REALLIFE STUDY GROUP
"Speak Up!"
ICEBREAKER: If you could speak to your leaders
what would you say?
CONFESSION: God has given me a voice and I will
use it to voice my concerns in a gracious and diplomatic way with a Holy
boldness. I will be silent no more when it comes to my beliefs, values and
convictions. May the Lord season my words with wisdom, truth and discretion.
God grant me the courage to always speak up for righteousness.
FAMOUS QUOTES: Quotes on Speaking Out, Taking Action & Indifference:
“It does not require a majority to
prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in
people's minds.” - Samuel Adams
“The darkest places in hell are
reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” - Dante Alighieri
“Action is the antidote to despair.” - Joan Baez
“Nobody made a greater mistake than he
who did nothing because he could only do a little.” - Edmund Burke
“Men do less than they ought, unless
they do all that they can.” - Thomas Carlyle
“We cloak ourselves in cold
indifference to the unnecessary suffering of others – even when we cause it.” -
James Carroll
“It is the duty of every citizen
according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in
political affairs.” - Albert Einstein
“The world is a dangerous place, not
because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do
nothing...” - Albert Einstein
“Those who have the privilege to know,
have the duty to act." - Albert Einstein
"But
this is slavery, not to speak one's thought."
-
Euripides (480-406 B.C.) [The Phoenician Women, 411-409 B.C.]
“What shall we say when history asks
how such crimes came to be committed in the name of America? Will we say that
we stood silently by, shrugging our shoulders, filling our bellies, closing our
eyes? Or will we be able to say: We saw. We dissented. We resisted. We
condemned.”
- Chris
Floyd, American journalist and political watchdog
“As we must account for every idle
word, so must we account for every idle silence.” -
Benjamin Franklin
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot
do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I
will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do.
And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do.” - Edward Everett Hale
“The evils of government are directly
proportional to the tolerance of the people.” -
Frank Kent
“A time comes when silence is
betrayal.”
- Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. [April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned
at Riverside Church in New York City]
“History will have to record that the
greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident
clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The great only appear great because
we are on our knees. Let us rise.”
- James
Larkin [Statue on O'Connell Street, Dublin, Ireland]
“To sin by silence when they should
protest makes cowards of men.”
- Abraham
Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th U.S. president
“To speak and to speak well are two
things. A fool may talk, but a wise man
speaks.” ~Ben
Jonson
DEFINITIONS: Speak
up: To speak in defense of, to stand in the gap for, to become an advocate
of, to intercede on behalf of, to make a verbal stand, to position yourself
against or in opposition to something
OUTLINE:
We are called to speak up for those who cannot speak for
themselves
The unborn
The
uneducated
The
disabled
The
elderly
The
injured
The
oppressed
The
imprisoned
The
impaired
The
impoverished
The depressed
The
diseased
The
deceased
The
discriminated
The
children
The
maligned
The
innocent
Righteous Causes we need to speak up regarding...
The
Christians who are being enslaved in work camps in Sudan
In 2000 an
estimated 1 million children alone
The children
and young people that are being forced into the sex trade through human
trafficking
The women
who are being exploited in the pornography business
The
innocent babies that are being aborted by the masses across our country and around every day for personal convenience
The
persecuted underground church in the middle east and throughout Asia
The
children throughout the world suffering from malnutrition, starvation, &
Diseases like HIV AIDS, Malaria, Cancer, MS, etc...
The
poverty stricken living right here in the Appalachian mountains and in major
urban metroplexes across America
Those
living in deplorable conditions throughout the world without clean drinking
water and sanitation and those suffering from natural disasters
Our
constitutional rights that are being stepped on and stripped from us every day
The
godless agenda to redefine marriage and family
The
redistribution of wealth
Misappropriation
of funds
The
legislation that is riddled with nonsensical wasteful earmarks
The
government gridlock
The
liberal judges with an agenda to legislate from the bench
The
extreme corporate greed
The
insanity of bureaucratic red tape and government regulations that tie the hands
of those who actually want to create jobs
The
litigious sue happy society that we have become
The
entitlement mentality that requires that we spend money we no longer have and
we are borrowing at such an alarming rate that it is mind boggling from nations that are our competition if not our
adversaries
The
personal endebtedness that we as a people have incurred for
non-appreciating luxuries, bad habits, and addictions
TEXT: Isaiah 61:1-3, 1 Samuel 25, Psalm 142:4
STUDY GROUP QUESTIONS:
1. How do you feel about speaking up?
a. No problem
b. It depends on___________
c. I would rather let someone else do it
d. It makes me nervous.
2. Identify a great heroic person in the
Bible, your life or in history that spoke up for others?
3. Name a people group we should speak
up for.
4. Give one reason we sometimes fail to
speak up for others.
5. When Jesus speaks, something happens.
Which of the following excites you: (Hearts are mended, Worlds are created,
Covenants are invoked, Families are united, Lives are changed, Souls are saved,
Bodies are restored, Gifts are bestowed, Battles are won, Mercies are extended,
Seed is planted, Hope is ignited, Captives are freed, Resources are provided, Disagreements
are settled, Chains are broken, Injustices are exposed, Shackles are loosed, Debts
are canceled, Ingenuity is released, Problems are solved, Thoughts are provoked,
Warriors are deployed, Angels are activated, History is made, Sins are forgiven,
Songs are written, Faith is summoned, Needs are met, Death is defeated, Enemies
are silenced, Rewards are promised, Destinies are shaped, Visions are cast, Devils
must obey, Hurts are healed, Satan gets nervous)
6. 1 Samuel 25 illustrates a story about
a woman named Abigail. What impressed you most about her conversation with
David?
7. Describe a time when someone spoke up
for you, or time when someone should have spoke up for you but didn't.
PRAYER REQUESTS &
PRAISE REPORTS:
ACTION POINT:
I will speak out in defense of ____________________, this week. When I
get some free time, I will write those who represent me about _______________.