The Games People Play

Sermon for New Years – It All Starts by Stopping - Hosea 6

1.      What is your all time favorite game?  Why do you think you like it so much?

2.       A song popular in the 70’s was called ‘The Games People Play.’  One of the lines went:  “Oh the games people play now, every night and every day now, never meaning what they say, now, never saying what they mean.”  What do you think the lyric writer meant?  Contrast this meaning of “games” with the kind of “games” mentioned in question number 1.  

3.       Read Hosea 6.  Starting in verse 4, God was addressing the nation of Israel and their tendency to “play games” with Him.  What are some common “games” people play with God?

4.       At the heart of the issue was a sense of loyalty.  God stayed completely loyal to His people and continually tried to draw them to Himself.  Sometimes He did this by giving times of blessing.  Other times when they strayed He would discipline them in order to bring them to their senses and cause them to return to Him.  Compare God’s relationship to the people of Israel with His relationship to you.  When do you purposely seek God more – in seasons of blessing or times of trouble?

5.       How has God used trouble in your life to draw you to Himself for restoration and spiritual healing?

6.       What does it mean to ‘just get by’ in your relationship to the Lord?  Describe what bare minimum Christianity looks like in your own words.

7.       Read Psalm 62:7-8.  Human beings tend to have mixed motives in one’s relationship to God.  The purity of wanting to please the Lord out of a sense of gratefulness for His sacrifice tends to get tainted by our own human desires.  Stop and think back to a time when your heart was in the best place that you can remember.  What was it that preceded that time of love and commitment to the Lord?  What did you read in these verses that helps you in your relationship with the Lord right now?

8.        Read I Samuel 7:3-6.  The prophet Samuel was addressing the nation of Israel and instructing them what to do if they were really serious about returning to the Lord.  He talked about giving up things that had become more important to God than God Himself, obeying the Lord, praying, fasting and confessing their sins.  For group discussion, consider how engaging in some of these “spiritual disciplines” is quite different than a simple “New Year’s Resolution.”   In the quietness of your heart determine in what area God is speaking to you and what your response will be at this time.

9.       How would you describe someone whom you respect (without naming names) that is totally devoted and loyal to God?  What commitment would it take on your part to become more like that person?   

"and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6b

Feeling Thankful. http://ping.fm/2TjKX

Warts and All

Joseph and Judah

Sermon:  Surprised by Grace

1. What is the first word you can think of when you hear the phrase “soap opera?”

2. No soap opera in the world can compare with the real life drama of the Bible. The Bible shows human beings in the full gamut – “the good, the bad, the ugly” – “warts and all”. Yet, God loves us. Although you may have heard the verse John 3:16 a million times, turn to it now and read each world slowly and consider the ramifications of this truth. When did you first realize that God loved you, “warts and all.”

3. Meet the family. Read Genesis 35:22b-26. How would you describe this family and from this description alone, point out what kinds of problems you could foresee?

4. Read Genesis 29:9-30. Jacob, the father of both Joseph and Judah was very partial to both his wife Rachel (over his wife Leah) and to his son born of Rachel, Joseph (over his ten older brothers). Obviously the family dynamics of having more than one wife has serious and bad consequences. But putting that aside, how did Jacob’s obvious partiality impact his family?

5. Read James 2:1-9. How does God view favoritism?

6. If you had the opportunity to sit down with Jacob when you saw him acting with obvious partiality, what would you tell him?

7. Read Genesis 37:3-8. Do you think Joseph knew how his brothers felt about him? If you were an uncle or aunt of family friend listening in on this scene, what would you say to Joseph?

8. The story of Judah and Tamar is in Genesis 38, and you heard it Sunday in the sermon. By the end of the chapter we don’t like Judah much. Yet, by the time Judah acknowledges his grievous sinful lifestyle (in Genesis 44:16) and begs Joseph to let Benjamin free and volunteers himself to be a slave in Benjamin’s place, we start to see his humanness. What is it about a broken and repentant person that softens our hearts towards that person?

9. Read Genesis 50:15-21 about the account of Joseph’s forgiveness toward his brothers. How is Joseph’s forgiveness a picture of God’s grace toward us?

Making Messes

Sermon: Genealogy of Grace


1. Do you have siblings or are you an only child? If you have siblings, how many – and where are you in the “line up?” Do you like your placement in “the birth order” in your family? Would you trade if you had the opportunity?

2. As a child, what is the biggest “mess” you ever made and had to clean up?

3. Read Genesis 12:1-3. We are introduced to Abram and we read that God calls him and then gives Abram some specific instructions. After that God makes Abram some fantastic promises! What does God tell Abram to do?

4. What does God promise Abram?

5. Read Genesis 21:1-7. What did the Lord do?

6. As we heard in Sunday’s sermon, Abraham was very human. He made some big mistakes and more than that he did some things that were downright sinful. What does Romans 3:10-12 say about all human beings?

7. Yet, God was faithful to His promise to Abraham. Read Genesis 15:5-6. What was Abram’s response to God’s promise to him?

8. Faith is more than intellectual belief. It is defined as more of a complete trust. In believing in the One in whom we have faith, we act upon that trust. Our lives are different because of that faith. How important is our faith to God?

