that?

This conversation is based on the sermon titled, " Two Invitations," from Rev. 19:6-21.

Blessed is the man
     who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
 nor stands in the way of sinners,
     nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
     and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
     planted by streams of water
 that yields its fruit in its season,
     and its leaf does not wither.
 In all that he does, he prospers.
 4 The wicked are not so,
     but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
     nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
     but the way of the wicked will perish.

1.     What parts of your life feel like chaff?

2.     Where and when do you delight in God? Where and when do you delight in getting your own way?

3.     Do you see prayer, and praying the psalms, as an avenue for growing in delighting in God? Why or why not?

4.     What kind of fruitfulness are you hoping for? How much of that is about you?

5.     Do you believe that God delights in you, even as you struggle and fumble and often fail to delight in him?

6.     Does the power of Jesus’ resurrection extend to the dry stubble places of your life? Will you pray for that?

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands) — 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

6 And the angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

1.     Do the final words of Revelation strike you as anti-climactic? 

2.     Does it build confidence for you that Revelation is scripture that it so closely charts out the history of Christianity in the Roman Empire, before it happened?

3.     How much of your mindset is ‘receive’, and how much is ‘achieve’?

4.     What are you trying to prove? Do you trust that you can receive that from Jesus, free of cost?

5.     What are your objects of worship on a moment by moment, day to day basis?

6.     Do you ever feel like maturity means needing God less? 

7.     What can you do in your life to grow your longing for Jesus?

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” 

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

1.     Does the thought of eternity give you any anxiety? If so, in what way?

2.     Does the physical nature of eternity (e.g. you having a resurrected body) make it seem more relatable?

3.     Is it a comfort that all we do in faith goes with us into eternity? Can you imagine recognition without envy or competition?

4.     Is seeing God’s face, and him delighting in you, a compelling motivation for eternity? Why or why not?

5.     What do you think reigning, resting and recreating might look like in the new heavens and earth?

6.     What do you think needs to happen in eternity for every day to be better than the last?

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

 9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

 15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

1.     In what ways would seeing your future change your present? If the future were really positive, would that address some of your worries and anxieties now?

2.     Is it comforting to hear God will wipe away all the tears from your eyes? Does that impact you today?

3.     It’s hard to imagine an existence without death or sorrow. How do you think it would be different?

4.     In what ways do you wonder if you count? Does this description of the bride address those in any way?

5.     Is nearness to Jesus attractive to you? How so, or why not?

6.     Do you believe you’re made for a love story? Right now does it feel to you that God’s love will be ultimately satisfying?

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

1.     How does it feel to realize everything you do and think will be revealed?

2.     Do you agree your record of works will condemn rather than acquit you?

3.     Do you spend more energy inviting Jesus to heal and remove your darkness or working it off yourself?

4.     If you are a Christian, does having your name on the ledger of grace help you live in an ‘even if’ spirit? Where in your life do you keep saying ‘what if’?

5.     “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” (Gen. 50) Can you imagine having this said over so many parts of your life’s story? How might realizing that impact you today?

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.