Groundwork for the Soul: Sermon Study Guide #1 - Prepare

READ Matthew 3:1-12

This series of sermon studies is designed to help you walk through the season of Lent. This season of examination and repentance provides us a yearly opportunity to do groundwork for our souls. We begin the journey of Lent in the wilderness with John the Baptist. Interestingly, all 4 gospel writers thought we needed a preparation from John before meeting Jesus. This is how Jesus is meant to be encountered – by first going through John’s 4-step orientation. 

STEP 1 - TREK TO THE WILDERNESS

The prophet Isaiah (quoted in v3) wrote that the wilderness will be the place to look for God’s great coming into the world to lead people to His full and final restoration. It will be like a second exodus journey through the desert into the promised land of new creation. John’s ministry shows us that we must trek to the wilderness in order to be prepared to meet Jesus and to know Him more deeply. Why the wilderness? Two things happen in the wilderness that are precursors to spiritual insight and growth – 1) We are stripped of our comfort. When we are too comfortable & cozy, we tend to drift into spiritual compromise. We have to go from our normal routines to see this. 2) We are shaken out of our complacency. The Jordan river was the site of Israel’s original entrance into the land. Baptism – at the time – was practiced only for Gentile converts to Judaism. John’s message is, “We are starting all over!”. The one who will be prepared to encounter Jesus is the person who is not ashamed to start at the beginning - again and again.

STEP 2 – TURN COMPLETELY AROUND

In the wilderness moments of our lives, we are ready to hear John’s message, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”. To understand what John is saying, we need to make sure our understanding of the word “repent” is correct. “Repent” means to change your mind. The Hebrew equivalent is translated “turn”, “come back”. “Repent!” is not God saying to us “You are bad. Be good or else!”; it’s God saying, “You are lost, come home! You’re going the wrong way, turn around!”. John is calling for us to ask, “Where am I headed in the wrong direction?” “What do I need to turn away from in my life in order to turn toward God?”

John’s call to repentance was not a cause, when you feel like it message. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. He’s saying that, in Jesus, God’s restorative and transformative kingdom has come. The time for repentance is now. We often have false sense of urgency about matters of secondary importance and a lack of urgency about matters of primary importance. John’s message is meant restore a proper sense of urgency to our spiritual lives.

STEP 3 – TAKE AN HONEST ASSESSMENT

In v7-10 John sees religious leaders/professionals coming out and he has some very challenging things to say them. It turns out the people who thought they were closest to God and the most prepared to meet Him were the farthest from God and least prepared. Why? They were the wrong measures to assess their faith. John provides us with three ways to test the genuineness of our faith:

1.      Fruitfulness (v8) – Just as fruit is the natural byproduct of a healthy tree, spiritual fruit is the natural result of true repentance. Is my faith producing more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control in my life? If not, we need to re-examine where our faith lies.

2.      Presumption – In v9 John calls out the religious leaders for their presumption. They presumed they were spiritually superior because of the ethnic heritage &  their leadership positions. We need to learn to repent – not just of our sin – but of our goodness; our self-righteous presumption that leads us to think we were better than others.

3.      Leadership – In calling them these leaders a “brood of vipers”, John is referencing a common belief that viper babies killed their mothers. It was quite an insult. John was saying they were not only in need of repentance, they were a danger to others. Leaders with no spiritual fruit, filled with the pride of presumption can do great spiritual harm to others. True leaders are lead repenters – the first to say “I was wrong. I’m sorry”.

STEP 4 – TRUST HIS REFINING PURPOSE  

It’s important to remember the reason why John is taking us through these steps of preparation is to prepare us to meet Jesus; to lead us to Him. He says in v11, “Ultimately I can’t change you, only he can, I can’t transform you, only He can.” John comes with a baptism of repentance (preparation); Jesus comes with a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire (transformation). How does Jesus’ fire baptism cleanse us without consuming us?  The answer is that Jesus underwent his own baptism (Mark 10:39) at the cross. The fire of Jesus’ passion against our sin is not directed at us by at refining us and removing sin and brokenness from us. This is why in our wilderness seasons, in our times of repentance and confession, we can always trust He is not condemning us but refining us to be more like Him.

