Rhythm - Hurry & Urgency

Small Group Guide

SUMMARY

This week's message distinguished hurry from urgency, teaching that hurry is what happens when we lose the ability to tell what's important from what's merely immediate. Using Mark 1, the message showed that even Jesus — with a whole town at his door and a rising demand on his time — withdrew to pray, and then deliberately chose to move toward his mission rather than let every need dictate his direction. The challenge was to stop moving at the pace of pressure and instead discern what truly deserves our urgency by asking whether something is good, whether it's ours, and whether it's now.

Main Focus: Don't move at the pace of pressure — move at the speed of the Spirit.

ICE-BREAKER

Kick It Off With Something Fun: What's something that always makes you feel "immediately" needed — a buzzing phone, a certain notification, a specific person's text — even when it usually isn't actually urgent?

TAKE IT DEEPER

1. The message said, "Hurry is the by-product of me losing the ability to distinguish what's important from what's immediate." Where in your life do you notice yourself treating the immediate as if it were automatically the important?
2. Read Mark 1:35-37. Jesus got up early, before the demands of the day began, and went to a solitary place to pray — even while people were still looking for him. What would it take for you to protect time like that, even when people are asking for your attention?
3. "God rarely shouts over everything else we've allowed into our lives." What has crowded out your ability to hear from God lately — good things, bad things, or just a lot of things?
4. Read Mark 1:38-39. Jesus said, "Let us go somewhere else... that is why I have come," even though needs remained in that town. What does it look like for you to leave something undone or someone unhelped in order to stay faithful to what God has actually called you to do right now?
5. The message offered three questions for discerning urgency: Is it good? Is it mine? Is it now? Think of a current decision or request in your life — how would walking through those three questions change how you respond to it?
6. Read Acts 16:6-10. Paul's plans were redirected by the Holy Spirit's "no" before they were confirmed by his "yes" in the vision of the Macedonian man. Have you ever sensed God closing a door before he opened the one he actually wanted you to walk through? What was that like?
7. "Hurry will cause you unnecessary stress, decreased discernment, and create noise that makes the voice of God faint in your life." Where is hurry costing you the most right now — your relationships, your discernment, or your peace — and what's one practical way to slow down this week?

PRAYER REQUESTS

How can we pray for one another tonight?