Episodit
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In order for the gospel to be 'good news' there must first be 'bad news'. In Romans 1:18-32 the apostle Paul gives us the bad news: mankind suffers under the wrath of God.
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"The gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe." This well known statement in Romans 1:16 functions both as Paul's reason for his eagerness to preach and as his thesis for the gospel presentation of the letter. The message drove Paul to preach. Is this power at work in your life?
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Puuttuva jakso?
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How do you choose who to date? It's a question most students are asking, and it's a question for which the world has a lot of (not so good) answers. Proverbs 31 helps to give biblical clarity on this important question by presenting the Excellent Wife. What sets her apart? She fears the Lord.
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The life of wisdom is not a smooth upward climb, but an ongoing process of correction and renewal. Proverbs teaches us to value this cycle of correction for what it is: life giving and driven by love.
Discussion prompts:
• Why should we value correction? (Proverbs 15:31-33)
• How does our being corrected relate to our status as children of God? (Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:7)
• In what concrete ways can we strive to rightly respond to correction? -
Life is filled with choices. While the world tells you to look inside and 'listen to your heart', Proverbs teaches that wise choices come from a heart that has been transformed by listening to and learning from God.
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Title: Wise-Work: Doing the right thing for the right reasons // Selected Proverbs
We live in a world driven by comfort, entertainment, and ease. Proverbs calls this the life of a ‘sluggard’.
There is a better way, a happier way. And it is characterized by hard work in the fear of the Lord and love of neighbor.
Discussion prompts:
What are we wanting when we choose to act like the sluggard?
When we work hard, what is our motivation? (Humility and the fear of the Lord, or pride and love of self?)
How did Jesus’ wise work free us to grow into wise workers? -
Lady Wisdom vs. Lady Folly (aka Life vs Death)
1. What are the differences between wisdom and folly?
2. Which voice are you listening to?
3. Do you desire to listen to wisdom? -
Praise is the Point – Psalm 150
Big Idea: Praise is the point.
Praise is the point of the life of worship. As the expression of what we truly enjoy, what we praise exposes what we truly love and enjoy.
Because of this, we need to know and enjoy God in our hearts if we are going to live lives of praise to God. And for this, we need the work of Jesus.
Questions
What do you like to talk about?
What does this say about what you love?
How does Jesus free us to truly praise God? -
The Life of Worship: Lament II
Psalm 44:26
The psalms of lament teach us how to relate to God during hard times.
After seeing last week that we can and should be open and honest with God about how and why we are suffering, Psalm 44:26 shows us three more ways to worship God in the midst of hard times:
1. Ask for his help
2. Desire his glory
3. Enjoy his love
Discussion prompts:
• Why do you want God to help you? Or, what is your deepest desire in asking for God’s help?
• Do you enjoy God’s love in the midst of hard times? Or, how do we seek to enjoy God’s love in the midst of hard times? -
Lament: Being Honest When Life Hurts
Psalm 44
Life can be really hard. And a lot of the time, it isn’t our fault. How do we live a life of worship when life hurts? Biblical Lament, as we will see in Psalm 44, gives us the freedom to be brutally honest, while also pointing us to our only true hope: God’s steadfast love.
Discussion Prompts
• Open up to your student(s) about times when God has proven personal faithfulness to you in the midst of painful circumstances.
• Allow your student to share some of the things that have been difficult in his/her life lately. -
Christians Are Confessors
Psalm 51 – Devonte Howard
In our second installment of The Life of Worship, Devonte will preach through David’s famous prayer of confession in Psalm 51.
Christians confess and God forgives. To all who turn away from sin and towards God, he is merciful in Christ to forgive and renew.
1. Ask for Forgiveness
2. Get Serious with Your Sin
3. Ask for Restoration
Discussion Prompts
• Does your student have a sense of their need to confess sin to God?
• If so, encourage your student toward a life of confession by talking about God’s kindness to you in Christ. -
The Life of Worship: Living with God - Psalm 15
Our new series is focused on letting the Psalms teach us how to relate to God in a Life of Worship.
Tonight, we look at the foundational question: what sort of person is allowed to live with God?
Psalm 15 answers the question by saying only a righteous person can dwell in God’s presence. Only a righteous person can live a life of worship.
We have a righteousness problem and Christ is the only solution.
Questions:
• What is the fundamental problem we face as we seek to live with God?
• How does Psalm 15 point to the solution for our righteousness problem?
Resource Mentioned: How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament: https://www.amazon.com/How-Understand-Apply-Old-Testament/dp/1629952451 -
Guest Speaker: Dustin Greenup
Scripture: Psalm 119:18
Glory Gazing is not a passive action. It takes effort. But no amount of effort will help is God is not opening our eyes to see him for who he is. So, we need to ask him. We need to pray, “Open my eyes, that I might behold wondrous things in your Law.” -
It’s time to get practical. How does ‘beholding the glory of the Lord’ actually cause transformation in real life?
To begin to show how, we will look at one way in which God’s glory transforms us: namely, God’s compassion towards human suffering, for example gun violence, calls for and enables our compassion towards those who suffer.
Scripture:
• Exodus 34:5-7
• Isaiah 53:5-6
• Select verses in Matthew
Questions:
• How does God feel about human suffering?
• What has God acted in his compassion?
• How do we grow in compassion towards those who suffer? -
Big Idea: The Bible can transform you, because of what it is, if you read it right.
The Bible is the most full and clear communicator of who God is and what God does. We behold the glory of the Lord by reading a book. But transformation will only happen if we read the Bible right. How, then, do we read the Bible right? By reading to see and enjoy the glory of God.
Scriptures: Psalm 1:1-3; 19:7-11; 119:9-16 -
BIG IDEA: The Bible shows God's glory and saving character.
If creation declares God’s glory (Ps. 19:1), why do we need the Bible? The answer lies in the way the Bible shows God’s glory more fully than creation, as it shows us the saving character of God expressed in Jesus Christ.
Psalm 19:1-2; Romans 1:19-21; Romans 5:1-2; Philippians 2:6-10
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Why do we need the Bible in order to be transformed?
What does this mean for how we read the Bible?
