ENGAGE INSPIRE EQUIP


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Life Group Sermon Study

Enduring Through Trials and Discipline December 29, 2013

Break the Ice:

ENGAGE

(A key part of healthy group life is to make sure your group gets to know each other and builds good relationships. The purpose of these first questions is to help your group open up. Please don’t feel like you have to ask each question. Once you feel like the group is ready, move onto the “Inspire” section.)

• Does anything freak you out or scare you? If so, what is it and why? • What did God teach you during the message this weekend? Did anything in particular stand out? Prayer: Take some time to pray for God to speak to your group through this week’s study. Questions:

IN SP IRE

(Each question has a lot to unpack. Since the group may need time to process each question, don’t let silence scare you. Try to avoid filling the space with unnecessary explanation or moving on from the question too quickly.)

1. Read Hebrews 12:18-21. To get a better understanding of what was written here, Jake had us read Exodus 3:16-19 to see what it was like for the Israelites when God showed up to visit them at Mount Sinai. Let’s review Exodus 3:16-19. This is what it was like to be in God’s presence before Jesus showed up. Jake described a great divide between God and His people, because God is holy and we are sinful. Sin is so serious that it created an impossible divide between God and us. • Has there ever been a time where you lost perspective of how serious sin is? Discuss and give an example from your life. 2. Read Hebrews 12:22-24. Jake said, “The author is telling the Hebrew people that they no longer have to be terrified of God. There is no longer a great distance between them and God. They now have freedom to worship God without anything else in the way.” • Is there something that stands in your way when you worship God, even though you have the same freedom? What is it and why does it hold you back? Jake said, “The author of Hebrews says that we’ll be enrolled with the firstborn. In the ancient days, the firstborn got twice the inheritance as the rest of the siblings. The author is saying that Jesus, as the firstborn, is sharing His inheritance with us all. We all receive the reward of being the firstborn. We all receive the prize of acceptance into God’s family.” • What does this mean for you and what should your response be to this news? Jake said, “In verse 24 the author refers to the story of Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis. He says that Abel’s blood cries out for vengeance but Jesus’ blood cries out for forgiveness. He says that ‘Jesus’ blood speaks a better word.’” • It’s easy to ask for and accept forgiveness, but it’s usually harder to forgive others. Is this true for you? Discuss and provide examples. What would it take for you to become a more forgiving person? 3. Jake described two different kinds of Hebrew people: one group wrongfully trembling at Mount Sinai, who needed to move to the freedom of worship at Mount Zion. Here are three signs that indicate whether or not you need to “move to Mount Zion”: • If you think you need a middleman. TRUTH: We all have direct access to God through Jesus. • If you still try to earn your way into Heaven or right standing with God. TRUTH: God does not want your religious behavior. You can now share in Jesus’ inheritance by accepting Him as the Lord of your life. Jesus made this possible. • If you hold on to guilt. TRUTH: Jesus died for our sins and removed our guilt. We are free. • Which one stands in the way of your relationship with God the most? Why? What would your life look like if you let it go? Application:

EQUIP

(These questions will challenge your group members to apply the study to their daily lives. How can they live out what they take in? It is highly important that you go over this section with your group each week for the group study to be a success.)

Read Hebrews 12:28-29. Jake said, “We should have two responses to this gift that God has given us: gratitude and worship. The author of Hebrews doesn’t say that we won or earned this Kingdom, but it is a gift we have received as a result of Jesus’ sacrifice. We should be grateful for this sacrifice, which we do not deserve. We should have reverence and awe for God at all times. This is worship.”

Life Group Sermon Study

Enduring Through Trials and Discipline December 29, 2013

EQUIP • In what ways have you displayed a heart of gratitude and worship lately? In what ways have you been lacking? • What action steps can you take in order to be more grateful and truly worship Jesus with your thoughts and actions? Prayer: Take some time to pray over each group member’s identified action steps and life issues. Equip Your Mind: “Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29 (ESV) Take some time to pray for God to speak to your group through this week’s study.