Discussion Questions:
1. How do you think one’s personal anxiety impacts their role in a congregation or community? What are some strategies to manage this effectively?
2. Alan Fadling emphasizes the importance of community in developing a non-anxious presence. How have your own relationships helped you deal with anxiety?
3. Markus Watson references Lewis Smedes’ “Shame and Grace.” How does feeling accepted by others influence one’s experience of anxiety?
4. What value do you find in discussing personal challenges, such as anxiety, with people outside your immediate community or work environment?
5. Alan Fadling speaks about God’s joyfulness and acceptance. How does this perspective influence your understanding of God’s support during anxious times?
6. The episode discusses the unhelpfulness of categorizing anxiety as a sin. From a pastoral or leadership standpoint, how can we better address anxiety within our communities?
7. Alan Fadling highlights the importance of biblical practices, like those mentioned by Eugene Peterson in Philippians 4 and Dallas Willard’s use of scripture. How do you integrate prayer and biblical reflection in dealing with anxiety?
8. The discussion touched on the use of Psalms of Lament to engage with anxiety. How do these Psalms resonate with your personal experience of expressing and managing anxiety?
9. Alan Fadling mentions journaling as a way to process and manage anxiety. What are some personal practices you find effective in managing anxiety, and why?
10. Reflecting on Alan Fadling’s imagery of Jesus offering living water in John 7, how can transforming personal scarcity into spiritual abundance change your approach to anxiety and leadership?
