In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide: Strength for This Beautiful, Broken Life
By Sheila Walsh
()
About this ebook
The trials we face in this life can feel overwhelming. Life often seems broken—shattered into a million pieces—and at times we may wonder if our mess is “too big” for God. We can convince ourselves we are too far away from God’s grace for it to reach us where we are.
Sheila Walsh knows this feeling all too well—and the hiding and shame that result from it. But in this six-session video study, she shows how using spiritual disciplines such as confession, prayer, and meditation on Scripture helped her break free from this cycle of despair and experience newfound joy as a child of God—fully known, fully loved, and fully accepted. She reveals that while we will never be completely “fixed” on earth, God’s power can be made perfect in our weakness. He is waiting to accept us—having already promised to love us, heal us, and carry us through to the end. Our brokenness can be the beginning of something beautiful, and accepting the fact that we are broken can be the key to finding God’s strength in the middle of the mess.
This study guide includes video discussion questions, Bible exploration, and in-between session study materials that will help you practice the spiritual discipline Sheila is discussing each week as she leads you and your group members through the journey of brokenness.
Sessions include:
- Brokenness Is the Beginning
- Brokenness Is Hard
- Brokenness Is Loud
- Brokenness Is to Be Shared
- Brokenness Is the Path to Healing
- Brokenness Is Temporary
Designed for use with the In the Middle of the Mess Video Study (sold separately).
Sheila Walsh
Sheila Walsh is a powerful communicator, Bible teacher, and bestselling author with almost six million books sold. She is the author of the award-winning Gigi, God’s Little Princess series, It’s Okay Not to Be Okay, Praying Women, Holding On When You Want to Let Go, and more. She is cohost of the inspirational talk show Life Today with James and Betty Robison, which is seen worldwide by a potential audience of over 100 million viewers. Sheila lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Barry, and son, Christian, who is in graduate school.
Read more from Sheila Walsh
Honestly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Storm Inside: Trade the Chaos of How You Feel for the Truth of Who You Are Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings5 Minutes with Jesus: Making Today Matter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the Middle of the Mess: Strength for This Beautiful, Broken Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Longing in Me: How Everything You Crave Leads to the Heart of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLaugh Out Loud: Stories to Touch Your Heart & Tickle Your Funny Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heartache No One Sees: Real Healing for a Woman's Wounded Heart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/55 Minutes with Jesus: Quiet Time for Your Soul Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHonestly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Loves Broken People: And Those Who Pretend They're Not Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Silent Cry: The True Story of Abuse and Betrayal of an NFL Wife Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/55 Minutes with Jesus: Quiet Time for Your Soul Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSilent Cry: The True Story of Abuse and Betrayal of an NFL Wife Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Loved Back to Life: How I Found the Courage to Live Free Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings5 Minutes with Jesus: Peace for Today Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Get Off Your Knees and Pray: A Woman's Guide to Life-Changing Prayer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let Go: Live Free of the Burdens All Women Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/55 Minutes with Jesus: A Fresh Infusion of Joy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings5 Minutes with Jesus: A Fresh Infusion of Joy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shelter of God's Promises Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Get Off Your Knees & Pray: A Woman's Guide to Life-Changing Prayer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let Go: Live Free of the Burdens All Women Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide
Related ebooks
When God Doesn't Fix It Bible Study Guide: Learning to Walk in God's Plans Instead of Our Own Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Belong Bible Study Guide: Because God Is Who He Says He Is Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shelter of God's Promises Bible Study Participant's Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSo Long, Normal Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video: Living and Loving the Free Fall of Faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hard Good Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video: Showing Up When You Want to Shut Down Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDetermined - Women's Bible Study Leader Guide: Living Like Jesus in Every Moment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUninvited Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlay with Fire Bible Study Guide: Discovering Fierce Faith, Unquenchable Passion and a Life-Giving God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Joshua - Women's Bible Study Leader Guide: Winning the Worry Battle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl Bible Study Participant's Guide: Living the Faith after Bible Class Is