Author and pastor Mark Sayer has written, “A growing sense of worry haunts the Western church. The rise of a post-Christian society, alongside declining numbers of those who practice biblical faith, combined with a corresponding weakening of Christian influence, has created an anxious mood. This mood can range from a sense of defeat to a feeling of deep vulnerability to a desire to retreat into a religious refuge.”

Joel 1:1-4

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: An Invasion of Locusts 2 Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. 4 What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.

For Adult Homes & Groups

1. Process the above statement with your group. Are there parts you agree with? Disagree with? Why is there so much anxiety among many Christians today?

2. Read Joel 1:1-4, 6-7. Why does the prophet Joel emphasize hearing and retelling the story? What does that say about how faith is born and nurtured?

3. What famous plague in their recital of God’s mighty acts would Joel’s hearers have recalled (see Exodus 10:13-15)? Since this plague described in Exodus happened against God’s enemies, what makes this account less palatable?

4. The description of the locusts eating any and everything in their path is a picture of God’s judgment on sin and rebellion. What does God’s judgment look like today? How might this be an act of God’s grace and love?

5. Read Joel 2:12-14. What would a return to God look like for your family? For your church? For you?

6. Be honest and confess your sins to one another (James 5:16), seeking each other’s and God’s forgiveness. Close with a prayer of thanks!

For Families with Kids

Try this! What you will need: table salt, black pepper, plastic spoon, towel.

1. Pour some salt onto a plate. This represents us without sin.

2. Sprinkle a little pepper on top of the salt. This represents our sin.

3. Rub the plastic spoon on a towel.

4. Move the spoon slowly above the salt and pepper, and see what sticks to the spoon.

Like the spoon taking away the pepper, repenting makes us clean from sin because Jesus takes it all away.