Lakeside Church

Today’s focus is on prayer as a cry — not a polished, polite prayer, but an outcry or complaint to God. When life hurts and sorrow overwhelms, tidy prayers fall flat. Outcry or Lament is not faithless; it’s a form of protest. Lament says, “This isn’t right,” and appeals to God to act, to heal, to make things whole. But what happens when we cry out and get no explanation? Today Robyn Elliott will dig into the life of Job, a man who’s whole life came crashing down along with his theology and he saw God in a whole new way.

Questions:

1. How do you usually imagine God when you pray — and how might that image shape how or even if you pray? Is God distant? Disappointed? Gentle? Attentive? How does that affect your openness in prayer?

2. When life gets painful or confusing, what’s your natural reaction — to withdraw from God, to plead with Him, or to protest? What does that say about what you believe prayer is for?

3. If lament is a form of protest — what do you think it means to “protest in faith”?

How can honest complaint actually be an expression of trust rather than rebellion?

4. Can you think of a time when you brought your raw emotions to God — grief, anger, confusion — and felt met rather than rejected? What did that moment teach you about God’s character?

5. What would it look like for you to practice more honest prayer this week?

(Maybe a prayer of lament, a written complaint, a conversation with God without filters.)

6. The people of Job’s time believed in the Retribution Principle — “good things happen to good people.” Where do you still see that mindset showing up today — maybe even in subtle ways in your own thinking?

7. When you’ve faced pain or loss, have you ever felt pressure to keep your faith “tidy”?

What might it look like to follow Job’s example and bring your unfiltered emotions to God instead?

8. Job never gets the answers he’s looking for — but he does get an encounter with God.

What do you think that tells us about the kind of relationship God desires with us, especially in suffering?

9. When have you heard or seen modern “Job’s friends” — people offering religious explanations or blame when someone suffers?

How does that kind of thinking distort our understanding of God’s justice and compassion?

10. At the end of Job, God corrects everyone’s assumptions — but gives no explanation for Job’s suffering. How might that reshape the way we respond to our own unanswered “whys”?

11. Hope in lament isn’t denial — it’s defiant trust.

Where in your life do you need that kind of tenacious, ferocious hope — hope that believes God is love even when nothing makes sense?

In this message from Robyn Elliott, we rediscover prayer not as something to master but as a rhythm to live - a way of turning aside to notice the divine in the everyday. From the burning bush to the coffee line, God meets us on ordinary ground and turns it into holy ground. Prayer isn’t about performance, it’s about presence, learning to see that every moment can become sacred when we pause to notice God there.

Questions:

1. Do you see prayer as something you understand or something you still feel like a beginner at? Why? What fears or barriers might hold you back from praying freely and honestly?

2. Robyn said, “How we imagine God determines how we pray.” What theological or psychological insights can we draw from that statement? How might our image of God  - whether as distant judge, intimate friend, or creative force - shape both the content and the confidence of our prayers?

3. Think of a time when something ordinary suddenly felt sacred. What happened?

4. Moses encountered God in a burning bush. What might be the “ordinary bush” in your life right now where God is trying to get your attention? And how does it change your perspective to think that every ground is holy ground because God is there?

5. If prayer is “a rhythm to keep” rather than a “skill to master,” how does that reshape our understanding of spiritual formation? In what ways might prayer be less about achieving results and more about being formed into a certain kind of person?

6. What would it look like for you to “turn aside” and notice God in your daily routines - your commute, your kitchen, your conversations?

7. What small step could you take this week to make prayer a rhythm rather than a task?

8. Robyn suggested a few exercises to try over the course of this series. Which one will you start with?

9. Download the Lectio 365 app

10. Spend some time in the prayer room

11. Attend Pilgrimage of Prayer on Nov. 23

12. Pray the Lord’s Prayer

In a world shaped by symbols, Jesus gave us a table - not a throne, not a sword, not even a cross - to remember him. And in this message from Robyn Elliott, we explore how the communion table is a radical, countercultural symbol of inclusion, equity, and service, and why Paul was so fired up about it in 1 Corinthians. What does it mean to eat and drink "unworthily?" You might be surprised.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the most meaningful symbols in your life, and what symbols have shaped your faith journey - a cross, a family tradition, a church building, a song? What do those symbols say about what you truly believe about God and yourself?

2. The cross wasn’t the original symbol of Christianity. How does this historical shift in Christian symbolism shape the way we view faith today?

3. Paul's anger in 1 Corinthians 11 targets not personal piety but communal inequality. What does this say about God's priorities for the church?

4. When have you felt excluded or welcomed at a ‘table’ - whether literal or metaphorical? How does that shape how you invite others in?

5. Are there people you struggle to make space for at your table - emotionally, socially, spiritually? Why do you think that is? What might be under that resistance?

6. How does the communion table subvert empire values like hierarchy, power, and privilege? How might that challenge the modern Western church?

7. Paul says to examine ourselves before communion - not to nitpick our morality, but to ask: Are we honouring the body (the church)? What does that look like in practice?

8. If someone observed your church’s communion practice, what might they learn about your theology of inclusion and service?