Questions

1.      What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.      The season of Lent is what we might call a “chosen wilderness” – a time to fast or forgo comforts in order to hone our spiritual readiness and receptiveness. How do you know when you’ve become to spiritually comfortable and complacent? What causes you to drift into these? How have wilderness seasons helped you come to know Jesus more deeply?

3.      Do you have a hard time with the word, “repent”? How does it help to know it is God calling us to “turn around”? Martin Luther’s 1st Theses (of the 95 that began the Protestant Reformation) was – “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent”, he wanted the whole life of believers to be a life of repentance.” Do you agree? What does this look like for you?

4.      Which of the 3 assessments above is most challenging to you? Why? How might you respond in this area in repentance? 

5.      Is there an place in your life where you sense God is currently refining you? Are you struggling to remember God’s refining purposes are good? Share with the group (or a friend if you are reading this on your own) and pray for faith and perseverance.

Gospel Rhythms: Sermon Study Guide #6 - Sabbath Regularly for Worship and Rest

READ Gen. 2:1-3; Deut. 5:12-15

Of all the gospel rhythms, establishing a regular Sabbath is probably the most difficult and countercultural of all. Yet, the gift of Sabbath may be the most important place for us to start in structuring the rhythm of our time around the gospel.     

GOD’S RHYTHM OF SABBATH

The word Sabbath (Hebrew word for “stop”) first appears in the book of Genesis where we see God’s creative work as happening in a 6 + 1 pattern - 6 days of work and 1 day of rest. So. The foundation and starting point for our rhythm of Sabbath is God’s own rhythm of Sabbath established at creation. This pattern first shows us the importance of work. As we work hard, with creativity; bringing order and blessing into the world in our paid or unpaid work – we image God. Work is what most of our life is all about. But it’s not all our life is to be about. There is one whole day that is holy, different and set apart from the others. It’s a day to stop, rest & enjoy the good fruit of our labor like God did.

The Sabbath reappears next in the 10 Commandments (Exo. 20) as commandment number 4. It’s significant to note that taking a regular Sabbath is 1 of God’s top 10 priorities for the human race. Sabbath is a part of how we love God and neighbor. From this we see that Sabbath is both a part of God’s created order and His moral order for the universe – it’s a part of the way things are and ought to be.

OUR REFUSAL TO SABBATH

If a 6 +1 pattern is a part of God’s created & moral order and if Sabbath is a gift God has given to us, why do so many of us refuse it? In our culture, almost everyone would say - to some degree – their lives are often characterized by the 3 O’s:  Overscheduled, overcommitted, overwhelmed. When asked, “How are you doing?”, our most common response is “Busy!”. We suffer from “hurry sickness” and often feel like we have no choice but to stay busy. But what’s driving this busyness syndrome?

In the modern world, where our identity and worth are largely individually constructed, the major place we look to derive our identity and worth is in our work and productivity. The more we work and accomplish, the more we feel worthy, the more we feel that we matter in the world; that we are somebody. It’s why, when we first meet someone, after asking their name we ask, “What do you?” The formula is who we are = what we do.  In this environment, SO Sabbath sounds like a threat to our very identity & worth. We keep going because –we afraid of the void and vulnerability that awaits when we stop. 

GOD’S REASONS FOR SABBATH  

If we are ever going to stop refusing the gift of Sabbath, we need to see what we are refusing. Here are 4 reasons why God has given us this gift.

1. Rest – God has given us the Sabbath so that we would stop and rest. God wired the need for regular rest into our humanity so we would remember what we are - human beings not human doings. We are not what we do. Stopping to rest regularly give us space to accept and acknowledge two fundamental truths about the world: 1) We are human and have limits 2) Only God is sovereign and in control. These two fundamental theological truths are put into practice when we Sabbath.

2. Release – Deut. 5:15 shows us that the rhythm of Sabbath releases us from living in a slavery mindset.  God is saying, “You were a slave (you couldn’t rest) NOW you’ve been released. Don’t live as a slave anymore to anything or anyone because I am your only Lord and Master.  Under Pharaoh, it was never enough. You were only valued because of what you did and how well you produced. So I give you 1 day a week dedicated to remembering that I redeemed you because I value YOU – not because of what you have done.

