Sunday 23 May
Tools for a faith in crisis
Dave Bosma
Dave talks about a faith crisis as an experience of tension between life as we experience it and something that is being said or done within our faith. A religious conversion is often a faith crisis. The tension is there when faith begins, so it's reasonable that it is there at other times. Tools that can help us life through a faith crisis are similar to what we use in other times of uncertainty in our lives: we can look for more info, look for solution through empathy and relationship, be present in the situation rather than powering through it. In our faith life we can engage the centuries old disciplines of bible study, cultivating intentional Christian friendships, and contemplation - allowing God time to show you what he wants you to notice. Cultivate the good.
Life Group questions
Tools for a faith in crisis
“Tools for a Faith in Crisis.”
Stories
Have there been times in your life where you have experienced a faith crisis?
What kinds of support have you received in times where maintaining your faith has been hard?
Have you ever supported someone else through their own crisis of faith?
Scripture
Read Job 40:1-14
How does God respond to Job’s crisis of faith?
How do you respond to this passage? How does it make you feel to read about God acting this way?
How might this conversation between Job and God be helpful to someone experiencing a faith crisis?
Strategy
What is one spiritual practice that you find particularly nourishing and engaging? What structures can you set up or maintain so that you engage in this practice regularly?
Who is one trusted friend you have that you feel as though you could talk about any question or issue regarding faith with? How do you maintain that friendship?
Could it be possible that God is allowing a faith crisis to happen so that we might grow and deepen as people? If so, what kind of character or virtue could he be trying to build in us by doing this?