Peace in the Pandemic Retreat

Discovering how God brings peace into our lives through people, prayer, and purpose.





Introduction:

Intro to Peace in The Pandemic.mp4

Finding peace in the pandemic includes:

  • Fighting for connection with people.

  • Cultivating connection with God through prayer.

  • Living with a sense of purpose; serving others and not just ourselves.

Finding Peace: people,prayer and purpose...

I wanted to take some time to talk about finding peace in the midst of chaos, or in the middle of everything that's going on in your life. I hope it will spark insight (those much needed "aha" moments) and encourage you to explore the ways God brings more peace into our lives.

I've created links to a 3 part videos series called Peace in the Pandemic. Each 20 minute episode can be unpacked with a series of focus questions for group discussion or personal reflection.

In the series you'll explore how to fight for connection with people, how to cultivate connection with God through prayer and how to live with a sense of purpose even in challenging times.

It's a good recipe for finding peace, I hope you enjoy it.


Episode 0ne: People

Intro to Episode 0ne.mp4

And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6

It's not too late to fight for connection...

At the start of the pandemic, I felt I could manage the lack of connection. A few months in, I realized, like many others, that I needed more connection, but I still didn’t do anything. I adapted (to the new normal) and waited. But after a year or more, I realize just how much I need to fight for connection. The biggest obstacle to learning to fight for connection is thinking “It’s too late to learn”; that I should have learned how to fight for connection months ago.


Maybe we won’t figure it all out quickly. But even when the pandemic is far behind us, we will still need to fight for connection. So it’s not too late to learn.

Learning to fight for connection will help now and it will help when the pandemics over.

I hope you enjoy episode one: People.

Peace in the Pandemic - Episode 1 (People).mp4

Questions for reflection or discussion:

  • Share a memory of a time with a friend that makes you smile when you think of it.

  • What kind of obstacles can get in the way of meaningful friendships?

  • Why do you think we are sometimes tempted to think we can do life alone? Or to think that we have to do life alone?

  • What do you think about how people rallied around Jassie and showed up, when she needed it?

  • What makes it hard for us to reach out when we are at our low points?

  • Take a minute to consider: What is one simple thing you can commit to doing this week (or every week) for your friends, and yourself, that will help build a strong community?

  • If you have Christian friends, do you ever pray with each other? If not, why do you think that is?

  • What are some things that build strong friendships?


Episode Two: Prayer

Intro to Prayer.mp4

"Give all your cares to the Lord and he will take care of you."

Psalm 44:22

Let your strongest feelings fuel your strongest prayers...

At certain points throughout the past year, I said to myself, "great I've got all this extra time to get better at praying."


But like everyone else I know, this year has also turned all my plans upside-down. On top of that, I've often felt too anxious, restless, disappointed, grumpy and generally too unimpressed with myself to pray.


That's when I learned how to "pray my feelings."


When my heart is overrun by strong feelings; when it's too crowded by emotion to let God in, that's when I turn to the book of Psalms.


The psalms have shown me that I don't have to deny the rawness or the reality (or even the darkness) of my feelings. I don't have to hold back and I don't have to be afraid of letting God see the real me. Being real with God makes God's love real.


As I spend time pouring out my feelings to God in prayer, it becomes clear: even after all I have felt, after all my doubts and all my worries; even after all my failures and lack of trust, I can say "after all this, after everything I have done, you still love me." That's real love. Prayer makes God's love real.

I hope you enjoy episode two: Prayer.

Peace in the Pandemic - Episode 2.mp4

Questions for reflection or discussion:

  • What do you think about being completely honest with God in your prayers?

  • Have you ever felt a personal connection with God in prayer? If yes, what was it like? If not, would you like to?

  • What can make it difficult to pray?

  • When you imagine yourself talking to God, is He angry with you? Upset? Frustrated? Or is He a loving Father who is ready to embrace you with love and patience like Jason is with his kids?

  • Did anything about Alyssa’s experience of prayer stand out to you?

  • She talked about it not coming naturally, then using silence, meditation, and the words of Psalm 23 “The Lord is my Shepherd. I have everything I need”.

  • Take a minute to consider: What are some things you could do - knowing your own lifestyle, calendar, and personality - to build a habit of prayer in your everyday life?

  • When you’re feeling anxious or afraid, what reactions do you have? What or who do you turn to?

  • What would you say to God right now, if you knew he was listening?


Episode Three: Purpose

Intro to purpose.mp4

You are like salt for the whole human race...“You are like light for the whole world.

The Gospel of Matthew 5:13-16

It's not about you...

Having a sense of purpose is one of the most powerful ways God brings peace into our lives.

Jesus described the purpose of life by using the images of salt and light. He knew that salt does not give flavor to itself; light does not illuminate itself. Both salt and light are meant for others, just like us.

Deep down we know that focusing on ourselves will never reveal our purpose. Our purpose is so much greater than our own personal happiness or peace of mind. Our deepest joy is rooted in making our life a gift to others.

In this final session will explore about what it means to bring light and flavour of Jesus to the lives of others.

I hope you enjoy episode 3: Purpose

Peace in the Pandemic - Episode 3 (Purpose).mp4

Questions for reflection or discussion:

  • What do you think about the saying, “it is better to give than to receive”?

  • Is there someone you look up to when it comes to how they help others?

  • What do you think it is about serving others that can give us deeper peace and hope?

  • What are some good motivators for serving? What are some bad motivators?

  • Winston shared about how they ran Alpha to share God’s love and to have faith conversations with their friends. Have you had any conversations like this with friends in the past few months? What were your friends' perspectives? Would you ever consider hosting something like Alpha?

  • Take a minute to consider: Is there a need or problem in your school, community, or church that you want to help with? What could a small first step look like for you?

  • What do you think of the idea of starting to help without having a plan that is a hundred percent perfect?

  • What do you think about how God has invited us to play a part in his mission to love and restore the world?”