Over Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNumbers - Women's Bible Study Leader Guide: Learning Contentment in a Culture of More Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurrendered - Women's Bible Study Participant Workbook: Letting Go and Living Like Jesus Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nothing to Prove Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video: Eight-Session Bible Study in the Gospel of John Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnglued Bible Study Participant's Guide: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Holding On When You Want to Let Go Study Guide: Clinging to Hope When Life Is Falling Apart Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shelter of God's Promises Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Storm Inside Bible Study Guide: Trade the Chaos of How You Feel for the Truth of Who You Are Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5JoyKeeper: 6 Truths That Change Everything You Thought You Knew about Joy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHolding On When You Want to Let Go: Clinging to Hope When Life Is Falling Apart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Settle My Soul: 100 Quiet Moments to Meet with Jesus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod Loves Broken People: And Those Who Pretend They're Not Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sure as the Sunrise: 100 Morning Meditations on God’s Mercy and Delight Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Longing in Me Bible Study Guide: A Study in the Life of David Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGet Out of That Pit: Straight Talk about God's Deliverance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsinkable Faith Study Guide: God-Filled Strategies to Transform the Way You Think, Feel, and Live Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGood Morning, Lord: I Don't Know Where You're Going Today But I'm Going with You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI've Got Jesus...Now What? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIt's All Under Control Bible Study: A 6-Week Guided Journey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Christianity For You
The Holy Bible (World English Bible, Easy Navigation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It's Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind... Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies You've Been Taught and How to Recover What God Intended Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When the Old Ways Stop Working Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
In the Middle of the Mess Bible Study Guide - Sheila Walsh
In the Middle of the Mess Study Guide
© 2017 by Sheila Walsh
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Nelson Books and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.
Author is represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, www.alivecommunications.com.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. HCSB® is a federally registered trademark of Holman Bible Publishers.
Scriptures marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Interior images: © Sociologas/Shutterstock, © The Pixel/Shutterstock, © Nik Merkulov/Shutterstock, © Tom Nulens/www.istock.com
Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.
ePub Edition © September 2017: ISBN 978-0-310-08944-5
First Printing September 2017
Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook
Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.
Ebook Instructions
In this ebook edition, please use your device’s note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response Here]. Use your device’s highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).
Contents
Ebook Instructions
How to Use This Guide
SESSION 1
Brokenness Is the Beginning: Grace and Radical Acceptance
SESSION 2
Brokenness Is Hard: Honest Prayer and Grief
SESSION 3
Brokenness Is Loud: Confident Confession
SESSION 4
Brokenness Is to Be Shared: Safe Community of Truth-Tellers
SESSION 5
Brokenness Is the Path to Healing: Gratitude in the Middle of the Mess
SESSION 6
Brokenness Is Temporary: Worshiping Christ Our Light
Leader’s Guide
About the Author
How to Use This Guide
images/img-7-1.jpgGroup Size
The In the Middle of the Mess video study is designed to be experienced in a group setting such as a Bible study, Sunday school class, or other small-group gathering. If the gathering is large, your leader may wish to split everyone into smaller groups of five or six people to make sure everyone has enough time to participate in discussions.
Materials Needed
Everyone in your group will need his or her own copy of this study guide, which includes the opening question(s) you will discuss, notes for the video segments, group discussion questions, prompts for closing prayer, and personal studies that you and the group members will complete between sessions. You will also want a copy of the In the Middle of the Mess book, which provides further insights into the material you are covering in this study. (See the note at the end of each week’s personal study for specific chapters to read in the book to prepare for the next week’s group meeting.)
Facilitation
Your group will need to appoint a person to serve as a facilitator. This person will be responsible for starting the video and keeping track of time during discussions and activities. Facilitators may also ready questions aloud and monitor discussions, prompting participants to respond and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate. If you have been chosen for this role, there are additional instructions and resources in the back of this guide to help you lead your group members through the study.
