Storytellers (Jon Jorgenson)
In our annual summer series, Storytellers, we will hear from a variety of wonderful guest speakers. This week, we will hear from Jon Jorgenson, teaching pastor at Soul City Church in Chicago.
Icebreaker: Share about a time when you had to wait much longer than expected for something—travel, a job, a relationship, a purchase, an answer, or anything else.
•What were you waiting for?
•How long did you have to wait?
•What made the waiting especially difficult—or surprisingly worthwhile?
1. Where are you currently “marching” without seeing much movement? What area of your life—faith, relationships, work, finances, health, or something else—feels like you’ve been putting in effort without seeing the progress you hoped for?
2. What do you think makes it difficult to keep going when God seems silent or nothing seems to be changing? How have disappointment, doubt, or delayed answers affected your willingness to keep praying and trusting God?
Read Joshua 6:1-5. In verse 2, God tells Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands,” even though the walls were still standing and the Israelites had not yet seen the victory. At the same time, God gave them specific instructions to march for six days before anything happened.
3. What do you learn from this passage about trusting what God has promised while continuing to obey when you can’t yet see the outcome? How might this challenge or encourage you in a situation where you are currently waiting for God to move?
4. In his sermon, Jon says, “The miracle is God’s job. The marching is your job.” What does that distinction mean to you? How might this perspective change the way you approach situations where you’re waiting for God to act?
5. What are some things that are actually within your control when you’re waiting on God? What might “doing what only you can do” look like in a situation where you’re asking God to do what only God can do?
6. How do we distinguish between faithfully “keeping marching” and stubbornly pursuing our own plans? What role do prayer, Scripture, wise counsel, and obedience play in discerning whether we are following God’s direction or simply trying to make our own vision happen?
7. Think about a time when you wanted to give up but eventually saw something change or come together. Looking back, what did you learn about God, perseverance, or your own faith through that experience?
(*Video available after Sunday services)
