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Calling Out The Good- Alice Shirey
September 14 - Grundy Center
September 21 - CF Community Center
September 28 - CF Sanctuary
Message Summary
Alice taught that just as Abraham was blessed by God to be a blessing to others (see Genesis 12 Scripture), so we are called to be a blessing to others. One of the primary places we need to bless others is in our family network – those closest to us. To bless means to “speak well of, or to say good things to or about someone.” She then unpacked four key components of a powerful, biblical blessing.
These four components are:
To Look
To See the Image of God
To Call Out the Good
To Delight!
So, How’s the Family? How are we doing blessing those closest to us?
Scripture Focus
Genesis 12:1-3 - Now the Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you, I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Numbers 6:24-25 - The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Genesis 1:26-27 and 31 - Then God said, “Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness” and ... so God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them ... And God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good.
Zephaniah 3:17 - The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. (Other “delight” verses ... Psalm 35:27, Psalm 147:11, Psalm 149:4)
Discussion Questions for Small Group Discussion or Personal Reflection & Journaling
1. How well are you doing at really looking at the people closest to you? Talk together, or write in your journal, about what kinds of things keep you from really looking at people in your family network. Have you given up eating meals together? Do you only communicate electronically? Is your family schedule simply too busy for face-to-face time? What might your family be missing if your time spent looking at each other diminishes?
2. Read through the Scripture passage from Numbers 6 (see above). Talk together about why you think the idea of God blessing us has to do with Him “turning his face toward us” or “shining His face upon us.” Have you ever thought of God’s blessing toward you in that way?
3. Alice told a story of a seminary professor who was very, very popular with students. When asked upon retirement to what he owed his great success, he said, “I saw the image of God in each of my students, and I worshiped.”
What do you think that means? Why do you think this had such a large impact on his students? How could living like this impact your family?
4. CS Lewis writes, “You are not what you think you are. There is a glory to your life that your enemy fears, and he is hell-bent on destroying that glory before you act on it.”
Talk together about that concept. Do you see this acted out in the lives of those closest to you? How might you counteract this “force” in the lives of your family members?
5. How strong is your tendency to look for and call out others’ weaknesses and sin and failures, as opposed to calling out the good, or telling others of God’s image that you see in them? Why do you think you have that tendency? Alice talked about overlooking her child’s two As in Algebra, and instead focusing on the lack of a book cover. Talk together or think through any stories like that in your own family.
6. Review the Scripture passages having to do with God’s delight in His people. Read them together as a group. Talk together, or journal about how much you really believe God takes delight in you. What might you do to continually remind yourself that God delights in you? What are some ways you could remind others that God delights in them? Why do you think this is an important part of blessing?
Try This...
1. Write the words LOOK, SEE, CALL OUT, DELIGHT on a note card to carry with you this week. Practice (in a non-weird way!) engaging in these components of blessing with one or two people in your family this week!
2. Rent the movie Cinderella Man and talk together about how it portrays the power of blessing those closest to us.
3. Plan some events this week or this month that encourage family members to really LOOK at each other ... plan a couple fun family meals, a game night, make some popcorn and just talk with each other about your day ... whatever works for your family or close circle of friends.
4. Spend some time reading the Gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). As you do, jot down truths about who Jesus was, what he was like, how he treated others. Remember that Jesus is the very image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and use what you learn about Him to help you see the image of God in your family members. Remember Alice’s story, though, of looking for some characteristics she thought were important and therefore missing what was really present in her daughter’s life. Look for the image of God where you least expect it!
5. Like you did last week with Tim’s teaching, spend some time as a family talking about how and where you see the image of God in each person. As you do so, remind them that God delights in them, and that you do, too!
Parents, one great way to bless your kids in this way is to write them a note. Tell them specific instances you see where they reflect God to the world, tell them how proud you are of them and how much you love and delight in them.
Spouses, imagine what power a similar kind of note could have in the life of your husband or wife.
6. Every night this week, bless each other with the benediction from Numbers 6 -
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
7. If you’d like, ask each family member to rate your family on a scale of 1 - 10 on how well you do at blessing each other. 1 being, “we never do this” and 10 being, “this is a huge part of what we do!”
Prayer For the Week:
God, thank you that you bless us. Thank you that you have called us to be “people of the blessing,” just like Abraham. Help us to do just that with the people closest to us - those in our own family. Teach us anew what it really means to look at those we love. Remind us to see Your image in them. And when we see it, give us the courage and the wisdom, to call out the good we see. Help us be creative in how we do this. And last, but not least, remind us that You take great delight in your children, and that the final part of blessing someone is reminding them of that truth!
May we learn how to be “people of the blessing” so that our family members will go out into this world and bless others. AMEN.
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