Personal Studies
During the week, you can maximize the impact of the study with the personal studies provided for each session. Each of these personal studies is broken into three parts that will help you to revisit your experience with the group that week, receive God’s truth through studying the Bible, and reorient your habits and heart to bring the theme of each day’s study to life. The final section in each personal study will help you practice the discipline that Sheila is discussing that week as she leads you and your group members through the journey of brokenness. Treat each personal study like a devotional and use them in whatever way works best for you. You could do one section each day for three days of the week or complete them all in one sitting.
Session One
images/img-7-1.jpgBrokenness Is the Beginning
Grace and Radical Acceptance
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
JOHN 8:32 ESV
Session Overview
It’s there to greet you first thing in the morning, through an unkind word from your spouse or child. It’s there again as you merge onto the highway, via the other guy’s blaring horn, causing your unwanted swerve. It shows up in your friend’s phone call . . . there’s an edge there—you can hear it. Things aren’t as they should be. News stories shouted at you all day long only confirm what you suspected to be true: things are not okay in this world. Life is broken—deeply broken—shattered into a million pieces. The question isn’t so much, Is there brokenness in this world?
for that response would be yes. The question is, "What will we do with this brokenness in the world . . . and also, in me?"
In this opening session, we’ll journey through the Word of God to take a look at both the expected and unexpected nature of this brokenness that so marks our existence. What did God promise would be true of our earthly lives? How did those whose lives are detailed in Scripture move through seasons of trial with wisdom and grace? And, if we believe God truly can bring beauty from ashes, as the prophet Isaiah so boldly declared (see Isaiah 61:3), then how are we to find our way from here to there, from the bleakness and desperation that marks brokenness’s beginning to the longed-for victory that we are promised?
Come. Sit with God. Soak in His Word. Let His ages-old perspective and promises sink deep into your sea-tossed soul. There is a marvelous end game to this brokenness that we’re just sure will do us in. Brokenness is a necessary beginning. This is where our discussion begins.
Opening Thoughts
Take one to two minutes to open your time together with prayer. Then, have each group member answer the following question before watching the video segment:
How have you seen brokenness
show up in your life? Describe for your group a recent encounter or exchange from which you walked away thinking, Things here aren’t as they are meant to be.
[Your Response Here]
Video: Brokenness Is the Beginning (20 MINUTES)
Play the video for Session 1. Use the following prompts to record your thoughts as you watch.
VIDEO NOTES
Secrets don’t keep us safe
[Your Response Here]
God’s rock-solid promise
[Your Response Here]
Six truths
[Your Response Here]
Where true transformation comes from
[Your Response Here]
The great distance between our head and our heart
[Your Response Here]
Imprisoned to be set free
[Your Response Here]
Two benefits to coming to the end of oneself
[Your Response Here]
The usefulness of radical acceptance
[Your Response Here]
Everyone who calls on God is saved by God
[Your Response Here]
The one-word prayer Jesus
[Your Response Here]
Letter from a devoted daughter
[Your Response Here]
Group Discussion
Spend the balance of your group time answering as many of the following questions as you have time and energy for, being sure to give equal opportunity for each member to share.
1. Briefly review your video notes. Given your present circumstances, what word, phrase, sentiment, or concept feels most relevant to you? Why?
[Your Response Here]
2. Sheila noted the six sessions of this study. Which of the following holds the most promise for you? Which one makes you feel anxious the first time you read it?
[Your Response Here]
Brokenness is the beginning . . . the truth of our situation, as bleak as that truth may be, can set us free.
Brokenness is hard . . . even on the darkest night, we never walk the path of grief alone.
Brokenness is loud . . . even in our noisy world, we can learn to live in the stillness and quietness of God’s presence.
Brokenness is to be shared . . . there is strength to be found in confessing our sins to one another.
Brokenness is the path to healing . . . when we fix our eyes on God, we live a life of thanksgiving.
Brokenness is temporary . . . what you are facing right now