TEACHING

SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2021, 10:00 AM - ONLINE ONLY
Guest Jessica Chan, LAMENT
Have you ever thought, “Let me get this off my chest and then I'll go to church and sing.” or  “I need to cry, so maybe this Sunday I'll stay home.” Let us, instead, worship together in our lament.
“Lament is not despair.  It is not whining.  It is not a cry into a void. Lament is a cry directed to God.  It is the cry of those who see the truth of the world’s deep wounds and the cost of seeking peace.  It is the prayer of those who are deeply disturbed by the way things are...” -Reconciling All Things.
Jessica lives with her husband Felix and two daughters. She’s an artist and an art teacher.  For the past 10 years, she’s been working with P2C at the University of British Columbia and spent a year at the Universidad de Panamá. In her spare time, she can be found chipping away at a novel she’s writing about her family’s history.
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Narrative Lectionary for Week of May 23

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ONLINE NOTES:

PDF

INTRO
PRAYER
OPENING STORY
JOURNEY OF LAMENT
EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE LAMENTING IN SCRIPTURE

• Naomi
  
• Hannah
  
• David
  
• Elijah
  
• Peter
  
• Jesus
  
• God, the Father
  

NOTE
EXAMPLES OF LAMENT IN SCRIPTURE
Psalm 13

• A Complaint (vv. 1-2)
  
• A Petition (vv. 3-4)
  
• A Resolution (vv. 5-6)
  

THE GIFT OF LAMENT
LAMENT AND HOPE 
ACKNOWLEDGING THE TRUTH
CLOSING: A LAMENT PRACTICE

• Isaiah 25:8
  
• Luke 6:21
  
• Psalm 6:6-10
  
• Revelation 7:17
  
• Revelation 21:4
  
• Psalm 116:7-9

HOME CHURCH

Jess has provided a detailed resource guide that Home Church leadership team can access on the Home Church Drive, but here are some thoughts for reflection and discussion.

How did God meet the following characters in their lament?

• Naomi – Ruth 1:14-22, Ruth 4:14-17
• Peter – Luke 22:54-62, John 21:4-17
• Believers at Jesus death – Luke 24:17-31, John 19:25-27, John 20:11-18
• Hannah – 1 Samuel 1:9-20
• Elijah – 1 Kings 19:4-18
• Job – Job 10:1-22, Job 38:1-15 etc, Job 42:7-16
• David lamented over death, 2 Sam 1:11-12 & 17, 2 Sam 12:18-23, 2 Sam 18:33 David attesting to how God met him; Psalm 65:5, Psalm 63:3-8, Psalm 62:5-8

Extra examples: Note how these biblical characters lamented. Try to empathize with their reality and note the honesty with which they lament.

• Habakkuk lamented over the coming judgement (Habakkuk 1:12-17)
• Amos, Ezekiel, Isaiah and other prophets over Israel’s sin
• Jeremiah wept over the destruction of Israel (4:19-22 & 8:18-22)
• Lamentations – a whole book of lament about the destruction of Israel
• Women lamented their children slaughtered by Herod
• Jesus lamented over the death of Lazarus, at Gethsemane and on the cross