Haystack Study II. Hearing the Call: Holy Interruptions
II. Hearing the Call: Holy Interruptions
Supplies: Bibles, newsprint pad, and markers.
Holy Interruptions are those moments when life breaks in on whatever we were doing; the times when our plans were changed drastically by the interruption of God’s Spirit. Read the account of Moses being called by God to bring the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3). You may want to take this scripture and divide it into three speaking voices to enliven it: narrator, God, and Moses. (15 minutes)
Break the group into triads and ask them to reflect upon the Burning Bushes of their lives. (Post these questions.)
When was a time you felt God speaking to you?
How does one’s physical, emotional, economic, spiritual health impact one’s ability to hear God’s call?
Re-gather the group and invite them to share some of their responses. (30 minutes)
Share the story of Ida Scudder with the group. (10 minutes)
In the late 1800’s Ida Scudder called India home, as had many of her extended family who served there as mission personnel. As a young person she had left India and her family to attend Dwight Moody’s Northfield Seminary for Girls in Massachusetts. While there she received word her mother was quite ill. Ida returned to India to care for her Mother. After some time she prepared to return home to the life she saw ahead of her: a nice marriage to a wealthy man. During the course of one night she was awakened three times by three men asking for assistance for their wives who were in difficult labor. She told them she knew nothing about medicine but her father, the mission doctor, would come and assist. Each time she was told it would be improper for a man to be present. Ida spent the night in prayer for these young women. In the morning she awoke to the sounds of funeral drums from three different parts of the town. All three women had died in labor and childbirth. At this point Ida felt God calling her to go to home, but to go home to go to medical school and then return to India as a doctor, especially for the women and children of India. After graduating from Cornell Medical College she returned to India and in 1900 she opened a one bed clinic which has grown to become the 1700 bed Christian Medical College and Hospital.
What happens when an individual or individuals in a church are on fire with a passion for mission? What happens when a church gets on fire with mission? Invite two or three witnesses to this happening. (25 minutes)
Conclude this session with a prayer of thanksgiving for the Holy Interruptions in our lives.
I. IntroductionII. Hearing the Call: Holy InterruptionsIII. God’s Call: Resistance IV. Mission Today: The Haystack RevisitedV. God’s Call: Reclaimed Today