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4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Home Group Questions:

This verse can make it look as though Christians are gullible and we give people license to walk all over us and mistreat us because we are weak.  How is living in accordance with this verse actually a display of strength and trust in God? How is Jesus our example of this kind of strength? (Consider Matt 26:53 and John 10:17-18)


What are some things that we may have to bear and endure from our fellow Christians?



Charles Spurgeon once said "I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages". What do you think he meant by this?How does bearing all things and enduring all things help you in your relationship with Jesus? 



How can bearing all things and enduring all things help build other people's faith? 

How does our love for God help us live out this verse and more importantly how does God's love for us help us to live out this verse?



How should trusting God make living out this verse possible?



What do you think might help you overcome the natural propensity we all have for self protection and self preservation?


The NIV translates 'bears all things' as 'always protects', which is another way to translate the word Paul uses. What are some of the ways love ought to always protect within the church?



How does Galatians 6:1-2 and Matthew 18:15-17 add more dimension to our understanding of loving our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ?

Jesus and Thomas

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of This Book

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

15 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

21 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
    humble, and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

“‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
    you have prepared praise’?”

God Is Our Fortress

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.

46 God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Jesus Wept!

Please read John 11:1-44.

Jesus knows
Jesus cares
Jesus saves
Jesus releases


1 Corinthians 15: 51-55
 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?    
O death, where is your sting?”

2 Corinthians 
1:3b-4 the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.


Study Questions:

The word 'wrongdoing' points towards actions committed but what are the underlying beliefs and thoughts behind wrongdoings, not only in the world but also among Christians? How do these beliefs relate to righteousness/unrighteousness?

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How do you understand Brian Borgmann's definition of God's righteousness:

“His commitment to uphold the worth of his own glory, and then to act in perfect accord with that which maintains and promotes his glory.”

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What is your understanding of God's glory is and why is upholding the worth of His glory so important to Him? 

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How is God's glory related to righteousness? 

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The Westminster Catechism says that "the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever" and Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31: 31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God".

Why should God's glory be of utmost importance to a believer? If God's glory is our highest priority how should that effect the way we treat other believers?

What does it mean to be jealous for God's glory and if we are how does this effect our relationship with other believers?

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What are some of the ways that Christians might rejoice in unrighteousness in their own lives and in other people's live? 

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How is rejoicing in wrongdoing/unrighteousness unloving?

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How did the sermon shape your understanding of "the truth"?  (See the following verses as a reminder; John 8:32,  John 14:6, John 16:13,  John 17:17, John 18:38, Ephesians 1:13, 2 John 4)

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How are truth and unrighteousness opposites? How does believing and following the truth guard us from unrighteousness?

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Paul's says "rejoices WITH the truth". Why do you think he said "with" instead of "in"?

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In what ways might you rejoice with the truth, at home, at work, in church, when with friends etc?

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How is rejoicing with the truth loving?

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Home Group:

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.


Home Group Questions:

God is in Control:  God’s plan has not changed and neither should our response 

Philippians 2:1-16a 

Small Groups Discussion Questions: 

1. What does it mean to be made in the image of God: 
   1. For the believer? 
   2. Related to the dignity of all humans? 
   3. Related to how we as Christians should interact with both Christians and Non-Christians? 
2. How do we know that, even after the fall, that we are still in the likeness of God (though marred)? 
3. How does Christ help to restore the image of God in a human? 
4. How should we as God’s people react when the media and those in politics slander us as unloving? 
5. How weird would it be for the Roman ears to hear the teaching of the equality of humans? 
6. How much weirder would it be to the Roman ears to hear of a God that would allow himself to be sacrificed for His people? 
7. Tom shared two stories (1) the man who gave him a Bible tract and (2) the friend he invited to church.  Are there stories you can share where you have done well, or not so well, have not loved as you should have or wished that you would have said something differently. 
8. It is often said that the Bible states in 1 Cor 5 that we should not associate with the sexually immoral but the Bible also speaks of a prostitute coming to Christ as well as many others in sexual sin.  Read 1 Cor 5:9&13. How does this bring clarity on how Christians ought to deal with people involved in sexual sins as well as other serious sins? 
9. Why do you think Paul instructs the Corinthians to judge those inside the church but not those outside the church? 
10. Read Romans 8:26 and share how that makes you feel in a time of distress.