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Three Essential Questions
After watching the message take some time reflect on the following three questions.

• What did you hear?What point in this message was most impactful for you?
• What do you think?How did this message challenge, change, or affirm your thinking?
• What will you do?How will you put into practice what you've learned today?

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
Matthew 5:4 (NIV)

• GIVE GOD MY GRIEF

• Take Time to Grieve

"There is a time to grieve and a time to dance." Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NLT)

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope." 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NLT)

• Know God Cares

"He (Jesus) was despised and rejected — a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief . . . Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down." Isaiah 53:3-4 (NLT)

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you."
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

• Tell God How I Feel

"Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief."Psalm 31:9 (NIV)

"When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly."
Esther 4:1 (NIV)

"Jesus wept." John 11:35 (NIV)

"I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy."      John 16:20 (NIV)

"Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning."
Psalm 30:5 (NLT)

ACTION PLAN: Write out a prayer to God going over all the challenges you're facing in this season.  Be honest and tell him how they're making you feel.  Recite Psalm 31:9 over and over as you read your prayer out loud
to God.

• RECEIVE FROM GOD HIS COMFORT

"'Comfort, comfort my people,' says your God." Isaiah 40:1 (NIV)

The enemy of God's comfort is: Escape
"Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains." Proverbs 14:13 (NLT)

• God comforts me through His Presence

"and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter, and he will never leave you." John 14:16 (TLB)

• God comforts me through His Word
  "My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word." Psalm 119:28 (NIV)

• God comforts me through His People

"…the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

ACTION PLAN: What escapes have you been turning to instead of God?  Meet with a close friend you trust and talk about it and ask for them to pray with you as you seek comfort from God instead.

What Does God's Comfort Look Like?
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion -- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)

"For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." 2 Corinthians 1:5 (NIV)

ACTION PLAN: In your small group, find out what ashes in their lives they are trusting God to exchange for a crown of beauty.  Pray for them every day this week and check-in with them and encourage them.

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