What Are You Seeking?

Fellowship – Snacks or a Meal (10 minutes with snacks; longer, obviously, if there is a meal).

Gathering Time (5-10 minutes). In pairs or groups of three, have participants answer, “Where in the last week/month/year have you recognized God’s presence in your life?” [i.e., during my hike yesterday; when people helped one another; when my cousin was miraculously healed from cancer; when I was able to reconcile with my parents; during my personal devotion time; during worship service, etc.]

Group Dialogue (Approximately 30 minutes). Read Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 and Matthew 14:22-33.

• Do you know someone who, like Peter, is a risk-taking believer who would jump into the water for Christ?
• What are the storms in your life? What is causing you to feel like you are sinking? [These could be personal matters, church-related issues, and/or societal concerns such as climate change.]
• According to the Planning Notes, “We celebrate the signs of God’s presence among us. We lift up our acceptance, our hospitality, our fellowship, and our service to the wider community.” What signs of God’s presence has your church celebrated recently, or what signs does it seek to celebrate? What have you not celebrated that perhaps you should have?
• Continuing with the question above, what storms in your church’s community prevented you all from seeking, manifesting, and/or celebrating these signs? Looking back, how can you better discern God’s presence in those storms?
• In the Matthean passage, the boat symbolizes safety in the midst of chaos. The last paragraph of the Planning Worship Notes, reflects upon a realistic take on how we Christians should face our troubling waters: “I’d rather get in the boat with Jesus and ride out the storm all the way to the other side.” Do you agree with this suggestion? If not, what does “walking on water” or “risk-taking faith” look like to you? How do you experience the peace of Jesus when the storms are raging?
• “What would we look like, what would our community look like if we really believed what we say about Jesus and about grace and salvation?” (From the Preaching Notes) How might you respond to the question?

Prayer (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.

Sending Forth (2 minutes). End with the following prayer, a similar prayer, or the Lord’s Prayer:

God of peace, we thank you today for rescuing us from the troubled waters of our lives. We are comforted by your presence, mercy, and grace. We see them in our church, in our communities, and in the world. As we seek to manifest your love by becoming your disciples, help us as we share the Good News that Jesus is our lifeboat, our Savior, our Messiah. Guide our hearts as we face this world with the gift of divine peace. In the name of the one who calls us, Amen.

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Does your church have an international discipleship path?

We at Discipleship Ministries invite each congregation and worshiping community to develop an intentional discipleship plan in their local context. There are resources and mentors that you can access on our website to help you develop and implement your plan. Please call upon us to help you if you have not already begun such a journey (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/discipleship-system-example).

Rev. Dr. Dong Hyeon Jeong is the Assistant Professor of New Testament Interpretation and the director of the Center for Asian/ Asian American Ministry at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (Evanston, IL). He is an ordained elder/pastor of The United Methodist Church (Philippines Conference). His research highlights the importance of reading/interpreting the New Testament from a social justice perspective.