reflection and discussion questions: 

1.  Looking back to last week, were you able to get together with someone for coffee or breakfast?  How did you do at finding ways to love, serve, or encourage someone last week?  How can you build on that this week?

2. Take a moment in prayer, welcoming the Spirit's presence. Then read Psalm 42.

3. On Sunday, Marek talked mostly about our hunger for God, using Psalm 42 as a guide.  ("As a deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for You, O God.")  Are you feeling hungry for God these days?  If so, how are you satisfying that hunger?

4. If you aren't feeling very hungry for God these days, what do you attribute that to?

5. Marek referred to Enoch (see Genesis 5) who walked with God and who didn't die but was taken up directly into God's presence.  He also talked about Moses, who was a friend of God and talked with Him face to face.  What does it look like for those of us in the 21st century to walk with God?  Do you see yourself as a "friend" of God?  Why is it hard for us to walk with Him and talk with Him?

6. At the end of his message, Marek asked, "So what can I do that my hunger for God's presence could be fulfilled?" He mentioned three things. Which one is most challenging for you?  What can you do this week to strengthen that in your life?

   1. Spend time with Jesus everyday. (talk to Him)

   2. Be quiet, and ask Him, "Speak to me, Lord." (Listen to Him. In prayer and through His Word.)

   3. Be together. (Sunday morning worship, Life Groups, showing up for potlucks–hint, hint!) 

7.  Beginning next week, we will be studying through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).  And in Matthew 5:6, Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Let us be praying for hearts that hunger and thirst for the Lord, above all else. For He is what we surely need, and He promises to surely satisfy.