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WEEK 3 SERMON DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR GROUPS

July 9, 2023

One thing: Home

Introduction:

Home is one of the most important places for us to recharge spiritually and relationally. God actively protects our homes and even mentions sending angels to protect our homes. God is doing his part. Are we doing ours? In what ways are we participating with God and in what ways are we disarming God’s protection of our homes?

Something To Talk About:

  1. God is actively protecting your home: Psalm 91:10 says, “no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.” According to the Scriptures, God encircles, encompasses, covers, and shields those who make Him their refuge. His presence, His protection makes you inaccessible to the enemy no matter what the circumstances. That’s how men and women throughout the ages have been able to walk unharmed through all kinds of dangerous situations. That’s how Daniel survived the lions’ den. The lions couldn’t get to him because of God’s protection was around him (Daniel 6:16-22).  And God was a refuge for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace as well. They were faithful to God and believed in God, They didn’t even smell of smoke after being thrown in a furnace. (Daniel 3:12-27). They were encompassed by the power of God! That same protection belongs to us today. When God is determined to protect someone, nothing can overcome that safety. 
  2. We actively participate in God’s plans and protections: In Jesus’ day, there was a pool in Jerusalem where many disabled people gathered. They believed that once in a while when the water was stirred, the first to enter into it would be healed. There was one there who “had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ ‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no one to help me into the pool ‘ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked” (John 5:1-9). When Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?” the man responded, “there is no one to help me get in the water. ” How often do we miss something from God because we didn’t take a step, we didn’t participate? Trusting God to work in our lives does not mean being passive or doing nothing. The Bible teaches that God ordains both the end and the means to the end. We just need to be an active participant. 
  3. Ask God for wisdom: Often, when it comes to making the choice of whether or not to follow God’s wise plan for solving their problem, many people throw up their hands in frustration and exclaim, “I’ve tried doing what the Bible says, but it just doesn’t work. I’ve tried praying. I’ve tried trusting God. I’ve ‘turned it over to Jesus’. I’ve tried ‘loving my enemies’. I’ve tried asking God to give me the strength to do the right thing. I’ve tried, and it just doesn’t work.” It simply isn’t true that God’s ways don’t work. God’s ways always work. We too often believe that God’s wisdom is just as valid as the world’s way of solving our problems. Much of our battle in the Christian life is won or lost right here. God’s wisdom for living — even in the midst of our trials — is very much available to us if we’ll only ask Him for it. And His way will always prove, in the end, to have been the best way for us. But we must do as James says. We must “ask in faith, with no doubting” (James 1:6).  If we want God’s wisdom for living, then we’d better ask with a sincere trust that God’s way is best. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you think of your home in a religious way? If so, how?
  2. In what way is God your refuge?
  3. What difficulties are you facing now that you can trust God to help you with? What will you do differently in the face of these difficulties if you are trusting in God?
  4. When does trust (reliance on God) come easy for you? When is it hard for you?  Why do you think that is so?
  5. Is the foundation of your “house” something solid, or shifting and sinking sand?
  6. Faith is active reliance on God. What does that look like in your day-to-day experience?
  7. Read Proverbs 3:5-6. Share about someone in your life who models this passage well. Why do you think they are so good at trusting the Lord?
  8. In what practical areas of your own life do you sense a need for more wisdom? Are you willing to ask God for this? What are some of the real reasons we don’t ask God for wisdom, even when we need it desperately?
  9. If you could talk with someone and receive the best wisdom in the world concerning any question, what question would you ask? When have you, personally, really needed God’s wisdom?
  10. Think about a situation in your life where you wish God would offer you more wisdom. What kinds of questions would you like to ask Him about that situation?
  11. What are your expectations for this week as a result of Sunday’s message?

Take One Thing Home with You:

There is a well-known phrase that says “home is where the heart is.” For Christians, our home is not in our hearts or even a physical earthly house. Our home is with Jesus Christ and the place he has prepared for us in heaven. This home is better than anything we could possibly have on 30A or anywhere in the world. “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

As Christians, we do not have to worry that there is no room for us or we are unwelcome. Christ died so that we would be forgiven and able to have a relationship with Him both during our time on earth and our eternity with Him in our heaven.