6th Sept Sermon Discussion - "Dark & Stormy Night"

Scripture Reference: Matt 14:22-32

A) Warming up – When you can’t see, you hear (Animal Sound)

Time: 10 mins
Logistics: Blind fold & small pieces of paper
Objective: Members are blindfolded & have to make an animal sound & find the other persons(s) of the same animal sound. They must continue to make the sound until leader says stop.
Animal sound: Dog-woof / Pig-oink / Duck-quack / cow-moo / sheep -meh / cat –meow

Direction
1. Write at least 2 animals & their sound on the small piece of paper & let the group pick up the paper to know what animal sound they are making
2. Arrange everyone, blind folded in different places in the room (ensure there is no obstacles in the room)
3. At the shout of “start”, everyone will have to make their own sound & find each other
4. They must continue making the animal sound until leader shouts stop.

Leader’s conclusion:
When we cannot see, we need to depend on other senses - hearing - to find our friends. We all need to take the little step (no matter how scary it is to walk when blinded) forward to find our friends.

B) Discussion

1. Recap from Sermon: How do we tide through the storms of lives?
a. Recognizing God’s voice-it brings security
b. Responding to God’s voice- it brings salvation

2. What are the characteristics of God’s voice
a. It’s a voice of comfort, I can count on it
b. It’s a voice of communion, I can come to Him
c. It’s a voice of compassion, I can cling to him

3. Why do we need to discern God’s voice during storms of our lives
a. We hear other voices
i. Voice from our logical mind – this brings doubt
ii. Voice from our flesh – this brings self pity
iii. Voice from the evil one – this brings self condemnation

b. We can be led away from God when we respond to other voices than God’s voice

4. How do we discern God’s voice during storms of our lives
a. Draw near to God (James 4:8)
b. Test the voice with the bible (1 Thess 5:19)

C) Application

1. God promised to save us when we honestly call to God, humbly step out in faith & humbly cry out to Him in our storms of lives. We can have peace when God is in the same boat as us. We can smile during stormy times because God is in our vessel. Let us affirm this truth with this song “With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm”
2. Are you right now in a middle of a storm? Let’s split up into smaller groups to share & pray for each other.