July 31st Sermon Follow-Up Study

Read Luke 7:36-50

 

1.     Who do think you identify with in the story?  Simon? The woman? Why?

2.     After prayerful consideration, do the actions / activity of your life confirm your thoughts of question 1 or do they tell a different story?

 

Each day:

1.     Ask yourself if I truly love Jesus or the thought of Him?

2.     What does my life tell you?

3.     Do I really know Jesus or just an idea of Him (from how others speak of Him)?

4.     What will I do to know Him today, to love Him?

5.     What changes will happen in my life as my love for Him grows?

6.     Do I take grace for granted (hey it’s free!!!) or do I live my life in response to grace (What can I do to show my gratitude for your grace Lord)?

7.     How do I really see others whether they are friends or strangers?  Believers or non-believers?

8.     What person do I see often each day can that I need to take time to know and to love?

9.     How can I be Jesus and love that person like Jesus each day I see them?

July 24th Sermon Follow-Up Study

Read Acts 4:23-31 and answer the following questions.

1.        Why do you think God uses evil men to fulfill his plans?

2.        How important is the role of prayer in the life of these believers?

3.        What is the role of the Holy Spirit in their witness?

4.        Without the Holy Spirit how bold do you think they would have been?

5.        How are your prayers similar to and different from the prayer in this section?

6.        If God knows everything why do they share all the details with God? (Verses 27-28)

7.        What can you learn from this?

8.        What prevents you from letting the Holy Spirit make you bolder in your witness?

9.        What characterizes the believers in verses 32-34?

10.       How well would you have fit into the early church?

11.       What would have been the most difficult for you to do? Why?

12.       How easy is it for you to share Jesus with others?

(Adapted from Serendipity Bible Study)

July 17th Sermon Follow-Up Study

Read Acts 26:1- 32 (NIV) and answer the following questions.

How would you describe Paul’s speech- a defense or his story?

How are the two related?

What is Paul’s goal in this speech?

How effective was this speech in defending himself? In explaining the Good news of Jesus?

Did God use Paul’s circumstance to share the message of Jesus with powerful people?

Paul considered himself a servant and a witness.  In what way is God’s call to you similar, and different?

Should not all Christ followers be able and willing to share the good news?

Write out your story.

If you were in Paul’s shoes could you share the good news? Why or why not?

Under what kind of circumstances do you feel comfortable sharing the good news?  Why?

What have you learned about sharing the good news from this passage?

How can you put this into practice today?

Ask God to show you the people that He wants you to share Him with.

(Adapted from Serendipity Bible Study)

July 10th Sermon Follow-Up Study

“INVESTING THE TIME”

Read Acts 8:26-40.

• Just an observation:  the good news of Jesus is for everyone regardless of race, or color.  Christ followers should be ready and willing to talk to anyone who may be seeking Jesus.
• Maybe you have heard that still small voice of God whispering your name.  Maybe you have felt the nudge to go and sensed the urge to speak up on His behalf.
• Let’s say you invite a couple over for coffee and dessert.  Just a nice evening with some friends but from the moment they enter, you can feel the tension colder then a January day in Michigan.  You can tell something is wrong.  Typically you are not one to ask, but you feel the urge to and cannot be silent.  So you ask.
• God can and will use you if you are open to His spirit living in you.  He will use you if you listen to His voice guiding you.  But you must be more concerned with obeying God then any selfish reason you have for not listening to Him.
• Is there anyone that you are not willing to tell about Jesus?
• Is there any place that you are not willing to take the good news?
• What is it that keeps you from sharing the good news?
• Ask God to help you overcome that fear and bring someone into your life that needs to hear the good news.

2 Timothy 1:8 (NIV)

“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,”

 

(Adapted from Max Lucado “When God Whispers Your Name”)

July 3rd Sermon Follow-Up Study

Read 1 Peter 4:1-19.

Christ followers have a new set of standards that are full of love and God’s power.
Following God’s standards helps Christ followers face difficult times that are around the corner.

So are we to live according to God’s standards regardless of suffering and inconvenience?

In your life has God given you the power to preserve through difficult times when it was evident that your suffering was because you were a follower of Christ?

When you decide to live like Jesus among the strong willed and selfish, God will honor your decision, but you will encounter misunderstandings and will be mistreated.   You will be taken advantage of.

However don’t make a wrong assumption by thinking that if you are going through tough times, you are off target.  Not so.  Doing what is right is never a stroll through a rose garden. Jesus ‘plan is simple, but not easy.  No matter how painful it may be, let us trust Him to bring good from our living His way.  Jesus is our model to follow, and remember where He wound up.  But think of all of those who were once His enemies, now His friends.

Has your life been spent honoring God?  Evaluate the focus of your life.  What goals do you have?  Which ones have you met?  Are you living for God, or self?

Take time to ask God to help you to live your life for Him.

(adapted from a devotion by Chuck Swindoll)

June 26 Sermon Follow-Up Study

“THE LAST LINES”

If you were given the assignment to describe life with one word, what word would you choose?

If a person who knows you well tried to summarize what you have “taught” up to this point in your life,
what do you think that person would say?

Read Ecclesiastes 12:9-14.

How is the Teacher’s purpose described in verses 9-10?

