QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU DIG DEEPER INTO THE MESSAGE FOR YOUR FAMILY DEVOTIONS OR SMALL GROUP:
Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17. What does it mean that ‘all Scripture is God-breathed‘ or ‘inspired‘?
Read 2 Peter 1:21. How does this verse relate to those who penned the Bible?
Pastor Michael shared that “there are times when evil must be confronted and named“. He then used Jesus in Luke 13 and the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:10-15 (especially verses 14-15) as examples. Why would this be important today? How could it be dangerous?
Jesus had an incredible way of “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Talk about a time when you have been successful or unsuccessful doing this?
Pastor Michael stated, “Truth without love is mean, but love without truth is meaningless“. Talk about what this means. Is it always true?
God’s balanced truth will set people free from the bondage of the enemy’s lies. What is God’s “balanced truth”, according to this message? (Answer: Sin does have consequences, but also, we have a loving God, Who like a mother hen with her chicks, longs to protect us from those consequences).
Remember the ‘freak show’ example? What was the point of that? Talk about how Christians can buy-into the lie that the sinful culture we live in is full of the ‘normal’ ones and label us as ‘the freaks’.
Read the following passage out of Eugene Peterson’s ‘The Message’: Galatians 5:19-21 – “It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.” Do you agree with this idea that that’s the life that comes as a result of ‘trying to get your own way’? What stands out to you the most about this passage? Do you recognize any of these ‘results’ from your own journey?
QUESTION FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO DIG REALLY DEEP: The two men that God used to write ‘most’ of the New Testament were the apostle Paul (Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thess., 1&2 Tim., Titus, Philemon and possibly Hebrews) and Luke (the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the apostles). Read 1 Timothy 5:18 and see that Paul is quoting “Scripture”, but now read Luke 10:7 and see that Paul is calling Luke’s writings “Scripture” (this is the only time this phrase is found in the Bible). Then read 2 Peter 3:15-16 and see that Peter refers to Paul’s writings as “Scripture”. Why is this so significant for those who say that they only believe the Old Testament, or what Jesus taught (the red letters)?
