Grow Guide | June 4, 2023

Why We Worship

Psalm 8

Connecting Questions

Why do you come to worship? What happens?

When was a moment you realized you were standing on holy ground in your life?

 

Prayer for Illumination

Let us pray, Loving God, we pause today grateful for this next breath. We are grateful for the chance to connect with others today no matter how simple the experience. Open your Word to us. Open our hearts to let your word speak to us and change our lives. We pray in the name of the Risen Jesus, Amen.

 

Context

This Sunday is Holy Trinity Sunday, and we are beginning a new worship series called, Why Do We Worship. Think about the any times you have been in a Christian worship service. Think about the senses: sound, smell, feel, who you were with, and what was spoken. The next four weeks, we pause to thank God for what happens every time we gather around Word and Sacraments.

 

Don’t miss Pastor Erik’s latest sermon in the Romans series. He gives some helpful windows into Romans and his sermon can be found at Easter.org/worship.

 

From Pastor Fred Buechner:

THE MUCH-MALIGNED doctrine of the Trinity is an assertion that, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, there is only one God. 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit mean that the mystery beyond us, the mystery among us, and the mystery within us are all the same mystery. Thus the Trinity is a way of saying something about us and the way we experience God. 

What expression of the Trinity is important to you today?

 

Look at the Book

  • Read Psalm 8.

  • Notice the first verse and the last verse are the same. Why?

  • Who is doing the leading in this passage? Why does that matter?

  • Do you relate to God as “sovereign?” Why or why not?

  • Oftentimes, the psalms are divided into two kinds: praise and lament. Which is Psalm 8?

  • Verse 4 forms the center of the psalm...and the punchline. What does it mean to you?

  • Verse 7-8 are replaying the Creation story of Genesis 1. Why does the psalmist want us to see that?

  • We are shifting seasons in Minnesota. What are noticing about creation right now?

  • Read Psalm 100. Are there any connections?

  • Jesus used the psalms as part of his prayer life being raised in the Jewish tradition. How can this psalm be made into a prayer?

  • When we come to worship, we praise God and name God as holy and “other.” Yet, in Jesus, God comes near. Can you think of times that Jesus retreated in creation? Why? What was he doing?

  • What do you want to talk about that has not been brought up yet?

 

 

Taking it Home

How can you help name for someone else that their life is “holy ground?”

When was the last time you invited someone to worship? What happened?

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Grow Guide | June 11, 2023

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Grow Guide | May 28, 2023