3. Replenishment – What did God do on day 7? The text doesn’t say, but we can infer the answer from what is said about the other 6 days. God was savoring ll the good He made. It He didn’t do it alone but invited humanity to stop and savor the goodness of life and creation. Work – even the best work – depletes us; Sabbath savoring replenishes us.

4. Re-centering - The Sabbath is carving into our life regular intervals of time to remember the truth that we are not the center of the universe – God is. The 7th day is a Sabbath to the Lord” (Exo 20:10, Deut. 5:14). It’s God’s day. It’s His weekly intrusion in our time to show us the world doesn’t revolve around us.

OUR RHTYHM OF SABBATH

How can we start or restore a regular rhythm of Sabbath to our lives? Is it even possible? Author Mark Buchannan in his book Rest of God says, “You can only enter the Sabbath day if you first have a Sabbath heart”. In Jesus’ time there were many who zealously observed the Sabbath day but never experienced its benefits. The reason they were so zealous about Sabbath rules is the same reason we are so zealous in our refusal to stop. What drove them is the same thing that drives us. Iit’s not about the work on the surface - it’s the work beneath the work. The work to prove ourselves, to perform, to build an identity, to prove our worth. They looked to external religious appearance and performance, we to achievements/productivity.

The gospel can bring us rest from the work beneath the work. There are 2 extremely significant moments in the Bible when God announced “It’s finished” – 1) Gen 2:1 “the heavens and the earth were finished”, 2) John 19: 28, “Jesus, knowing all was now finished said “I thirst”… when Jesus had received the sour wine he said, “it is finished”.

 Because Jesus perfect work for us, we no longer have to work to prove our identity. We are loved by God despite our failures and sin. Because of Jesus’ perfect work for us, we don’t have to prove our worth. The cross shows us how much God values us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We can rest.

Questions

1.        What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.        What is your initial reaction to the idea of a regular Sabbath? Are you drawn to this? Skeptical? Uninterested? What questions do you have?

3.        How does understanding God’s Sabbath as the basis for ours help us

4.        Bridget Shulte, author of Overwhelmed How to Work Love and Play when no one has the time says, “We’ve made busyness almost like the price of admission for modern life. We talk about it as a status symbol. If you’re not doing anything there’s something wrong with you, you’re a loser. So when people are not busy they create it to fit in… Our culture right now is gearing us all toward a crazy, insane lifestyle nobody wants.”

Do you resonate with this? How do you see this at work in your own life? How have you dealt with this powerful pull toward busyness and hurry in your life?

5.        Which of the 4 reasons for Sabbath do you feel you most need in your life right now?

In Emotionally Healthy Leadership, Peter Scazzero writes, “Sabbath is the one day of the week I most believe and live out a fundamental truth of the gospel. I do nothing productive, and yet I am utterly loved.” How does the gospel free us to truly rest? Why is it so hard for us to rest in the reality that “it is finished”?

Gospel Rhythms: Sermon Series Study Guide #5 - Engage People Intentionally To Help Them Move Toward Jesus

READ Colossians 4:2-6

This passage is the very last section in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Most of this letter is focused on the church’s formation – on how Christians mature by going deeper into Jesus by faith. But before Paul ends his letter with his final greetings, he connects our formation to our mission. He reminds them that they are partners in the mission Jesus has given to the church that every person might hear a clear and winsome communication of the Christian faith in the context of a loving community (the church) or a loving friendship. In this passage, we can find 4 key steps for engaging people intentionally to help move them toward Jesus.

1. PRAY FOR OPEN DOORS

The image of the “open door” is a frequent image used in Scripture to describe God’s work of opening hearts and minds to be receptive to the message of the gospel. When and where doors are open (there is receptivity) – it’s a sign that God is at work. It’s important our efforts to engage others with the gospel begin here for a number of reasons: 1) Some doors are closed – Not everyone is ready. Some are resistant. We don’t force our way in because only God can open the door. 2) Prayer opens doors – Somehow in God’s mysterious purposes, He uses our prayers for specific people/places to open doors. We can’t open doors (through our persuasion or skill); but God can open any door. We should be steadfast and consistent in praying for open doors. 3) When a door is open, we can be confident God is at work. If someone shows interest and receptivity toward the gospel, we can have great boldness knowing God is actively working in a person’s life.

