Sermon Discussion Questions
SERMON SERIES: Special Mother’s Day Message
SERMON TITLE: How To Honor Mom
DATE: 5/12-13/12
ICEBREAKER: Share with the group one of your unique or quirky habits.
1. The first way that we can honor our mothers is by making the pursuit of God our number one priority. What one thing, this week or this month, is threatening to bump God out of that number one spot?
2. Part of living righteously is to deal with any unresolved secret sins. According to 1 John 1:9, forgiveness is guaranteed, and yet, many of us have a difficult time confessing our sins to God or openly to other people (James 5:16). Why do you think that is? Is confession a regular practice in your life?
3. Brian explained the importance of developing close relationships with the right people (1 Corinthians 15:33). When you examine your closest relationships, how are you doing in this area? How do you hold this biblical truth that bad company corrupts good character in tension with the fact that we are called to go out and be light in a dark and lost world?
4. To be a person of character, you must be a person of integrity. How do you personally define integrity? Who is someone in your life who shows excellent integrity?
5. What one point or verse from the sermon spoke to you the most and why?
SERMON SERIES: Relationships: Hurts Worth Healing
SERMON TITLE: How to Add Value to Others Part 2
DATE: 5/5-6/12
ICEBREAKER: Name one of your favorite things about someone in your family.
1. Pastor Kent talked about two different kinds of friends: the easy ones and the difficult ones. Who is one of your easy friends and what makes that relationship particularly easy? When you interact with people, are you easy and light, or are you heavy-handed and demanding?
2. Are you the kind of person who people gravitate toward when they are hurting? Why do you think this is true?
3. Based off of 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals [kindness]‘,” Pastor Kent explained that it is actually immoral to be unkind. Do you agree or disagree with this perspective? Why?
4. Share about a time in your life when, due to stubbornness, God had to use pain to get you to turn around.
5. Because kindness is more than a feeling or an attitude, it’s an action: keep a record for the next few days of the actual kindness you have done for others without wanting anything in return. How has God been honored by your record of kindness? Who has made a personal breakthrough because of your acts of kindness? Share your results/findings with the group next time you meet.
6. What one point or verse from the sermon spoke to you the most and why?
Download the questions as a PDF: TEAM_Questions_050612
SERMON SERIES:Relationships: Hurts Worth Healing
SERMON TITLE: How to Add Value to Others
DATE: 4/28-29/12
ICEBREAKER: What is the one thing you’re looking forward to the most this summer?
1. Share an example from your life when someone chose to deal with your shortcomings on the basis of mercy, not justice. How did you feel as a result?
2. Why is it important/necessary for us as Christians to be committed to adding value to the people with whom we make contact?
3. During the sermon, did God bring a particular person or relationship to your mind that you feel you need to improve on your kindness? Is there a specific behavior that the Holy Spirit is prompting you to change?
4. God performed the ultimate act of kindness when He sent His Son to the cross as a ransom for our sins. How does understanding God’s kindness in the fullness of his grace and mercy help you to think about the way that you deal with the people around you?
5. Share a time when someone tried to add value to you (help you), but they didn’t use kindness (they weren’t merciful, gracious, or gentle). How did you feel? How did you react? What might that person have done differently that would have made a more positive, lasting impact?
6. What one point or verse from the sermon spoke to you the most and why?
SERMON SERIES:Relationships: Hurts Worth Healing
SERMON TITLE: How to Love Difficult People
DATE: 4/21-22/12
ICEBREAKER: Name one thing you miss about being a kid.
1. What is one area in your life where your patience is currently being tested?
2. Pastor Kent explained that patience actually enables us to bring out the best in other people. Have you ever experienced this? Explain.
3. There are three temptations that will lead us to give up on patience: pride (I’ve had enough, I want it my way), laziness (take the easy way out, walk away) and fear (God’s not coming through, I’ll take it into my own hands). Which of the three are you most prone to? How can you overcome this temptation and choose
patience?
4. How does understanding God’s patience towards you influence the way you deal with difficult people in your life?
5. What one verse or point from the sermon spoke to you the most and why?
SERMON SERIES:Relationships: Hurts Worth Healing
SERMON TITLE: Love–The Only Answer
DATE: 4/14-15/12
ICEBREAKER: What’s one book that you could read over and over again?
1. Relationships are more important than accomplishments in life. What are some of the things in your life that deter you from making loving others your greatest priority?
2. Pastor Kent explained that at the end of your life, God will do an audit and He’ll be looking at our relationships as an indicator of how well we lived. If you had that audit today, how do you think you would do?
3. Do you agree with the statement that you can give without loving but you cannot love without giving? Why or why not? Explain.
4. In order to be able to truly love someone well, God must birth that love in our hearts. Have you ever experienced this before–gaining the ability to to love someone supernaturally? Explain.
5. What one point or verse from the sermon spoke to you most and why?
6. What expectations do you have for the sermon series: “Relationships, Hurts Worth Healing”? What are you hoping to get out of it? Has God brought any particular relationships to your mind as a result of the sermon?