Yet Even Now, Return to Me

In one paragraph

This week Pastor Darren walked through the entire book of Joel, a three-chapter minor prophet he described as the most optimistic of the bunch. He preached it in the first week of Lent, and the timing was intentional. The message centered on what the right response looks like when everything has been stripped away. Joel opens by looking back on a locust swarm that had already happened. Pastor...

Read together

1. Revelation 22 invitation to worship: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.'
2. Psalm 23 referenced before the offertory song: 'surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever'
3. Matthew 6:9-13 the Lord's Prayer prayed together before children dismissed
4. Hosea 6:6 mentioned as a passage Jesus references: 'desire mercy and not sacrifice'
5. Romans 3:23 quoted mid-sermon: 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'
6. Joel 1-3 the primary text of the sermon, read and expounded throughout
7. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 used as the benediction: 'may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace comfort your hearts and establish'

Talk about it

1. Joel does not mention the sin of the people directly, yet he calls them to grieve and return to God. What does it say about God that He invites repentance even without listing every offense?
2. Pastor Darren described the locust devastation as a 'harbinger' of a future day of the Lord. How does looking at past hardship as a warning sign change the way you think about difficulties in your own life?
3. Joel calls the people to return to God 'with all your heart, with weeping.' What is the difference between an outward show of repentance and the heart-level kind Joel is describing, and what does that difference look like in practice?
4. The text says God 'is gracious and slow to anger and abounding' even in the middle of catastrophic loss. Is that easy or hard for you to hold onto when things around you feel completely stripped bare? Why?
5. Pastor Darren connected Joel's call to gather the whole people together with the season of Lent. What does it mean to you, personally, to set aside a season for grief, dependence and return to God rather than just moving on?