Why is it significant that the Teacher’s words are based on the authority of the “one Shepherd”?

Why do you think this book ends with the particular directives of verses 13-14?

Sum up the message of Ecclesiastes in a brief phrase or statement.

What does it mean for you to “fear God and keep his commandments”?

In light of your study of Ecclesiastes, on what basis is life meaningless to you and on what basis is it not?

What did you find in Ecclesiastes that irritated you toward wisdom?

Spend some time thanking the Shepherd for challenging you with the words of Solomon.

June 19th Sermon Follow-Up Study

‘A TIME FOR ALL SEASONS”

On the edge of the University of Oregon campus lies a sizable historical cemetery.  For years university officials have eyed with envy this valuable slice of real estate that divides their campus.

At one point some even entertained suggestions to build a superstructure of above-ground buildings over the plots!  For many students the cemetery represents an unfortunate obstacle as they crisscross the campus from one class to the next.  I doubt if the Teacher would share this objection.  What better reminder for young people seeking to fashion lifelong values?  Contemplation of death gives us the wisdom to live.

Read Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

In thinking about your own death … what are some of your fears, what are some of your anxieties, what are some of your hopes?  Share these with your Father in prayer.

In what ways are the righteous and wicked described in verses 1-3?

What reaction might the Teacher hope to gain with his emphasis that a “common destiny” awaits all (vv. 1-3)?

What kind of hope does the Teacher offer in verses 4-6?

In what ways do verses 7-10 encourage us to enjoy life?

What uncertainty do the factors of time and chance bring to life (vv. 11-12)?

What difference would it make in your life if you knew you were going to die within six months?

In what ways does taking death seriously help alter your values in the use of your money, time and energy?

How do Christ’s death and resurrection give you hope in this life and in the one to come?

 

Reflect on the situation voiced by Peter but faced by all of us:

Read John 6:68

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Commit yourself to follow Jesus closely and thank him for the fulfillment such a life brings.

 

“Adapted from IVP Study”

June 12th Sermon Follow-Up Study

A SEASON OF PLEASURE

If worldly pleasure suddenly became your overriding goal, what would you likely do?  With what results?   Talk to God about your deeper desires to forsake short-term self-indulgence for the long-term gain of knowing him.

Read Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:16 and answer the following questions.

• Why does the author call his search for wisdom “a heavy burden” (1:13)?

• Describe the various avenues the Teacher tested in his quest for fulfillment (2:1-16).

• In 2:12-16 he outlines two approaches to discovering meaning in life.  What are the advantages and limitations of these two approaches?

• What prompts his change of perspective (2:14-16)?

• How have you been convinced of the meaninglessness of living outside of Christ’s lordship?

• What would help you turn your desire for meaning in life into a wholehearted pursuit of God?

 

Matthew 6:33 (NIV) – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

• What would it look like if you honestly began to seek the Kingdom of God with all of your heart?

• What would change in your life?

Matthew 7:8 promises that all who seek shall find.   Knock on Jesus’ door right now and ask Him to give you a hunger to find meaning in life through knowing Him better each day.

June 5th Sermon Follow-Up Study

Ecclesiastes 1

Read Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and answer the following questions.

1.        What is your reaction to the subject of the book which the teacher states in verses 2-3?

2.       How do examples of nature support his subject that “everything is meaningless” (vv. 5-7)?

3.       From verses 9-10, describe the teacher’s view of history.

4.       What might he say to a person who believes that educating people will eventually solve humanity’s problems?

5.       How does human mortality (vv. 4 and 11) bring the teacher’s argument to a high point?

6.       According to verse 8, seeking new experiences will not bring lasting satisfaction.  Give a personal example to illustrate this.

7.       What is one area in your life that has recently seemed futile or meaningless?

8.       What are you going to do to change that situation?

9.       Reflect on ways you sense that your life lacks meaning or purpose.  Ask God to help you draw on His resources to resist meaningless living and pursue His purposes.

 

(adapted from IVP Study)

May 29th Sermon Follow-Up Study

“Sinful Nature vs. Spirit-filled Life”

Read Galatians 5:16-25 and answer the following questions:

• What does it mean to you to “live by the Spirit”?
• How do you typically handle the temptations to sin that come your way?
• Have you ever thought much how the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit are at war within you?
• Where do you see the “acts of the sinful nature” lived out most today?
• What warning does Paul give about living for the sinful nature?
• Why is there no law against the fruit of the Spirit?
• If we as Christ followers have crucified the sinful nature, why do we struggle with sin so much still?
• What does “keeping in step with the Spirit” look like in your daily life?

Read Romans 7:18-25 and answer the following questions:

• Do you resonate with what Paul is writing about the battle between sin and Spirit-filled living?
• Does this passage help you understand better why you struggle with sin so much even though you don’t desire to be sinful?
• What is the source of hope Paul has despite this terrible condition he sees at work in his life?

Read John 10:10 and answer the following questions:

• How seriously do you take Satan?  Do you live with a constant awareness of his presence in your life and in our world or do you live as if he doesn’t exist?
• What do you think “life to the full” looks like that Jesus said he came to give?
• Do you live like your eternity with the Father began when you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior or do you live with the attitude of “I can’t wait to get to heaven to begin eternity”?
• How would your daily life look different if you really lived with this verse in mind each day?