Grace Place Sermon Questions

Icebreaker: How gullible are you? What have you had to see to believe? Overview: While looking at old pictures of myself, I realized how much my daughters look like me when I was their age. We share DNA and therefore many physical characteristics, but we are three different people. Jesus was Mary’s son and probably physically looked like His mother, but Jesus was not just a human manifestation of God on earth. Jesus was God, is God. Jesus was there in the beginning of the beginning because He is God. That is a concept that is hard for us to wrap our brains around because we think in finite, three dimensional ways. We can’t help it but we must try to grasp the concept because the divinity of Jesus is crucial to our belief in God and dependence on the saving grace of Jesus on the cross. Jesus is the Word, the Logos. I believe in The Word.   In the beginning the Word already existed.      The Word was with God,      and the Wor...

Icebreaker: How long have you attended Grace Place? What brought you to the congregation? Overview: Read 1 Corinthians 15:58. If you have been in small group, Sunday school or Wednesday night class with me when the sermon discussion questions are used, you will know I try not to make a big deal out of the fact that I am the one who writes this curriculum weekly for the church. It is not that it is a secret or that I am embarrassed. The fact is that this is my service, my Do Something, to God and the church. God has given me an ability to write and I am willing to use it to His glory and purpose. Writing for the church is not a burden; it is a privilege.   I recently heard Jim Lyon, General Director of Church of God Ministries, speak and he mentioned how they use Socratic questions, named for the Greek philosopher, Socrates, in their radio ministry to help the listener learn Biblical truths. After the service, I told him that I had been writing what I hoped are S...

Icebreaker: What did you want to be when you grew up? What kind of person did you want to be when you grew up? Overview: Read Romans 12:9-21. I dreamed of being a ballerina, model or stewardess (they are called flight attendants now!) when I grew up. I thought the possibilities for potential careers were endless. Unfortunately, all three of my dream jobs required the person to be tall which I was not. Somewhere along the way though I came to realize that what truly mattered in life was the kind of person I became. There the possibilities were truly endless. This week’s scripture from Romans lays out for us the possibilities for living a truly spectacular life when we focus on doing something good with the talents and potential God has given us. We sometimes forget it is not what we do that matters, it is who we are in Christ that matters. Go do something amazing for Him! Discussion: What does genuine love look like? Why does service naturally flow from love? ...

Icebreaker: What skill do you use now but found difficult to learn? What skill did you try but gave up learning? Overview: Read Exodus 4:1-17. Back in the 1960’s, classes taught the skill of writing in shorthand to prepare a person for a secretarial career. Shorthand was a way of recording quickly what a person said by using symbols instead of words. I had the unfortunate experience of taking a class in shorthand. The skill did not come easily to me. Fortunate for me, I had a good memory and was able to interpret the few scribbles I made and correctly type up what had been dictated. Technology soon made shorthand obsolete and I never needed the stupid skill anyway. The advent of the personal computers and email has made having an assistant of any kind obsolete. Poor Moses felt like me in shorthand class when God asked him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” We all have potential and, even if we can’t see it, God sees it. What do yo...

Icebreaker: What would you do if you had a whole day to yourself? How passionate are you about your career/work? Overview: Read Luke 9:57-62. We live in a society that values work. Sometimes to the detriment of the worker’s health or family relationships. A recent article said we shouldn’t have a passion for our WORK because it leads us to put too much value in our job. Interesting. What if instead we had a passion to do something for others (including our family)? Instead of checking our phones for work emails, what if we spend our non-working hours serving God with the same passion? In his book, Do Something! Make Your Life Count , Miles McPherson says, “When the going gets tough, it is your passion that keeps you going. Your passion is what pushes you through the unknown, the difficult times. If someone tells passion to stop fighting, passion says no. Without the passion to do something, you will never complete your God-given mission.” Discussion: What is pas...

Icebreaker: Who is the most powerful person you know? What gives them their power? Overview: Read Ephesians 3:20-21. In his book, Do Something! Make Your Life Count , Miles McPherson says, “God has a desire to bless you with spiritual power from heaven — the authority, ability, and opportunity to do something beyond your imagination. Not only did Jesus promise we would do greater works than He did, He also prepared us with the tools necessary for us to do those works. One of those tools is spiritual power.” You can do more than you think you can with God’s power! Discussion: How are we limited by natural power? What does Jesus’ power provide? - Authority - Divine assignments - Purposeful power - Spiritual needs How does spiritual power apply to each? How can you use spiritual power to do something? Activities: What could we accomplish if we put God’s power to work? What situation in your life needs God’s power to solve? As a group, co...

Icebreaker: Have you ever had a broken bone? If so, which one and how did it happen? Overview: Read Hebrews 12:10-11. In his book, Do Something! Make Your Life Count , Miles McPherson says, “Pain is inevitable in our lives. Sometimes it is physical, other times, emotional. It results from living in a broken world. It can be caused by persecution, gossip, being betrayed, dumb things we do to ourselves, or even standing up for God. However you look at it, pain will always be part of our lives, but it can do more than just hurt. In every painful situation we will face, God give us an opportunity to trust that He will not only get us through it but help us nurture a deeper trust in Him through it.” To Do Something for God, we have preparation, purpose and, unfortunately, pain. Pain can teach us a powerful lesson if we are willing to learn. Discussion: Why is pain sometimes an excellent teacher? What does pain teach us? How does avoiding pain benefit us...