Waiting!
Discipleship Group Questions
for November 27, 2005
Scripture Readings:
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
You, Lord, are our father,
our redeemer you are named forever.
Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways,
and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants
the tribes of your heritage.
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
with the mountains quaking before you,
while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,
such as they had not heard of from of old.
No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you
doing such deeds for those who wait for him.
Would that you might meet us doing right,
that we were mindful of you in our ways!
Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful;
all of us have become like unclean people,
all our good deeds are like polluted rags;
we have all withered like leaves,
and our guilt carries us away like the wind.
There is none who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to cling to you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and have delivered us up to our guilt.
Yet, O Lord, you are our father;
we are the clay and you the potter:
we are all the work of your hands.
Psalm Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
(R.) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.
(R.) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O Lord of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted,
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
(R.) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name,
(R.) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Second Reading 1 Cor 1:3-9
We wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Be watchful! You do not know when the lord of the house is coming.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad.
He leaves home and places his servants in charge,
each with his own work,
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
Discipleship Questions:
1.Think of a time in your life when you were very aware that you were waiting – waiting for a birth, a death, for the results of a biopsy etc. Briefly discuss how you felt at these times.
2.What does the first reading tell us about waiting?
3.What does the Psalm tell us about waiting?
4.What does the Gospel tell us about waiting?
5.In the Gospel reading “watchfulness” is also clearly being called for. But most interesting – this time it’s the landlord or more precisely God who is asking for watchfulness from his servants. He wants them to be ready when He returns. In the other three readings the focus was on our desire for God to come soon but in the Gospel reading we hear the heart of God and guess what – it’s a lot like ours – He wants our love to keep us watchful. He doesn’t want us to miss His coming! The focus is on God’s desire to be recognized immediately when He comes! What does this tell you about God?
6.This season of Advent is a time God gives us to remember paradise lost and paradise yet to come! It gets us in touch with our “waiting” in so many many things. It’s a season that gets in touch with our feelings of loss and deep desire for our precious Lord’s return but also that certain truth that God Himself years for this final return too – with all of His heart! Please take some time and discuss how this “waiting” is so much a part of our daily lives and it betrays our inner yearning for our Lord’s coming. Please take some time to pray in silence that our Lord would reveal to you your inner yearning for His coming. Amen and Amen!