9. How do we unknowingly mirror the world’s values of status and success in our Christian communities today?

10. The early church’s meals were participatory and embodied. What have we lost (or gained) by ritualizing or formalizing communion?

11. In what ways might your life reflect the empire's way more than Jesus’ way - and how could the symbol of the table realign you?

What if the most powerful part of your story isn’t the ending - but the mess in the middle? In this message, Kathleen Elliott shares her honest, unfinished journey of faith, parenting, and showing up when life feels messy. If you've ever wondered where God is in the middle of your doubts, struggles, or everyday chaos, this story is for you.

Discussion Questions:

1. Where in your life do you feel like you're in “the messy middle” right now?

2. What are the parts of your story you’d rather keep hidden, and where might God be gently nudging you to be more vulnerable?

3. Have you ever mistaken “comfort” for “God’s plan”? How has discomfort shaped your faith?

4. Where have you seen God show up, not to fix things, but simply to be present with you?

5. What false beliefs about God or yourself are you currently unlearning?

6. Are there prayers, people, or moments from your past that you now recognize as God planting seeds?

7. What’s a step you can take - even a baby step - to keep showing up in faith today?

8. Who have you allowed to write parts of your story for you, and how can you invite God into that narrative instead?

9. What does it mean for you to be “held by God,” even if you don’t feel finished or figured out?

10. If you were to tell your story honestly today, what title would you give this chapter of your life?

In a world craving home, we believe the Church is called to be just that: a family of all kinds of people, gathered under one roof and around one table for the sake of the world. This message from Robyn Elliott is a call to reimagine church as a lived experience of love, belonging, and unity. This is about belief, bodies, and buildings - and how God is doing a new thing right here.

Discussion Questions:

1. Which “room” in your spiritual house do you feel most at home in, and which ones challenge you?

2. How does it feel to imagine church as a family rather than a collection of families?

3. Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong in a church? What made you feel that way? And how have you become the church in a way that helps others?

4. What does “a seat at the table” mean to you personally? Who isn’t at your table that should be?

5. In what ways have your beliefs changed or “renovated” over time? What stayed the same?

6. When have you felt most seen or safe in a church setting - and what made that moment possible?

7. How can we move from being Sunday attenders to everyday followers of Jesus?

8. What does it mean to honour every BODY, not just in theory, but in practice?

9. If your life was a home, who feels safe and welcome inside? Who still feels like a stranger?

10. What new thing might God be doing in you - something you can’t yet see clearly?

The book of Acts ends with loose ends - a story unfinished. But maybe that’s the point. As we close this rollercoaster of a journey through Acts with Pastor Robyn Elliott, we ask: what kind of church are we becoming, and are we still living the way of Jesus, not with control and power, but with humility, love, and Spirit-empowered purpose?

Discussion Questions:

1. In what ways has the church today become more like an empire than a movement shaped by Jesus?

2. Have you ever experienced the church as a place of healing - or as a place of harm? What shaped that experience?

3. Where have you seen the Spirit still at work today - in individuals or communities - despite the church’s brokenness?

4. How can we tell if we’re studying the Bible but still missing Jesus? What are the warning signs?

5. What would it look like to retrace our steps, not just as individuals but as a community of faith?

6. Robyn said, “Our hearts can grow hard, even in holy places.” Where in your life do you need to be softened - spiritually, relationally, or emotionally?

7. Are there areas where you've been clinging to control, fame, or platform, rather than humility and vulnerability?

8. If Acts doesn’t have a clear ending, what does that say about your role in God’s story today?

9. What does it mean to you that the table of Jesus is open to “all who are weary?”

Acts (The Way Forward): When Kindness Comes from Strangers by Lakeside Church

In this message from Mike Carmody, we explore the powerful farewell of Paul in Acts 20:17–25, uncovering what it means to live a life that truly counts. From faithful service and bold witness to Spirit-led surrender and eternal perspective, Paul gives us a model for a life well lived. Whether you’re just beginning your faith journey or you’ve been running the race for years, this message will challenge and encourage you to pursue lasting significance.

Discussion Questions:

1. If you had one last conversation with the people you love most, what would you say, and what does that reveal about your heart?

2. Paul says, “You know how I lived.” What would people say they know about your life? What speaks louder – your words or your lifestyle?

3. Faithfulness often goes unseen and unrewarded in this life. Where in your life are you called to keep showing up, even when it’s hard or unnoticed?

4. Paul didn’t hesitate to preach the truth. What holds you back from sharing your faith boldly? What might boldness look like for you this week?

5. When have you experienced discomfort for the sake of following Jesus? How did that experience shape you?

6. Paul was “compelled by the Spirit” even without knowing the outcome. What would it look like for you to trust God with just the next step?

7. Verse 24 says Paul’s only aim was “to finish the race and complete the task.” What task has God placed in front of you today?

8. What are you “packing” your life with? Are your priorities aligned more with comfort and success or with eternity and surrender?

9. Think of someone whose faithfulness or quiet service has impacted you deeply. How might your own faithfulness impact others, even if you never see the results?

Acts (The Way Forward): Power Behind the Name by Lakeside Church

Acts (The Way Forward): The Faith in a World of Idols by Lakeside Church