11:00 Talk 3 The Long Road

The lesson of love teaches us that we take this journey of life not just alone but with each other and with God. Perhaps the greatest danger on the journey is the sense of isolation and aloneness that we can fall into.

Psalm 88 is a song that captures the feeling of isolation that we often can fall into in life, whether or not we are seeking the Kingdom of God. God shows incredible honesty in this Psalm, because He inspires the Psalmist to express exactly how it feels and how we want to blame God:

Lord, why do you cast of my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?
I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;
I suffer your terrors, I am distraught…
Loved one and friend You have put far from me,
And my acquaintances into darkness. (Ps. 88:14-15,18)

(Relate a time in your life that you felt overwhelmed and alone, separated from others)

Song 3: Long Road by Eddie Veder (live from A Tribute to Heroes)
(This is a song that was written for the Dead Man Walking Soundtrack by Eddie Veder and a Pakistani Musician. Eddie played it live on the tribute to Heroes after Sept. 11 with Neil Young. It is a soulful song that speaks to the heart more easily than the intellect, so it may be hard to unravel. Keep it simple)

Small Group Discussion 3: Long Road

• How does this song connect or relate to the others we've heard? What is it about? (longing, being separated, having to move on)
• Who in your life do you feel this song could be written to? Is there someone in your life that you have wished to be with and couldn't? (Write the name(s) in your journal)
• What is the Long Road? (Life, The Walk with God)
• What if Jesus Christ was singing this song to us? How can this song be understood as Christ's song? (He wishes for us to be with Him, that is why He came to earth to save us)

Come back to the group and report on findings, especially the last two questions.

Thankfully God has not left us alone but has put into our lives helpers and companions on the long road of life. Very often He puts just the right person in our lives at the right place and time. (give an example from your own life)

• Who has come into your life just at the right time to help you out?
• Who have you been able to go to in time of need? (Write down the names)
• We've talked about times of distress or sadness. What about times of temptation? Do you have anyone to help you through that?

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13:
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to Man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Write this down in your journal:
God is faithful to me and always gives me a way out of temptation.

Despair, anger, frustration, hopelessness, loss of faith-all these are temptations on the long road that we walk as Christians.

Last night Fr. asked you what baggage you bring to your walk with God, such as what things hold you back from putting your faith in God, what hurts you need healed, what unanswered prayers you have for God. God knows all these things and is faithful to us and can provide an answer and a way out of the temptation to turn back on the long road.

Small Group Discussion 4: Temptation

• What temptations stand out to you as the most difficult?
• What ways do you think God has given us an escape from them?
• If God has given us an escape, why do we still fall for the temptations and sin?

Come back and report.

God never said it would be easy. But He does send into our lives those people who are able to help us and give us an escape from sin. Christ was tempted in every way that we were but did not sin. His strength is something we can hold on to even in our weakness.

St. Paul says in the letter to the Hebrews:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with the endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We all walk the long road, but we don't walk it alone. We have each other and we have God.

Closing Song: Wish you were here (Tribute to heroes version by Limp Bizkit)

Journal Question for later:
The song asks, "Do you think we can change?" What do we need to change?

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