Drinking Deep: The Cup of Endurance

In one paragraph

Brian continued a two-week conversation titled "Choosing Endurance Over Escape," walking through the final hours of Jesus' life and asking why he refused a pain-dulling drink when he was already suffering. The message centered on two cups: the cup of suffering and the cup of escape. The congregation at Tribe spent most of the time in the Gospel accounts of Gethsemane and the crucifixion, with a...

Read together

1. Matthew 26:36-39 Jesus praying in Gethsemane, asking the Father to take the cup of suffering from him
2. Matthew 27:32-35 Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross, Jesus offered wine mixed with gall at Golgotha
3. Mark 15:21-24 Simon of Cyrene compelled to bear the cross, Jesus offered wine mingled with myrrh but refused it
4. James 1:2-4 consider it pure joy when you face trials because testing of faith develops perseverance so you lack nothing
5. 1 Peter 5:10 after you have suffered a little while God will restore, support, strengthen and place you on a firm foundation

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about the word of God needing to make an 18-inch drop from your head to your heart, and said the Pharisees knew scripture well but still missed Jesus. Where do you see that gap showing up in your own life?
2. The Spurgeon quote says adversity is our true friend and that a high character produced by continued prosperity has seldom been the case. Do you agree with that from what you have seen in your own life, and why or why not?
3. Brian described the cup of escape as the default cup, the one most people around us are drinking from. What does the cup of escape look like in your everyday life, and what makes it so easy to reach for?
4. Mike shared that marijuana helped him sleep but severed his connection to God, and that choosing to trust God instead was the harder but better path. Can you think of something in your own life that offered relief but cost you something spiritually?
5. One person in the group said choosing suffering is really about obedience to the Father rather than suffering for its own sake, and that it is the only way to be entrusted with authority as a son or daughter. What do you think it actually looks like in daily life to choose obedience over comfort?