The Miracle In The Mismatch
Pastor Tim Timberlake
Conversation Starters
Pastor Tim is from Jacksonville, Florida. If you planned a vacation to Florida, which would you be most likely to do: visit Disney World, check out Universal Studios, go to Sea World, or just hang out on a beach?
Tell your group about the biggest mismatch you ever saw. (Have you ever seen an underdog win?)
Pastor Tim is a basketball fan. If you could go to any sporting event, what would it be? (e.g., Superbowl, World Cup, Wimbledon, Indy 500, World Series, NBA Finals, etc.)
Review
Ask eGroup members to share their favorite points from the sermon, what spoke to them, a phrase or moment from the sermon they related to the most, or questions they have. If members have a hard time recalling the sermon, talk through your notes and share your favorite points.
Make It Personal
In 30 seconds or less, tell the group about a time when you fought a mismatched battle and won.
Everyone has a battle.
Read Judges 20: 14-16. Share with the group a battle you’re currently fighting. (Does it feel like a mismatch? The 700 men were left-handed because they could no longer use their right hand — is there something you used to rely on that you can no longer use?)
Struggle is the proof you have not been overtaken by your enemy. How does that challenge or encourage you? (Share a praise report with your group about some ways recently you haven’t given into struggle.)
You got choices.
We talk about how to steward our time and our finances, but we don’t always talk about how to steward our pain. What would change if you chose to stop looking at your pain as something to manage, but something to steward? Discuss some ways we can steward our pain.
“It’s a privilege to fight.” What are you believing God for? How can you choose to have a perspective that it’s a privilege to fight for that thing? (What are some things that make it difficult to choose this perspective? Talk about some daily choices that can help or hurt us.)
Go deeper. Read Psalm 118:24. Making the choice to rejoice can help us stay and fight. What are you rejoicing over in this season? What’s something you can make a choice to rejoice over? (Something that might not be as easy to celebrate?)
Be determined to be better with what you got left, rather than what you lost.
Your opponent doesn’t care about weakness. Where do you need to decide to be better with the weapon you’ve got left instead of what you lost? (What have you lost? What’s left? Are you working to develop and use what’s left?)
What happened to you is in your head, but the victory is in your hand. You may not be able to choose your hand, but you can choose to play the hand you’ve been dealt. How can you play the hand you’ve been dealt this week with intentionality and purpose?
Act On It
The only way you’re going to get good at something you’re not good at is to practice it. What’s a weakness you need to work on? Write it down, and practice it this week. (And make the choice to rejoice for what you’ve got left.)
Prayer Requests And Prayer
Ask eGroup members to share any prayer requests they have. Record any notes or prayer requests to pray for members during the week. Father, thank You for turning our pain into power. We’re so grateful that You hold every breakthrough and every healing we’ll ever need. We praise You for our mismatched battles today, because we believe that’s where our miracle is found. We ask for Your help in stewarding our struggles. This week, help us choose to fight while we rest in Your strength. In Jesus’ name, amen.