2. MOVE TOWARD PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE DIFFERENTLY

When Paul tells the church to “Walk with wisdom toward outsiders”, he tells us where we should walk and how we should walk in a world that doesn’t share our faith. He tells us to walk (ie live) toward people who believe differently than us. We live in a very difficult and divisive time. Instead of moving toward people who believe different, many are getting further and further apart from people on “opposite” sides of the “aisle”. There is a danger in this environment that we all only walk toward those people who already believe like us. But this only deepens the divide, suspicion and tension. Christianity calls us to move us toward people who believe differently than us not away from them.

He also tells us how to walk - with wisdom. Wisdom is the thoughtful, balanced & practical application of our faith to the real issues of individuals and communities. Walking in wisdom means the goal is not to win an argument but to show and share the difference the gospel makes in someone’s life and in the life of a community. Communicating and demonstrating the wisdom of the gospel in the real issues of life requires genuine friendship. We need to know the real issues and struggles people are facing and be willing to share how the gospel is making a difference in the issues and struggles in our life.

3. BE INTENTIONAL IN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS  

When Paul says “making the best use of the time”, he’s using the language of snatching up bargains in the marketplace. In essence, he’s saying, “don’t miss out on opportunities that arise for significant conversation”. Here are 3 aspects to living with this kind of intentionality:

1.      Providence of God –  Remember it’s never an accident or coincidence that you are connected to the people in your relational network. It’s a part of God’s plan.

2.      People NEVER Projects –Engaging people is never about making people a means to an end – or even worse an “evangelism project”.

3.      Purposeful Presence – Be intentionally about where your routines; where you frequent, shop. We tend to be so relationally scattered and spread thin. When we intentionally limit our choices, we create opportunity for meaningful relationships.

4. ALWAYS SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF GRACE

When Paul says our “speech should always be gracious”, this is best understood as addressing both the manner and content of our speech. Often people’s perception of conversations about religious is that these kinds of conversations quickly become: Abrasive, combative, impersonal, preachy and condemning. Paul says this is never how it should be. Any time we talk about Jesus we should do it graciously, tactfully, courteously – how we speak about our faith is what makes it salty -inviting/appealing.

Gracious speech also means that when we have an open door to have a meaningful conversation about faith with someone doesn’t believe in Christianity, we should always center the conversation on grace. Why? Because grace is the salty seasoning that sets Christianity apart from all other worldviews and approaches to life. The gospel’s message that we are accepted and loved by God not because of what we do but because of what Jesus has done for us is the salt we want people to taste. Successful engaging is not always convincing or converting (only God does this) but asking, “Did they get just a little taste of grace, enough to make them thirsty for more?”

Questions

1.      What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.      What is your initial reaction to the idea of having faith conversations with people who believe differently than you? Do you agree that Col. 4:2-6 provides us with a way to approach these conversations in way that removes the guilt and pressure for Christians and is actually inviting and welcomed by those who are not Christians?

3.      How are you moving toward people who believe differently than you do? Do you have meaningful relationships with people who are not Christians? Are you able to have discussions about the real issues and struggles of life with them? What’s hardest for you about this?

4.      Which of the 3 aspects of intentionally above is most helpful to you as you think about growing in engaging people intentionally?

How does centering our conversations on grace help relieve the pressure and fear we often feel about engaging people? How might sharing the impact of grace in our own lives change the way we talk about our faith with those who don’t share it? 

Gospel Rhythms: Sermon Series Study Guide #4 - Give Blessing to Others through Our Words, Actions and Gifts

READ 1 Peter 3:8-12

This passage wraps up one of the letter’s main sections.  In 2:11-3:7, Peter addresses areas where his readers were struggling to make sense of how their new Christian faith fit into their vision of the good life. Peter addresses four major areas of life where they were struggling (we’ll call them the 4 P’s):

1.     Place (2:11-12) – How to handle feeling like exiles, not fully at home in any place.

2.     Politics (2:13-17) – How to respond in a difficult political situation & under political leadership with whom you disagree.

