1. Be Real

In this week’s teaching, Brian answered the second question that keeps some of us from coming home. Am I going to make it through this?

In a word, yes. This is true because Jesus sustains. The word sustain is defined as an ability “to strengthen, support, maintain, provide, nourish, and supply.” Often it can feel like in the darkest times of our life God suddenly disappears—but Jesus’ sustaining power makes him perfectly qualified to handle our present reality no matter how dark it seems.

Jesus is the one who holds all things together. He is the complete resource guide we need to walk us through whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.

2. Grow Together

Read this from the Bible together:

Colossians 1:15-17  
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Psalm 66:8-9  
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.

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Some key statements and questions put forward that are important for us to talk about…

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Brian mentioned the anthropic principle which states that the universe is perfectly engineered for human life. Do you struggle to see Jesus as the source of this perfect engineering?

Bless our God…who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. To believe that God does not let our feet slip is to simultaneously believe that sometimes our slipping is how God chooses to sustain us. When was a time in your life where you’ve felt like your feet slipped? How did God use that time or may be using that time to build trust in him?

3. Next Steps

Do you believe God will get you through your circumstance? Romans 8:38-39 says “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Do you believe this applies to you?

Do you wonder if you can out-sin the grace of God? Do you wonder if God will abandon you in seasons of doubt, struggle, sin or sadness? Does a good shepherd lose his sheep?