Connect
What have you been feeling this week in response to the injustices that have been highlighted in our country?

Engage
During the service, Scotty led us through some steps we can take. Walk through them together:
Listen.
Read James 1:19
Where would you rate yourself as a listener? What could you do to progress in that area?
Who can you reach out to and ask to hear their story? Look for someone who is of a different ethnicity or socio-economic background than you.

Acknowledge the truth.
Read John 16:13
Read Colossians 3:11
God made every human being in his image and that means every human being worthy of love and respect, regardless of the color of their skin but we live in a society where some lives are regarded as more valuable than others, power is not equally distributed, and each new instance of injustice becomes yet an another reminder of the felt powerless of so many. What is your gut reaction to that?

Grieve and repent.
Read Nehemiah 1:4-11
Does your heart align with Nehemiah’s prayer? What parts do you need to pray? What parts frustrate you? Would you be willing to confess something to your group right now?

Apply
Three things you can do:
1. Show compassion.
Read Mark 6:34
What makes you pause in showing compassion?
Do you find yourself tipping towards denial or despair?

2. Seek Restoration
Read Isaiah 58, specifically verse 10
What challenges you from this passage?
Scotty shared that “compassion doesn’t take sides, it takes care”. How can you choose to care in this arena?

3. Be the Vision
Read Acts 17:26-27
What are you going to do this week as a step toward restoration?

Pray
Pray Nehemiah’s prayer together or the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:9-15
Or pray this: God, help us to be a unified church, together for a divided world, with Jesus at the center and love at the forefront, humility in our hearts and hope in our hands.