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    In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide: Strength for This Beautiful, Broken Life
    In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide: Strength for This Beautiful, Broken Life
    In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide: Strength for This Beautiful, Broken Life
    Ebook185 pages1 hour

    In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide: Strength for This Beautiful, Broken Life

    By Sheila Walsh

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    About this ebook

    The trials we face in this life can feel overwhelming. Life often seems broken—shattered into a million pieces—and at times we may wonder if our mess is “too big” for God. We can convince ourselves we are too far away from God’s grace for it to reach us where we are.

    Sheila Walsh knows this feeling all too well—and the hiding and shame that result from it. But in this six-session video study, she shows how using spiritual disciplines such as confession, prayer, and meditation on Scripture helped her break free from this cycle of despair and experience newfound joy as a child of God—fully known, fully loved, and fully accepted. She reveals that while we will never be completely “fixed” on earth, God’s power can be made perfect in our weakness. He is waiting to accept us—having already promised to love us, heal us, and carry us through to the end. Our brokenness can be the beginning of something beautiful, and accepting the fact that we are broken can be the key to finding God’s strength in the middle of the mess.

    This study guide includes video discussion questions, Bible exploration, and in-between session study materials that will help you practice the spiritual discipline Sheila is discussing each week as she leads you and your group members through the journey of brokenness.

    Sessions include:

    1. Brokenness Is the Beginning
    2. Brokenness Is Hard
    3. Brokenness Is Loud
    4. Brokenness Is to Be Shared
    5. Brokenness Is the Path to Healing
    6. Brokenness Is Temporary

    Designed for use with the In the Middle of the Mess Video Study (sold separately).

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateNov 7, 2017
    ISBN9780310089445
    In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide: Strength for This Beautiful, Broken Life
    Author

    Sheila Walsh

    Sheila Walsh is a powerful communicator, Bible teacher, and bestselling author with almost six million books sold. She is the author of the award-winning Gigi, God’s Little Princess series, It’s Okay Not to Be Okay, Praying Women, Holding On When You Want to Let Go, and more. She is cohost of the inspirational talk show Life Today with James and Betty Robison, which is seen worldwide by a potential audience of over 100 million viewers. Sheila lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Barry, and son, Christian, who is in graduate school.

    Read more from Sheila Walsh

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      Book preview

      In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide - Sheila Walsh

      images/img-3-1.jpgimages/img-4-1.jpg

      In the Middle of the Mess Study Guide

      © 2017 by Sheila Walsh

      All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Nelson Books and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

      Author is represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, www.alivecommunications.com.

      All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

      Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. HCSB® is a federally registered trademark of Holman Bible Publishers.

      Scriptures marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Interior images: © Sociologas/Shutterstock, © The Pixel/Shutterstock, © Nik Merkulov/Shutterstock, © Tom Nulens/www.istock.com

      Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

      ePub Edition © September 2017: ISBN 978-0-310-08944-5

      First Printing September 2017

      Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

      Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

      Ebook Instructions

      In this ebook edition, please use your device’s note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response Here]. Use your device’s highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).

      Contents

      Ebook Instructions

      How to Use This Guide

      SESSION 1

      Brokenness Is the Beginning: Grace and Radical Acceptance

      SESSION 2

      Brokenness Is Hard: Honest Prayer and Grief

      SESSION 3

      Brokenness Is Loud: Confident Confession

      SESSION 4

      Brokenness Is to Be Shared: Safe Community of Truth-Tellers

      SESSION 5

      Brokenness Is the Path to Healing: Gratitude in the Middle of the Mess

      SESSION 6

      Brokenness Is Temporary: Worshiping Christ Our Light

      Leader’s Guide

      About the Author

      How to Use This Guide

      images/img-7-1.jpg

      Group Size

      The In the Middle of the Mess video study is designed to be experienced in a group setting such as a Bible study, Sunday school class, or other small-group gathering. If the gathering is large, your leader may wish to split everyone into smaller groups of five or six people to make sure everyone has enough time to participate in discussions.

      Materials Needed

      Everyone in your group will need his or her own copy of this study guide, which includes the opening question(s) you will discuss, notes for the video segments, group discussion questions, prompts for closing prayer, and personal studies that you and the group members will complete between sessions. You will also want a copy of the In the Middle of the Mess book, which provides further insights into the material you are covering in this study. (See the note at the end of each week’s personal study for specific chapters to read in the book to prepare for the next week’s group meeting.)