9. Read Ephesians 2:8-9. By what are we saved? And what is our response to be?

10. Read I John 1:9. Whom does our forgiveness depend upon? According to this verse, what is our part of the equation?

11. Read Acts 3:25-26. We continue to be blessed today by God’s goodness because of the promises He made to Abraham. These promises were not because of anything Abraham did, or any other human being’s goodness, but soley because of God’s grace. Grace is undeserved favor. Can you share some ways in which God’s grace (undeserved blessings and undeserved pardon) has been given to you?

Ohhs and Ahhs

Read Psalm 107

When I was a young married adult, I brought my husband to my parent’s home for Thanksgiving dinner. The home in which I grew up was stable and we had traditions we could count on, such as a big roasted turkey brought out at the table, uncarved, so we could all ohh and aww at the good-looking bird. Then my dad would do the honor of carving the turkey right at the table. With six children in the family – four which were boys – mom always purchased a large turkey, until this year. On this year, mom decided to try one of the “flaked and formed” turkeys which were popular, and they came inside an unattractive netting which looked even worse after cooking. Instead of the golden roasted brown plump roasted turkey, the flaked and formed turkey came apart in pieces, which looked kind of gray, as I recall. My mother neglected to inform my father of the change, and you should have seen his face when that turkey was presented at the family Thanksgiving table. We still laugh about the look on his face.

1. What is your funniest Thanksgiving memory?

There was a secular article in the newspaper that elaborated on the benefits of being thankful. The real gain, the article concluded, was not so much to the people who were thanked, but to the person who expressed the thankfulness. Yes, having a thankful attitude makes all the difference in the world in a person’s outlook and state of being. Psalm 107 will teach us not only to be thankful, but lets us know concretely that the object of our appreciation – the One to whom we are thankful has an impact on our lives beyond description.

2. Psalm 107:1 tells us to give thanks to whom, and what does this verse say about the character of God?

3. Of what does verse 2 remind us to be thankful? Have you been redeemed? Do you know that your sins have been forgiven, and do you have a personal relationship with God because of Jesus?

4. Verse two is significant because we often tend to list our material blessings first. We have relational blessings as well – our family, our church, our friends. But what kind of spiritual blessings have you received this year? Take time to list five spiritual blessings for which to thank the Lord. For example, “during the Easter program, I was reminded of how much Jesus went through for me.” Or, “this year I am less of an angry person because of the work God has done in my life.” What are your five? You may want to take a ten-minute break and think this through.

5. Re-read verses 4-9. Can you share a time when you were lost or homeless or hungry or thirsty? Did you call out to the Lord for help, and how did He answer that prayer?
 
6. Re-read verses 10-16. What has imprisoned you? Have you been in an actual jail or prison or has there been a habit, mindset, attitude or addiction that has imprisoned you for a
time? How did God deliver you? For what can you give Him praise?

7. Re-read verses 17-22. When have you been the most sick or what health issues do you currently battle? Or perhaps one of your loved ones has been ill. How did/does the Lord minister to you in a health crisis?

8. Re-read verses 23-38. Do you have a story of difficult travels or of surviving through a natural disaster such as a flood, and earthquake or a hurricane? What is your story and in what way did you see the hand of the Lord over that situation?

9. Re-read verses 39-43. Have you had financial or family troubles? How did going through these times shape and/or change you? What did you learn? Can you now give God praise for something you learned through these difficult times?

10. Now, think again of your many blessings. Let’s encourage each other to be a people who are thankful for our material, relational and spiritual blessings. What has this sermon, or this study brought to light, and how can you be more thankful for having learned these things?

The Happiest Day of Your Life

Read Psalm 100

What was the happiest day of your life?

While in the country of Israel, our Jewish guide, Sholomo (Hebrew for Solomon),  explained to us that in the Jewish wedding ceremony, the groom steps on a wine glass and smashes it with his right foot.  The reason this is done at this time is to remember, that on the happiest day of your life – to remember the mourning the Jewish person has in their heart for the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.  The point is that there is a tradition carried out for the purpose of remembering.  A study of the Bible reveals that we, as human beings, tend to forget – even the most important things.

1.        Read Deuteronomy  8:1-5.  What were the children of Israel to remember and for what purpose? 

2.       Read Deuteronomy 8:6-18.  What cautions are we given and what does this passage reveal about human nature?  What does this passage reveal about the character of God?

3.       Re-read Psalm 100.  Why do we need to remember to do these things? 

4.       What does it feel like when you are “taken for granted”?   How do you think God feels when we take Him for granted?

5.       What causes you to sing with Joy to the Lord? 

6.       What is the correlation between a thankful heart and joy?

7.        In what tangible ways do you acknowledge that the Lord is God in your life?  How does acting in obedience to God’s Word acknowledge that the Lord is God?  What does disobedience (knowing the right thing to do, yet  consistently ignore the Holy Spirit’s nudges) acknowledge?

8.       What does it mean to you to read in this Psalm that “He made us, and we are His?” 

9.       We are exhorted here, not only to be thankful but to enter His courts with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.  Commentator Matthew Henry tells us, “In all acts of religious worship, whether in secret or in our families, we come into God’s presence, and serve Him;  but it is in public worship especially, that we enter into His gates and into His courts”.   What is the difference, in your opinion, in private worship, and worship together with other believers in church?

10.   What does Psalm 100:5 proclaim about God?  What are some ways that you can help remind yourself or remind each other in this group about God’s goodness and faithfulness?

11.   What are some ways to communicate God’s goodness and faithfulness to the next generation?