Thriving Through the Storm
Mark 6:45-52
1. What stood out to you this week as Pastor James shared with us this week?
2. Read Mark 4:35-41. The Disciples asked Jesus if he even cared; Jesus’ response was, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” How did the disciples respond to this?
3. Read Mark 6:45-52. Again, the disciples found themselves in the middle of a storm. Jesus put them here. Jesus had a purpose for this storm. Can you recall a time when God had you go through a storm to teach you a lesson? What was that lesson?
4. Read Mark 6:52: “for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened." What is it that the disciples did not understand about the loaves?
5. Storms reveal what’s inside us. If you get angry in the storm, the anger is already there. Why do we resist the way storms reveal what’s already on the inside?
6. Pastor James said we need to “Realize every storm has a purpose.” Often, the purpose of the storm is to show us that we are not in control and that He is. How has God recently shown you that He is in control?
Pastor James also said, “Remember what was promised.”
7. What is God promising us in the following verses?
- 2 Corinthians 1:10: "He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us."
- Matthew 28:20: “I am with you always.”
- Hebrews 7:25: "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."
- Romans 8:38-39: "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."
- Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble.”
8. Let Faith Define Your Reality! To thrive, you have to stop living by what you think, feel, and imagine. The key to freedom here is to remember who you are, who you are not, and who God is. Who are you? Who are you not? Who is God?