Connecting To Jesus and To One Another and To Our World Through Small Groups St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Sermon Discussion Guide Loved to Love – A Journey with John 1 John 3 Pastor Kal Waetzig For Week August 9-15, 2020 Open your group in prayer and remember that this is only a guide. Feel free to discuss each of the provided questions in the message notes, or simply dive deeper into just one. Before you close with prayer, take a few minutes to look over the Three Essential Questions towards the end of the document. Let’s Talk It Over “My hymn was composed in the manse of Innellan on the evening Sermon Review 1. Read 1 John 3:1 2. Read again here the story of George Matheson George Matheson George Matheson was born in Glasgow on 27th March 1842. He was the eldest of eight children in the family and one of the brightest. After excelling at school, he entered Glasgow University where he studied Classics, Logic and Philosophy. He graduated with first class honors when he was only 19 years old but a deep tragedy was being worked out in his life even as he completed his studies – he was rapidly going blind. He had an incurable condition that would eventually result in total blindness and there was nothing that could be done to help him. Such a trial would cause most of us to suffer greatly but for George there was to be an even heavier blow. Whilst at University he had met and fallen in love with a girl who was a fellow student, and they were planning to get married. He broke the news of his impending blindness to her. Would she still marry him? To his astonishment and deep sadness her blunt answer came to him with the force of a dagger to his heart, “I do not want to be the wife of a blind man” she said – and with that they parted. Years later the memory of that rebuff came flooding back on the evening of his sister’s wedding and he recalls the pain of that night as he tells how it was on that occasion that he penned his most famous hymn. of the 6th of June, 1882, when I was 40 years of age. I was alone in the manse at that time. It was the night of my sister’s marriage, and the rest of the family were staying overnight in Glasgow. Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was through the deep trials of illness and desertion that George Matheson had come to place all his trust and hope in the love of God in Jesus Christ as his Savior. From then on, despite his blindness, he had resolved to study Theology and Christian History and to enter the Christian ministry. With God’s help, his resolve held firm and in 1879, three years before writing his famous hymn, the University of Edinburgh conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He began his ministry in 1868 at Innellan, on the Argyll coast near Dunoon. He stayed there for 18 years. Not only did he preach, but he wrote a number of books on spiritual matters which proved popular with contemporary Christians. His ministry and writings came to the attention of Queen Victoria and when in Scotland she invited him to preach at Balmoral. She also had one of his sermons, on the Book of Job, published. In 1886 he moved to Edinburgh, where he became minister of St. Bernard’s Parish Church for 13 years. It was here that his chief work as a preacher was done. George never did marry but he continued to prove the truth of his hymn, that there was a love that would never let him go – the love of Christ for the sinner. George Matheson died suddenly of a stroke on the 28th of August 1906 in Edinburgh and is buried in the Glasgow Necropolis. Read the words of verses 1 & 3 of his hymn: O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee. I give thee back the life I owe That in Thine ocean-depths its flow May richer, fuller be. The third verse reflects Matheson’s experience of God’s love through suffering: O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is not vain That morn shall tearless be. Question 1 – What resonates with you? Take some time to process this story and these words Point 1 – The Father’s Love • Read Eph. 3:17b-19 • Read 1 John 3:1 (again, yes) o Pastor Kal talked about the word “See” can be understood as an exclamation or a command. Does this make sense to you? Talk a bit about this. • “What kind” originally meant, “of what country,” and always implies astonishment. o What additional insight does this bring? Point 2 – Given • Read 1 John 3:1 (yes, again). • Now read Romans 5:6, Romans 5:8, Romans 5:10 and from these verses do the following o Name the descriptors for us o Name the action words of God • Read Romans 8:38-39 Three Essential Questions The following questions are intended to be open-ended and encourage members to consider how they felt and what they, or the group, can do as a result of hearing the message and working through this study! 1. What did you hear? What point in this message was most impactful for you? 2. What do you think? How did this message challenge, change, or affirm your thinking? 3. What will you do? How will you or your group put into practice what you’ve learned today? Prayer … .