Connect Group guide: Rejoice together, mourn together

Summary

Text: Romans 12: 15-16 

These verses are an outworking of the principle of not thinking of yourself more highly than you ought. We are to join others in whatever they are going through, and share their experience: we rejoice with those who rejoice (implied – even when we are not necessarily inclined to rejoice ourselves), and mourn with those who mourn (even if we are not personally mourning). 

We will only do this if we care about the needs, emotions, and experiences of those around us. 

Spend some time together reflecting on David’s sermon and how this can be lived out.

• What particularly connected with you from the sermon on Sunday? Do you know why? 
• When/where have you experienced what is being expressed in this passage? What was that like, and what impact did it have on the community?
• What stops us from entering into the emotions and experiences of others – whether joy or mourning? 
• How can we recognise these things and instead move into places where we are able to understand and be understood by each other? 
• What does it look like to mourn together in a healthy and healing way?