3.     Profession (2:18-25) – How to respond to difficulties in the workplace

4.     Partners (3:1-7) – How to respond to difficulties in marriage

OUR VISION OF THE GOOD LIFE

These four areas are places where they were – and we are – are looking for the good life. In verse 10, Peter quotes from Psalm 34; but he intentionally chooses to begin his quotation in the middle of the Psalm not the beginning – “whoever desire to love life and see good days”.  This is exactly where his original readers were confused. Instead of experiencing the “good life” in these 4 P’s, they were experiencing struggles & suffering. This has led them to a certain level of disillusionment and disappointment with their faith. They were thinking, “I’m a Christian now, so why isn’t God giving me the good life? It’s not working!”

The dominant vision of the good life in our culture is built on what we can get from life. We obsess over much happiness and fulfillment we are getting from our 4 P’s. As Peter reaches his conclusion in addressing these things he brings it all together by showing them (and us) that Jesus has come to give us a new vision of the good life. If we desire to love life and see good days, we will need to let go of a vision of life that is based on what we get and embrace an entirely new vision.

A NEW VISION OF THE GOOD LIFE: OUR CALLING TO BLESS

Peter tells us Jesus’ new vision of the good life can be summed up in one word, “bless”. In this new vision, the 4P’s are not things where we look to get the good life from but areas where are called to give blessing into. If we ever want to experience the good life as God intends – we need to change from “getters” to “givers”. The concept of blessing is central to this vision. In order to give blessing, we need to ask a few foundational about this new vision of the good life. 

What does it mean to bless?

Blessing is an important and rich biblical concept. On the very first pages of the bible we find God blessing animals, humanity and the seventh day.  When God blesses someone/something, He is providing both purpose + power together. Blessing is God’s empowerment to live as He designed us to live. We also see that – after the curse entered into the world –God’s plan to reverse this curse and restore His blessing would come through people. He tells Abraham that He will bless him and that in him all the families of the earth will be blessed. (Gen 12:1-3) What we see is that blessing is not just a , it is a calling. Blessing is God’s calling to all who receive His blessing. When we bless others we give them a taste and a glimpse of life as God intends

How do we bless?

We bless others through words, actions and gifts (v10-11). What we say to others has incredible power. Christians are called to speak blessing (not evil or deceit). Christians are called to actively strategize how to “do good” to the people in their lives. When we serve others for their good and give gifts to others, we help them gain a taste of God’s abundant grace and love.

What happens when we bless?

In contrast to participating in the downward spiral of repaying and retaliating, blessing has the power to break the cycle of evil and hostility, draw others toward God & draw us closer to God. In fact, Peter is saying it’s when our vision of the good life is frustrated, that we actually have our best opportunities to live the new vision by giving blessing! As we seek, pursue and pray for the peace and good of others, we find our peace (see Jer. 29:7)

A FUTURE VISION OF THE GOOD LIFE

In verse 9, Peter reminds us that blessing is our inheritance. The word “inherit” (obtain in some translations) is pointing us back to 1 Pet. 1:3-4 “God has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.” By faith in Jesus, we gain the family inheritance of eternal blessing. This radically impacts our vision of the good life now. It frees us to be bold, sacrificial with our lives to bless others. It reminds us that whatever it costs us to bless others, it “will never cost us more than we’ve been given” (Douglas Harnik).

Questions

1.      What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions? What is your vision of the good life? How would you describe it? How did you develop it? How is this new vision of the good life different from the vision of life you’ve developed?

2.      Which of the 4 P’s is most frustrating and unfulfilling in your life? How are you currently handling and responding to this?

3.      Have you experienced the power of intentionally giving blessing to others (especially those with whom you are having difficulty)? Describe the impact giving blessing had on the other person and on you.

4.      Pick one of the 4 P’s and describe how responding with giving blessing might look (instead of responding in retaliation, frustration or confrontation)?

5.      CS Lewis wrote, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in:” aim at earth and you will get neither.” What’s your response to this? 

Gospel Rhythms: Sermon Series Study Guide #3 - Pray Daily for Gospel Renewal for Ourselves and Others

READ Psalm 3

Psalms 1 and 2 are the two-part introduction to the book of Psalms. This makes Psalm 3 the first Psalm in the book that was written for use in the prayers of individuals and the worshipping community. It’s placement at the beginning of the book is clearly intentional as it shows us the kind of prayer that we should pray to start each day. Throughout church history many prayer traditions have used Psalm 3 as a prayer to begin every morning.

