Clarity Comes Through Intimacy

In one paragraph

This was week five of a series Pastor Brian has been building since the start of 2024, centered on the idea that an increase of complexity in the world comes paired with an unusual availability of clarity from God. This week the focus landed on how that clarity grows out of intimacy with Jesus, and the congregation worked through two related Gospel scenes together, with people speaking up from...

Read together

1. James 4:8 draw close to God and he will draw close to you, cited during opening prayer
2. Mark 14:1-9 the anointing at Bethany, read aloud and discussed as the primary text for clarity through intimacy
3. Luke 7:36-50 the sinful woman who anointed Jesus feet at the Pharisee's house, read aloud and discussed alongside the Mark passage

What was said

• Set aside a block of time this week to worship instead of trying to think your way through something complicated you are facing.
• Pick one area of your life where you have been less than honest with God and bring it to him plainly, the way the woman in the story brought herself to Jesus without waiting for a safer moment.
• When something feels like it went wrong this week, stop and ask whether God has attached a promise to it that you have not looked for yet.
• Practice the listening-equals-obedience idea Joy taught last week by identifying one thing you already know God has asked you to do and actually doing it.
• If you are carrying a narrative that you are damaged goods, say out loud to yourself at least once this week what Brian said over the room: that is a lie, and Jesus does not see you that way.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about complexity and clarity going hand in hand, and said there has never been a problem God allows without attaching one of his promises to it. Where have you seen that pattern play out in your own life, and how hard was it to spot the promise in the middle of the hard thing?
2. Looking at the scene in Mark 14, the disciples were physically close to Jesus yet they missed what the woman understood. What do you think is the difference between proximity to Jesus and actual intimacy with him, and where do you honestly see yourself in that right now?
3. Brian said vulnerability is one key to intimacy, and that Jesus is the single most trustworthy person in the universe to be honest with. What makes it hard for you personally to be vulnerable with God, and what would change if you actually believed he already knows and still wants to be with you?
4. The woman in Luke 7 did not wait for a safer, more private moment. She was transparent right out in the open, in front of people who had already labeled her. Is there something you have been waiting to bring honestly before God because the timing or the setting does not feel right?
5. The woman who shared her testimony described a moment when someone spoke not just forgiveness over her but the redeemed version of who God had planned her to be. Has anyone ever spoken that kind of destiny over you, or have you done that for someone else? What does it look like to do that for the people around you?