Sermon Study Guide | Series: Glitch | Sermon: Fatal Error
Scripture: Psalm 139:1-14 | Date: May 24, 2026

For this series we’ve developed a Glitch — Resource Guide and curated a list of Mental Health Professionals at menlo.church/mentalhealth

CONNECT - “A Personal Reflection”

This section is designed to help you relate personally to the theme of the sermon. It encourages you to reflect on your own life experiences and how they connect to the message.

Think about a time recently when you felt like you were “glitching” tired, overwhelmed, anxious, distracted, or aware that you could not keep up with everything being asked of you. What did that moment reveal about what you were carrying? As you think about Psalm 139 and the idea that our limits are not flaws but part of God’s design, where might God be inviting you to see that glitch as a beacon instead of just a bug? Share with your group

ENGAGE - “Exploring the Scripture”

This section invites you to dive into the biblical passage, discuss its meaning, and apply it to your life through thoughtful questions.

Read Psalm 139:1–14 as a group and discuss:

• David begins by saying, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me.” What is the difference between being monitored by technology and being known by God?
  
  
• The message contrasted algorithms that want something from us with God, who wants more for us. Where do you feel the pressure of systems, screens, or expectations trying to get more from you?
  
  
• Psalm 139 says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” How does understanding “fearfully” as awe or reverence change your perception of God? the way you see yourself and others?
  
  
• Consider the phrase, “Sin did not create human limits. Sin made us resent them.” What limits in your life are hardest for you to accept right now?
  
  
• How does the truth that God has infinite capacity free us from pretending that we do?
  
  
• In Genesis 28, Jacob realizes, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Where might God already be present in your life, even if you have not been looking for Him there?
  
  
• Jesus tells Nathanael in John 1:51 that He is the true ladder between heaven and earth. What does it mean to you that you do not have to climb up to God because Jesus came down to you?

APPLY - “Putting the Scriptures into Action”

This section challenges us to take what we’ve learned and implement it in practical ways in our daily lives.

• Practice the 60-minute experiment this week. Take 60 minutes away from your phone, smartwatch, earbuds, laptop, and screens. 
  
  • If 60 minutes feels impossible, start with 15. Use the time to walk, pray, sit, notice, breathe, or be with someone you love.
    
    
• Choose one moment this week to stop when you are not finished. Leave an email unsent, a task unfinished, or a feed unscrolled as a way of trusting that God is God and you are not.
  
  
• Spend time intentionally looking for awe. Go outside without a screen, sit near the ocean, look at the sky, take a walk, or notice something ordinary that you usually rush past.
  
  
• Mark a moment with God this week. Write down a sentence, take a picture, record a voice note, or journal about one place where you sensed God’s presence.
  
  
• Use this breath prayer before checking your phone or when you feel overwhelmed: Breathe in: “I am known.” Breathe out: “I am not alone.”

PRAY - “Seeking God’s Guidance”

This section offers a short prayer to help us center our hearts and invite God to work in our lives through his scripture.

God, thank you that we are fully searched and fully known by you and that your knowledge of us is not surveillance, but love.

Help us receive our limits as gifts instead of fighting them as failures. Teach us to notice awe again, to stop when we are not finished, and to trust that you are present even in the places we have been too hurried or overwhelmed to see.

Remind us this week that our glitches are not fatal, because Jesus has come near, and because you never crash, never leave, and never stop holding us. Amen.

If you have feedback on this guide or ideas that would help your group engage more deeply, we’d love to hear from you. 

Your insight helps us continue growing as a church that wrestles honestly and walks faithfully together. Contact msummers@menlo.church