Main Point: Jesus’ sacrifice leads to worship, service, and community.

Questions:

1. Read Philippians 2:1-11. What grabbed your attention in these verses? What questions do you have about this section of Scripture? Was there anything challenging or encouraging?

2. What do these verses tell us about Jesus? What do they tell us about God’s desire for the Christian community?

3. Read Philippians 2:1-4. What is the “therefore” there for? How does this section of Scripture connect to the previous section (Phil. 1:27-29)?

4. What benefits of being in a relationship with Jesus does Paul list? What does Paul instruct the Philippians to do in response to these benefits?

5. How are Christians told to treat one another? What specific words does Paul use to describe the behavior that marks Christian community? How does this relate to the example set by Jesus?

6. Read Philippians 2:5-11. What does it mean to have the same mindset as Jesus? What words best describe that mindset based in these verses?

7. What did Jesus give up during his incarnation? What was his attitude while he was on earth? What was Jesus’ ultimate act of servanthood? What does the crucifixion tell us about the heart of God?

8. What does Paul mean that “every knee should bow”? What does this tell us about Jesus? How does a larger understanding of Christ’s sacrifice affect a Christian’s worship? How does it affect the way we serve others? How are worship and service connected?

9. What did you learn about God in these verses? What did you learn about yourself? What is God asking you to understand or to do as a result of what you have learned?

10. By God’s grace what is one thing you can do to apply what you have learned this week?

Main Point: Sharing our faith is part of loving God and loving others well.

Questions:

Read Acts 17:16-34. What is going on in these verses? What questions do you have about this section of Scripture? What grabbed your attention?

What do you notice about Paul’s words? How does he build a case for Christ using what he sees and what he knows of Greek culture and philosophy?

Read Acts 17:16-18. What was Paul’s reaction to the idols he saw? Why do you think he responded this way? How is the culture of Athens similar or different to our current culture?

How did Paul interact with the people in the synagogue and the marketplace? How might his message be different with Jews and Gentiles? What was the same?

Read Acts 17:19-28. The people were interested in what Paul was teaching. How did Paul begin his presentation of the gospel? Why is linking the gospel to things people can relate to so important?

Paul quoted two Gentile philosophers in verse 28 – Cretan philosopher Epimenides and Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus. Why did he quote them? What does this reveal about Paul’s understanding of the culture? How did Paul use the culture around him to present the gospel?

Read Acts 17:29-34. How did Paul set up the gospel in these verses? What was his “proof”? How is the resurrection central to telling people about Jesus?

How did the people respond? How is this mixed response helpful in understanding our own efforts to share the gospel?

What do you think keeps Christians from sharing their faith? How do you feel about sharing the gospel? Think about a time you have shared your faith. How did it go?

What did you learn about God in these verses? What did you learn about yourself? What is God asking you to understand or to do as a result of what you have learned?

By God’s grace what is one thing you can do to apply what you have learned this week?

Main Point: Take Action!

Nehemiah returns to Persia only to discover the people in Jerusalem have gone back to their old ways. They have allowed enemies in the Temple, neglected those serving in the Temple, compromised Sabbath rest, and allowed mixed-faith marriages. Nehemiah comes back to Jerusalem to handle the situation and get the people back on track.

Questions:

1. Read Nehemiah 13. What is going on in these verses? What questions do you have about this section of Scripture? What things grabbed your attention?

2. Read Nehemiah 13:1-3. These verses are a wrap up of the events in chapter 12. What are the people committed to doing? What do you remember about the story of Balaam?

(Balaam = Numbers 22-24 / Commandment about Ammonites and Moabites = Deut. 23:3-6)

3. Read Nehemiah 13:4-9. What is going on in this section? Where was Nehemiah? What did he do when he came back to Jerusalem?

4. Tobiah was an enemy and an Ammonite. Why was it important to remove him from the Temple storage area? How does this connect to Nehemiah 13:1-3?

5. Read Nehemiah 13:10-14. What have result of the people failing to provide for the Levites and the musicians? What does Nehemiah do to correct the situation?

6. Read Nehemiah 13:15-22. How were the people failing to honor the Sabbath rest? What does Nehemiah do? What action does he take to get the merchants waiting by the gates to leave?

7. Read Nehemiah 13:23-31. What issue does Nehemiah address in this section? Were you shocked by his actions? How had this problem affected the priesthood?

8. What did you learn about God in these verses? What did you learn about yourself? What is God asking you to understand or to do as a result of what you have learned?

9. By God’s grace what is one thing you can do to apply what you have learned this week?

Main Point: Joy is rooted in relationship with God.

Questions:

1. Read Nehemiah 11-12. What questions do you have about these chapters? What things grabbed your attention?

2. Read Nehemiah 11:1-2. What is going on in these verses? Why would the people be reluctant to move back into Jerusalem? Why is it important for people to repopulate the city?

