March 07, 2021: Episode 85 | Speaking of Belonging
The message that sparked the conversation ... A Place to Belong.
When was the last time you felt like you belonged? It’s often a fleeting experience. Join us as we discuss and Mark chapter 11 and the quest to find our own place.
Discussion Questions
(1) When have found yourself thinking, either recently or as a child, "I belong here"?
How did it fill you with a sense of security or belonging?
(2) In your experience, what helps create a sense of belonging?
(3) When does wanting-to-belong slip into being clingy, possessive, or overly attached?
(4) In Mark chapter 11, we hear how Jesus entered a special place which was supposed to create and represent a sense of belonging for all Jews: God's temple in Jerusalem. A thousand years earlier, King Solomon dedicated the original temple, and God promised to make the temple his house, and to dwell with his people, saying, "My eyes and my heart will be there for all time" (1 Kings 9:3). Even more, the temple was supposed to be, not just for the Jews, but for all people, as God said through the prophet Isaiah, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." (Is. 56:7). But the people would lose sight of this promise. Eventually, they lost the temple when God sent a foreign army to destroy it. It had been rebuilt by Jesus' day, but many still neglected this greater purpose for God's house. As you listen to this chapter, what is a word or phrase that stays with you?
(5) Reflecting on this, what are you getting to know more deeply about Jesus?
(6) How is this good news for you?
(7) Coming away from this conversation, what do you want to say to people in your household, congregation, or neighborhood?