      Facilitation

      Your group will need to appoint a person to serve as a facilitator. This person will be responsible for starting the video and keeping track of time during discussions and activities. Facilitators may also ready questions aloud and monitor discussions, prompting participants to respond and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate. If you have been chosen for this role, there are additional instructions and resources in the back of this guide to help you lead your group members through the study.

      Personal Studies

      During the week, you can maximize the impact of the study with the personal studies provided for each session. Each of these personal studies is broken into three parts that will help you to revisit your experience with the group that week, receive God’s truth through studying the Bible, and reorient your habits and heart to bring the theme of each day’s study to life. The final section in each personal study will help you practice the discipline that Sheila is discussing that week as she leads you and your group members through the journey of brokenness. Treat each personal study like a devotional and use them in whatever way works best for you. You could do one section each day for three days of the week or complete them all in one sitting.

      Session One

      images/img-7-1.jpg

      Brokenness Is the Beginning

      Grace and Radical Acceptance

      You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

      JOHN 8:32 ESV

      Session Overview

      It’s there to greet you first thing in the morning, through an unkind word from your spouse or child. It’s there again as you merge onto the highway, via the other guy’s blaring horn, causing your unwanted swerve. It shows up in your friend’s phone call . . . there’s an edge there—you can hear it. Things aren’t as they should be. News stories shouted at you all day long only confirm what you suspected to be true: things are not okay in this world. Life is broken—deeply broken—shattered into a million pieces. The question isn’t so much, Is there brokenness in this world? for that response would be yes. The question is, "What will we do with this brokenness in the world . . . and also, in me?"

      In this opening session, we’ll journey through the Word of God to take a look at both the expected and unexpected nature of this brokenness that so marks our existence. What did God promise would be true of our earthly lives? How did those whose lives are detailed in Scripture move through seasons of trial with wisdom and grace? And, if we believe God truly can bring beauty from ashes, as the prophet Isaiah so boldly declared (see Isaiah 61:3), then how are we to find our way from here to there, from the bleakness and desperation that marks brokenness’s beginning to the longed-for victory that we are promised?

      Come. Sit with God. Soak in His Word. Let His ages-old perspective and promises sink deep into your sea-tossed soul. There is a marvelous end game to this brokenness that we’re just sure will do us in. Brokenness is a necessary beginning. This is where our discussion begins.

      Opening Thoughts

      Take one to two minutes to open your time together with prayer. Then, have each group member answer the following question before watching the video segment:

      How have you seen brokenness show up in your life? Describe for your group a recent encounter or exchange from which you walked away thinking, Things here aren’t as they are meant to be.

      [Your Response Here]

      Video: Brokenness Is the Beginning (20 MINUTES)

      Play the video for Session 1. Use the following prompts to record your thoughts as you watch.

      VIDEO NOTES

      Secrets don’t keep us safe

      [Your Response Here]

      God’s rock-solid promise

      [Your Response Here]

      Six truths

      [Your Response Here]

      Where true transformation comes from

      [Your Response Here]

      The great distance between our head and our heart

      [Your Response Here]

      Imprisoned to be set free

      [Your Response Here]

      Two benefits to coming to the end of oneself

      [Your Response Here]

      The usefulness of radical acceptance

      [Your Response Here]

      Everyone who calls on God is saved by God

      [Your Response Here]

      The one-word prayer Jesus

      [Your Response Here]

      Letter from a devoted daughter

      [Your Response Here]

      Group Discussion

      Spend the balance of your group time answering as many of the following questions as you have time and energy for, being sure to give equal opportunity for each member to share.

      1. Briefly review your video notes. Given your present circumstances, what word, phrase, sentiment, or concept feels most relevant to you? Why?

      [Your Response Here]

      2. Sheila noted the six sessions of this study. Which of the following holds the most promise for you? Which one makes you feel anxious the first time you read it?

      [Your Response Here]

      Brokenness is the beginning . . . the truth of our situation, as bleak as that truth may be, can set us free.

      Brokenness is hard . . . even on the darkest night, we never walk the path of grief alone.

      Brokenness is loud . . . even in our noisy world, we can learn to live in the stillness and quietness of God’s presence.

      Brokenness is to be shared . . . there is strength to be found in confessing our sins to one another.

      Brokenness is the path to healing . . . when we fix our eyes on God, we live a life of thanksgiving.

      Brokenness is temporary . . . what you are facing right now

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