Sunday, March 23, 2025 - 11am Traditional Service - Guest Speaker Dustin Flueckiger - Psalm 86

In one paragraph

Dustin Flueckiger, a friend of Pastor Brad's from Dallas, brought the message on March 23. He preached from Psalm 86, a lament psalm written by David, and his central point was this: when we bring our need to God, God brings himself in relationship, and life in union with Christ deepens. Dustin opened with a story about traveling to Coronado Island in San Diego during a season of travel nursing....

Read together

1. Psalm 86 The entire psalm was read and exposited as the main text of the sermon
2. 1 Corinthians 10:13 Cited to show that no temptation or struggle is unique to any one person
3. John 16 Referenced for Jesus telling his followers they will have trouble in this world but to take heart because he has overcome the world
4. Matthew 11:28-30 The come to me all who are weary passage used to illustrate Jesus inviting neediness and the yoke metaphor
5. 1 John 4 Cited briefly for the statement that God is love
6. Deuteronomy 6 Referenced twice, once for parents teaching children as they go about daily life, and once woven into the yoke metaphor about walking together

Talk about it

1. Dustin talked about how the breathtaking beauty of Coronado Island gradually faded into ordinary background noise the longer he lived there. Have you noticed something similar happen in your own relationship with God? What do you think caused it?
2. Dustin said that being needy is not what is wrong with us, it is what is made right about us, and he pointed to his three-year-old daughter as an example of unashamed neediness before her father. What makes it hard for us as adults to bring our real needs to God with that same kind of honesty?
3. Dustin described lament psalms as complaints to God done in trust, and said God actually gives us permission to complain to him. Does that idea sit comfortably with you, or does it feel wrong? How does it change the way you think about prayer?
4. Dustin pointed out two errors people make when lamenting: too much focus on the need leads to navel-gazing, and too much focus on God without voicing the need can become hollow and rote. Which of those two errors do you find yourself more likely to fall into, and why?
5. Dustin said that for reasons he cannot fully explain, God chooses to use his people as the means of dispensing grace to each other, and that is part of why he gave us the church. What would it look like practically for this group to be that kind of community for one another this week?