March (2 of 2): Small Group Discussion Guide
The Name God Gives Me
Understanding God’s will for our lives is less about figuring out what He is doing and more about knowing who we are to Him. We live in tension between the names the world gives us and the true identity God speaks over us. Like Jacob, we often strive to create our own blessings, yet God invites us to wrestle with Him—not to earn His favor, but to receive the identity He’s always intended for us. Trusting God also means recognizing that He entrusts us with His purposes, calling us to live as His beloved sons and daughters. Even when we carry wounds from our struggles, God never forsakes our stories. Instead, He gives us a new name and the freedom to walk forward in faith.
Announcements
We are asking all who participate in Restore’s community to give if they are able! Thanks to your generosity, we have begun to close our budget gap! However, we still currently have a monthly budget deficit of $1,600. You can give safely and securely HERE!
God has been incredibly kind to Restore. The kindness God gifts us is designed to be passed on. We are gifted with grace in order to give grace. Everything that happens on Sunday mornings happens because of the dedication of our servants in creating a space that is welcoming to all! During February and March, we are starting our “Gifted to Give” initiative where we invite you to join one of our vital Sunday teams - Restore Kids or Production. You can sign up to serve your church HERE!
Easter at Walking Stick Brewery this year! The first round is on Justin. The service will begin at 10:30!
Resources
To Be Told by Dan Allander. Understanding our story is vital to trusting God as he works in our lives redemptively. Allander walks us through what it means to trust God with the parts of our lives that are still unwritten.
Turn My Morning Into Dancing by Henri Nouwen. We must look for our purpose and joy in the midst of our suffering. Nouwen walks us through this journey.
Sermon Video
Sermon Text
Revelation 2:17
I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
Hebrews 12:14-17
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
Genesis 32:26-28
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
Sermon Quotes
“And is this not how we participate to bring God’s kingdom to earth? Living out the story of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension through our calling as kings and queens requires stumbling forward as we follow Jesus’ glorious will for our precious human lives. To accept the death and loss we’ve suffered is always difficult and disruptive. No one can enter these dark waters easily or well. We will all make countless mistakes. But to receive the freedom from accusation gained from the cross also frees us to move forward in hope and to fail but not quit.” - Cathy Loerzel
“Then God shows up to wrestle with him and punches Jacob in the groin, the biological source of his fruitfulness. Because Jacob won’t receive God’s blessing, God wounds him in the place that allowed him to generate his own blessings. Jacob wrestles God for the blessing God intended for him all along—a summarizing picture of Jacob’s life. For the rest of his life, Jacob walks with a limp. He’s a wounded chosen one. The message of Jacob’s story is clear: God never forsakes his chosen ones, even those who are less than righteous.” - The Bible Project
“Rise. Kings and Queens of Narnia.” - Aslan
“What would I find in my own heart if the noise of the world were silenced? Who would I be?”
– Kathleen Norris
Discussion Questions
We often talk about trusting God, but what does it mean for God to trust us?
If you truly grasped who you were to God, how would that shape or change your life? Would it change the way you “look” for God’s will?
The world gives us names (orphan, widow, stranger), but God gives us a new name. How have you experienced the tension between who the world says you are and who God says you are? Read Revelation 2:17. What do you think it means that God gives us a “new name” known only to us?
Jacob spent his life trying to control and engineer his own blessing. In what ways do we do the same today? Why do you think God allowed Jacob to wrestle with Him rather than simply blessing him outright? What does this teach us about God’s process?
