How Suffering Works

Connection Group Questions
November 21, 2010

Take time to go over the church announcements and events.

• The last week of the Fall Semester is December 12. Plan an end of the year Christmas Party!
• Winter Session will run from January 16 through March 6, 2011.
• Spring Session will run from March 27 through May 22, 2011.
• All participants are encourage to re-register with their current group or a group that works for your schedule.

Opening
Ask one or more from the group to share a story of their suffering. What was the source of suffering? How did you handle the suffering? What has the suffering changed in you?

Learn It:
Discuss how many set-up God for a fall with this choice:
God is all good, but not all powerful.
God is all powerful, but not all good.

Does rejecting God eliminate or alleviate our suffering? How, or how not?

Read 1 Peter 4:12-19
Discuss a “Third Way,” as taught in the bible:
God is all good, and all powerful, and we need to understand the reason and role of suffering in the world, while we hold onto the hope of a time when all suffering will be redeemed.

While not all suffering can be explained, we can know the reason why we suffer in the present world. Discuss:

1. We make bad decisions.
2. Others make bad decisions.
3. We live in a broken world.

Discuss this statement from the sermon:
“The bible teaches that God is not the cause of suffering, restrains most suffering, but allows some suffering in our lives for his plans.”

Discuss our Hope in Suffering: Past, Present, Future
God suffers more than we ever could or will by taking our sin to the cross;
by Holy Spirit He stands with us in our present suffering;
in the future all suffering will be redeemed in the resurrection.

Live It:
While few would celebrate or want to relive any serious suffering they have endured, most will say they would not give up the experience (yes, there are many exceptions in extreme cases of suffering and evil). Because of the way suffering shapes and changes us, it is hard to image life with the experience/wisdom gained.
What lessons have you learned from suffering?
Could you say that God allowed the suffering to come into your life for His glory and your good?

Conclusion:
“Christians are like nails- the harder you hit them, the deeper they go.”
When you suffer, how can you go deeper?

Pray for each other.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
~ Romans 8:18

(For more on suffering in the bible read Psalm 23, Job 1, 2 Corinthians 11:22-33, Matthew 5:1-12 and Matthew 27.)

Don’t forget about your E100 Bible Reading Plan!