3. Read Nehemiah 12:27-30. What preparations were made for the wall’s dedication? Why did the people seek out the Levites? Why is purification necessary before celebration?

4. What roll does joy have in the wall’s rededication? Why are the people joyful?

5. Read Nehemiah 12:31-43. Describe the situation on the wall and around the wall. Who is leading the groups? What are they doing? How was joy a part of their celebration?

6. How do you define joy? Can you think of any Scriptures that relate to joy? How is joy different than happiness? What role does joy have in the life of follower of Christ? What is the source of joy for a Christian?

7. Read Nehemiah 12:44-47. Why is this last section of chapter twelve important? Why do they focus on providing for God’s ongoing work? How does this ensure that the worship celebration would continue after the wall’s rededication?

8. What did you learn about God in these verses? What did you learn about yourself? What is God asking you to understand or to do as a result of what you have learned?

9. By God’s grace what is one thing you can do to apply what you have learned this week?

Main Point: God’s amazing love motivates our whole-hearted commitment.

Questions:

1. Read Nehemiah 9:38-10:39. What questions do you have about this passage? What grabbed your attention in this chapter?

2. How does the prayer in chapter 9 set up the people’s recommitment? What are the people committing to do? What is their motivation?

3. Read Nehemiah 10:1-29. What three specific groups are listed in these verses? Why is it important that people in leadership roles are making this commitment? In addition to the leadership, who else commits to follow God’s laws?

4. Why is following God’s commands an important part of our relationship with Him? Does following God’s commands make God love us more? Does disobedience make God love us less? Why?

5. Read Nehemiah 10:30. The first commitment the people make involves relationships. Why do the people commit to marrying only people from the same faith? Why does God prohibit interfaith marriages? (See 1 Corinthians 6:14-18)

6. Read Nehemiah 10:31. The next commitments the people make have to do with how they use their time. What three things are the people committing to do in this verse? How do these things relate to their relationship to God?

7. What do Sabbath rest, allowing the land to rest, and forgiving debts reveal about the heart of God? How does this knowledge affect the way we live right now?

8. Read Nehemiah 10:32-39. The final commitments the people make are related to their resources. What are the people committing to do in this section of Scripture? Why is giving to the work of the Lord important?

9. Why do you think people are reluctant to give their resources to churches and other ministries? What does our perspective about money reveal about our hearts? (See Matthew 6:19-24) What does God want most when we give? What attitude delights God’s heart when we give? (See 2 Corinthians 9:6-7)

10. What did you learn about God in these verses? What did you learn about yourself? What is God asking you to understand or to do as a result of what you have learned?

11. By God’s grace what is one thing you can do to apply what you have learned this week?

Main Point: God’s great love and grace call us back to repentance.

Questions:

Read Nehemiah 9:1-38. What questions do you have about this passage? What grabbed your attention in this chapter?

What do you notice about the people before their prayer? What do you notice about the prayer itself? How is God described? How are the people described?

Looking Up: Read Nehemiah 9:5-6. Prayer starts with remembering God’s character. What do you notice about the way God is described in this section? What do these verses say about the glory and power of God?

Do you start your prayers reflecting on God’s character? What words do you use when you are praying to describe God?

Looking Back: Read Nehemiah 9:7-31. There is a lot of history in this section. The prayer basically breaks down several books of the Old Testament:

Abraham: 9:7-8 (Genesis), Delivering God’s People from Egypt: 9:9-12 (Exodus), The Law: 9:13-15 (Leviticus), The Wilderness Wondering: 9:16-21 (Numbers and Deuteronomy), Moving into the Promised Land: 9:22-25 (Joshua), Rebellions and Rescue: 9:26-31 (Judges), Kings and the Babylonian Exile: 9:30-31 (Books of history and Prophets).

What themes do you see in these various sections of history? What do we learn about God’s people? What do we learn about the character of God?

How does this history compare to your own personal history with God? Why is it important to remember how God has interacted with us?

Looking In: Read Nehemiah 9:32-37. In this section, the Israelites look at their current situation and take stock of what has brought them to this place. What do you notice about their reflection? Even in their difficulty, how do they speak about God? Why is this understanding important?

Looking Forward: Read Nehemiah 9:38. We know from Nehemiah 10:30-39 that their new plan was to walk in obedience to God. What is repentance? How does confession and repentance relate to God’s people returning to God?

Why is committing to live differently so important to genuine repentance? How is God’s grace active in repentance and in recommitment?

What did you learn about God in these verses? What did you learn about yourself? What is God asking you to understand or to do as a result of what you have learned?

By God’s grace what is one thing you can do to apply what you have learned this week?