Grow Guide | Dec 3, 2023
Series Theme: It’s Time
Reading: Jeremiah 33:10-11, 14-18
Connecting Questions
Where is the most desolate place you have ever visited?
If you could pick one place to help “renew” where would it be?
Prayer for Illumination
Let us pray, Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the way for the coming of your Son. Give us courage and faith to proclaim, in word and deed, the good news of your coming, even as we wait in patience for that day when Christ will come again. Amen.
Context
It is time! The season of Advent has arrived, and, in this season, we prepare for the arrival of Emmanuel—God with us—in Jesus Christ. Our weary world could use some rejoicing, no? We long for the Prince of Peace in our neighborhoods, homes, cities, and war torn countries. We also long for Jesus homemaking in our hearts. Come explore the many opportunities to grow in faith and carry on the work of Jesus Christ at Easter. So glad you are here!
From Pastor Terence Fretheim at EntertheBible.org:
Remember that the original audience for the book of Jeremiah is fundamentally different from the audience for the preaching of Jeremiah (even if some people were a part of both audiences). Readers of the book (and from every subsequent generation) are to hear Jeremiah’s life and words not so much as past event, but as present word of God to them. Take especially into account the type of literature contained therein, especially its poetry and its prose. Recall that this literature centers on God’s indictment of people’s lives, the announcement of judgment, and, on the far side of disaster, a word of promise.
Look at the Book
Open to the book Jeremiah. Do you know someone with a name from the Bible? Who? Why choose those names?
Typically, when a prophet speaks, they speak in a formula to cue us that God has a word for the community. God chooses to work through individuals to then speak to wider community. Underline the instances of “Thus says the Lord.”
Verse 10 opens with a scary scene: how would you describe it?
Verse 10 looks like the wilderness that the people Israel journeyed through to the promised land and that Jesus himself walked through before the start of his ministry. What’s a wilderness scene from your life right now?
Judah and Jerusalem are both named, why? Google if you need help!
The end of verse 10 pivots. From the silence of the wilderness, what emerges? Name them all.
What image in the above list catches your attention?
Look up Psalm 136:1. What do you notice?
What is God saying in verse 14? Why does this matter? Do we forget or does God forget?
In verse 15, after all the words of wasteland, what will God cause to grow? This is primarily talking about new leadership, but it’s also a word of hope. How?
What will the city of Jerusalem’s new name be in verse 16. How is this good news...given current global realities?
What do you make of verses 17-18? If the long string of earthly kings has proven disastrous for God’s people (even though they asked for a king), what—as Christians—might we think this could be pointing to?
Our guest preacher this weekend is Pastor Kelly Sherman-Conroy, a Lakota member and ELCA educator. Learn more about her at www.KellySConroy.com.
As we learn more about indigenous neighbors, how might there be good news for them and us in Jeremiah?
What do you want to talk about that has not been brought up yet?
Taking it Home
Who do you know who might be in the “wilderness” right now? Make one phone call today to check in. Pray for them!
An Advent Hymn as Benediction
“Comfort, comfort now my people;
Tell of peace!” So says our God.
Comfort those who sit in darkness
Mourning under sorrow’s load.
To God's people now proclaim
That God's pardon waits for them!
Tell them that their war is over;
God will reign in peace forever!