Pecky Day

In one paragraph

Brian walked through Psalm 78 and the story of water coming from the rock, asking why God would choose that particular method of provision out of all the options available to him. The through-line was memory as a weapon, the idea that remembering what God has done in the past gives you something to fight with today. He anchored the teaching in a story from his own family, the one that started the...

Read together

1. Psalm 78:1-16 Read aloud by congregation members to open the sermon, covering God's instructions to Israel and the miracles in the wilderness
2. Psalm 78:9 Used to discuss the warriors of Ephraim who were armed with bows but turned back in battle
3. Psalm 78:11 Cited as the reason the warriors turned back, because they forgot what God had done
4. Psalm 78:15-16 Read aloud to identify where God caused water to pour from the rock in the wilderness
5. Matthew 17:20 Referenced in passing during discussion of whether Israel had enough faith to believe God could make water from a rock
6. 1 Corinthians 10:4 Read aloud by a congregation member, identifying the rock that followed Israel as Christ
7. John 11:25 Displayed on screen, used to connect God bringing life from dead things to the theme of water from the rock

Talk about it

1. Brian spent a few minutes asking the group to imagine being on God's divine council, coming up with alternatives to water from the rock. What solution would you have suggested, and what does your answer reveal about how you tend to think God works?
2. Ella pointed out that most of the other solutions would have left room for Israel to take credit, but water from a rock made it undeniable that God did it. Can you think of a time in your own life when God solved a problem in a way that was so unlikely you could not explain it away?
3. The sermon drew a connection between the warriors of Ephraim being armed with bows but turning back in battle, and the way we forget what God has done for us. When you are in a hard stretch, what does forgetting look like for you practically, and what has helped you remember?
4. Brian shared the Pecky Day story, where the reward amount matched exactly what the family was short that month. He was also careful to say that most of the time God provides through creativity and hard work rather than an envelope in the window. How do you hold those two things together when you are praying about a real financial need?
5. Brian talked about starting a Pecky board as a physical way to record what God has done, so those memories become something you can pick up like a weapon in a future battle. What is one thing you could put on a Pecky board right now, and what battle are you facing today that it might speak to?