WHY PRAY?
The introduction to this Psalm tells us where this prayer came from. It was written and prayed by King David of Israel after his own son, Absalom, staged a coup against him and forced him to flee from his palace. The is Psalm is filled with battle imagery (foes rising up, shield, enemies surrounding) as David was facing a military threat. But what’s significant about David’s prayer is that he doesn’t focus on the outward threat of his political enemies. Instead, he is overwhelmed by what his enemies and difficult circumstances were saying to his soul. This reveals why this Psalm is a pray for every person, every day because ALL of life – from the perspective of the Bible – is a battle/fight over where we look for salvation.   Salvation in the Psalms is used for much more than just the final destination for our souls. Salvation means being rescued from anything that keeps us from living a faithful, full and flourishing life with God at the center. We pray because it is in prayer that our eyes are open to the battle we all face. Every person is looking for salvation from a life of emptiness, insignificance and pain. The battle is over where we look for this salvation. We pray because we can’t win this battle apart from prayer. Without prayer, the voices that tell us God is unnecessary, uninterested or absent to us in our struggles become the voices that define our souls.  Not praying is essentially saying to God we can win the battle in our own strength.  David had to come to the end of himself before he cried out to God for salvation from enemies that had grown so big He wasn’t sure if God was with him anymore. In prayer, he recovered perspective and was able to face another day in faith. 

WHAT TO PRAY

In addition to showing us why we need regular, daily prayer, this Psalm shows us what we should pray every day.  

1.      Pray to God – Sometimes we think we are praying but we are really only talking to ourselves inside our heads. Over and over again, David address God as “LORD” (6x). Prayer is conversation with God. 

2.      Pray your situation – Sometimes we think, “Why tell God what’s going on in my life? Doesn’t He already know?” The answer is, “Yes, he does” but David vividly describes his situation and his emotions to God not for God’s sake but for his own. In prayer, his eyes were opened to what was going on in his own soul.

3.      Pray truth into your situation – Prayer is how what we know about God is applied to our specific struggles and situations. For the 3-fold description of the enemy in verse 1+2, David counters by praying 3 truths about God (shield, glory, lifter of my head) in verse 3.

4.      Pray out loud – David comes to God in raw, honest emotion. He “cried aloud” (v4). He isn’t having a peaceful “quiet time”, he comes to God as he is.

WHEN TO PRAY  
Though David had made it through a day, he had to begin his next morning praying again for faith and deliverance from his adversaries. In his book, The Shape of Living, author David Ford wrote, “Our lives are shaped in large degree by the loudest and most influential voices in the community of our hearts.” Prayer is placing the voice of God at the center of heart’s community. CS Lewis helps us see why we need to do this every day: "the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in...And so on, all day"

WHO TO PRAY
We need to see that this Psalm was prayed for us before it can be prayed by us. Daily prayer can only be sustained if we know that we are never praying alone. This Psalm, as all others, needs to be prayed in view of the cross and resurrection. When we read it this way, we see that Jesus’ many enemies said the same thing as David’s (see Lk 23:35). But when Jesus cried aloud to God, God was silent. Why? The cross shows us that we too were among the enemies of Jesus, seeking to dethrone Him and remove his rule over our lives. Yet, while we were yet enemies, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). He defeated his enemies by dying for them, bearing their guilt & conquering their sin. Jesus won the victory FOR us so that when we pray for help in our battles, we can know God hears us & will always answer us in love (see Rom. 8:32-39)

Questions

1.      What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.      How do you react to the Psalms depiction of life as a daily battle over where we look to salvation? How might this perspective on life drive us to pray regularly and passionately?

3.      The place in our lives where we are saying, “It’s too much”, “I’m overwhelmed”, “I don’t know what to do”, “I can’t do this” – are our best opportunities to learn to pray. Where are you feeling these things right now? How has prayer played a role/not played are role in how you are handling these things?

4.      Which of the 4 things listed under “What to Pray” are a part of your regular prayer life? Which are hardest for you?

5.      What is your current practice and rhythm of prayer? What is your response to the idea of daily prayer? Does it sound like a burden? A blessing? What are the things that keep you from developing a habit of daily prayer?

6.      How does knowing Jesus prayed this Psalm for us help us to pray with confidence?