Introduction & ice breaker
Can you recount an embarrassing moment where you ended up standing out instead of blending in?
Themes to Consider
Find ourselves in the story
SIMEON tells them that many people’s hearts will be exposed by coming near Jesus
Our world deeply needs
People who know who they are and are powerfully connected to God
People who have deep joy beyond just their circumstances
People who have a greater sense of purpose beyond just their own selfishness
People who can speak radical encouragement – instead of just flattery
People who can speak honest words about how things really are – instead of merely criticism and sarcasm
We need old saints who are passing on their wisdom, teaching us how to delight in God, moved by the Holy Spirit.
ANNA took her pain to God and he formed her into a joyful prophet.
She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
SHE HAD COME TO DELIGHT IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
Her life and appetites were submitted to God and she would see beyond herself.
IT SEEMS THAT BOTH ANNA AND SIMEON HAD SEEN SOME PAIN
DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
In silence and what seems life delay....
Motives are Exposed – we can see what we are really after
Pride is Deflated – we learn that we are truly in need of God
Rooted in More than Experience – we aren’t simply people who marry God for His money Greater Intimacy – We come to not just take blessing but give real faith and fidelity Mature and Compassionate – Expanded compassion - Mature in your Love for God
WE ARE THE TEMPLE - place to encounter God
Discussion Questions
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR YOUR LIFE AT 85?
DO YOU BELIEVE GOD HAS MADE PROMISES TO YOU?
DO YOU BELIEVE GOD CAN SATISFY YOUR LIFE?
DO YOU BELIEVE GOD CAN MEET YOU IN YOUR ANXIOUS SEARCHING? DO YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE THE TEMPLE?
Guided Prayer
A Prayer for Encountering God:
Lord, I long to encounter You in my life. I thank You that I can call You "Abba Father." I want to receive Your embrace and Your Father's touch in all that I do this year. Help me to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I want to be like Moses who sought you face-to-face. Empower me to live victoriously and to know You intimately.
I want my city to be one that seeks after Your presence. Bring your people into unity as we seek Your face. Give me Your heart with Your passion, and burden me to reach out to the lost that live here. Help me to fast and pray for transformation in my city. You promise in Your Word that my light will break out like the dawn, Your light will guide me; You will satisfy my needs and strengthen my frame, etc. [Continue praying through Isaiah 58:6-12, bringing before God His promises.] Help me to fast and pray like Charles Finney, Rees Howells, and You when You fasted forty days and nights.
Father, I ask that You would give me a hunger for prayer. Help me to focus on You alone. Come into the center of my every activity, and remove those things that keep me from encountering You. Capture my heart, and reveal Yourself to me when I am praying alone, and corporately when I am praying together with others. I want to adore You and be wholly consumed with Your person.
I praise You because You are holy, righteous, good, all loving, merciful. You are my Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). You are the ruler of the kings of the earth, the faithful witness, the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty, the Living One (Revelation 1). Help me to love You extravagantly with my life this year. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Supplemental Content
The season of Epiphany, also called “epiphanytide” is a time after advent which celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally the visit of the Magi to Jesus in Matthew 2, and thus Jesus' physical manifestation to the Gentiles.
We celebrate this season by considering how he has, and still is, revealing himself to us. During this series we will take a look at characters throughout the Bible who had encounters with Jesus, old and New Testament.
“Through the dark night pride becomes humility, greed becomes simplicity, wrath become contentment, luxury becomes peace, gluttony becomes moderation, envy becomes joy, and sloth becomes strength. No soul will ever grow deep in the spiritual life unless God works passively in that soul by means of the dark night.” —St. John of the Cross
“We mustn’t assume he is accompanying us as we go off on our own business. But if and when we sense the lack of his presence, we must be prepared to hunt for him, to search for him in prayer, in the scriptures, in the sacraments, and not to give up until we find him again.We must expect, too, that when we do meet him again he will not say or do what we expect. He must be busy with his father’s work. So must we.” —NT Wright
