Podcast on The Way

We’re taking a break from Hosea to go through a short series on the Attributes of God. This week’s intro message focused on why the study of God is important.

Talk with your group about your pre-existing ideas about the nature of God. Are there any significant ways that your view of God has changed?

In addition, there was a word of warning, “To be preoccupied with getting theological knowledge as an end in itself, to approach Bible study with no higher a motive than a desire to know all the answers, is the direct route to a state of self-satisfied self-deception.

There can be no spiritual health without doctrinal knowledge; but it is equally true that there can be no spiritual health with it, if it is sought for the wrong purpose and valued by the wrong standard. In this way, doctrinal study really can become a danger to spiritual life, and we today, no less than the Corinthians of old, need to be on our guard here.” (J.I. Paker)

How can learning more about God be a danger to one's spiritual life? Has it been a danger in your life? Spend some time praying for each other as we begin this study that we would not become conceited Christians.

In this week's message, we see God telling Hosea to go and buy back Gomer, who has returned to her former ways and is now a slave up for auction to pay her debt. This is the redemptive story of Israel, God's people, as they left the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to worship other Gods. Despite Israel's unfaithfulness, God pursues them and is waiting for their return.

This is our story now, too. We wander away from God to worship other things. We pursue things that don't build toward His kingdom in the age to come. Instead, they build our kingdom in the present day. God is patient with us and longs for us to return to Him. He longs for us to “come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness.”

Talk with your group about this illustration and how you see it play out in your life. Talk about times when you have been faithful to God and times when you have failed. Are there things in your life right now that are distracting you from this truth?

In this week's message, we see a beautiful picture of prayer in the closing verses of Hosea 2. In this future heaven and Earth, God answers the heavens which answer the Earth, which answers the grain and wine and oil, which answer Israel. There is no disharmony in the prayers of this new heaven and Earth.

What are the things you are praying for right now? Share these with your group so they can join you in your prayers.

Have you considered the potential disharmony of your prayers? Do you find yourself praying selfishly without thinking about the effect your prayers would have on others? How would your day to day life change if you stopped grumbling over your frustrations and prayed for them instead? Talk with your group about this different perspective and how it will change the way you think about prayer.

Spend time as a group in prayer. Pray for each other. Commit to praying for each other throughout the week and commit to thinking through your prayers.

In this week's message, we learned about the terrible history of the valley of Achor and what it represented to the nation of Israel. But now, in Hosea 2:15 we see that valley of turmoil being transformed into a door of hope.

The story starts with the hidden sin of Achan, which doesn't stay hidden. But before it is brought to light it causes the army of Israel to suffer defeat. This leads to a dramatic revealing of Achan’s sin and the consequences that come with it. Have you been struggling with some hidden sin? What is keeping you from confessing it and repenting from it? Will you let God turn that valley of turmoil into a door of hope?

Maybe this isn't where you are in life right now, but you have a valley of Achor story from your past. Would you share how God worked in your life to redeem that situation as an encouragement for your group and as an example of God's goodness?

When we think about how Jesus became Achan for us dying for our sin even the secret sin in our lives so that God could see us as good how does that make you feel? How does this truth encourage you to continue the process of sanctification?

“The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.” Psalms 24:1-2 God is the creator of everything and the one who gives us all we have. Every gift comes from the LORD!

How has God gifted you? What things have you seen God give you in this life? How have you learned about God’s nature through what he has given or allowed you to have?

How is God achieving His purpose in you?  Do you remember where the “gold and silver” come from? Where does that gold and silver go in your life?

Talk with your group about how good God is to want us back despite our unfaithfulness.

Within our local church, are there topics that you feel God leading you to address? Do these topics address the “main thing”of God's love for us and our intimate connection to him or are they simply your opinion about your personal preference regarding elements of worship, methods of discipleship, community service, fellowship, etc?

Do you, in equal parts, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all? Which of these do you struggle the most with and why?

What are the things in your life that you continue to pursue but always seem just out of reach? Have you considered that it could be God is keeping you from harm? Describe some examples of “hedge of thorns” and walls built by God in your life.

In this week's message, we see God making what seems to be a contradictory statement in verse 10. After saying these are not my people, he says they are children of the living God. Since the people of God ignore his continued pleas, they are replaced. This should be a chilling thought. In what areas of your life are you guilty of worshipping other Gods? Do you consider that there could be a time when God's patience for you ends?Take time this Easter week to celebrate and share the good things that God is doing in your life.