SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 1 1:9-20, 1:26-2:10, 2:12-25, & 3:1-20

“The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.”  - 1 Samuel 3:19

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What is the relationship between listening and compassion?

2. Reflect on Hannah’s story: who is listening here? Who is compassionate?

3. Reflect on the story of Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phineas: who is not listening here? How does that affect their compassion? 

4. Reflect on the story of the bad news Samuel is asked to share with Eli: what is compassionate? What does it mean to listen? 

5. What can make facing the Truth–in a situation and in ourselves–so difficult sometimes? What would it take to have courage in that kind of situation?

6. What can we learn from this story about who God is? 

7. What can we learn about who we are?

8. What can we learn about how to live in right relationships with Him, with ourselves, with others, or with Creation?

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 25:14-30 & Luke 16:1-13

“The point here is that we should be asking ourselves, ‘do I think my God is the kind of master who expects me to participate with Him in the work of the Kingdom?’ What does my attitude towards money suggest about my answer? Am I trying to keep it separate, trying to avoid thinking about it in the context of my faith, or treating it like it is something embarrassing? Or do I see money as something I’ve been entrusted with, not just to meet my material needs, but to reflect my beliefs about who God is? “

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What have your experiences been with “money sermons”? What has been helpful, or made a positive impact on your life? What has “rubbed you the wrong way”?

2. Does the way we use money really “reveal the beliefs about God we are investing in”? How so? How does the parable about the money given to the three servants (Matthew 25:14-30) relate?

3. How might your money habits illuminate your relationship with God?

4. Kenny said the parable in Luke 16:1-13 is one of the most famously tricky parables in the New Testament. Give it a read: what stands out to you? What is confusing?

5. If we agree with Kenny that the manager is likely offering discounts to customers by eliminating his own commissions, what makes this behavior “shrewd”? What makes it “commendable”?

6. How can you use your money to invest more in people? Why is this something Jesus wants us to do?

7. The end of that passage in Luke 16 is oft-quoted: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” How does this verse relate to our topic tonight? How does it teach you or challenge you?

SCRIPTURE: Galatians 5.13-6.2

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” - Galatians 5:22-25

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Take a moment to try and summarize some of the things we’ve learned about the letter to the Galatians so far: What has stood out to you? What might God be trying to say to us?

2. What do you think gets in the way of your willingness to rest in the truth that the Holy Spirit is working within you?

3. Where do you experience the temptation to seek control in your life, especially when it comes to “good behaviors”? 

4. Where do you see reflections of God’s character in yourself?

5. What “fruit of the Spirit” do you feel most distant from? Are you willing to pray for that “fruit” to be more evident in your life?

6. Where do you see reflections of God’s character in others? Take time this week to tell them so!

SCRIPTURE: Galatians 4.8-5.1

“We may not be rushing to observe Jewish festivals or pursuing adult circumcision… but we are still Galatians. What have we done? We’ve chased certainty and systems of rule-following. We’ve dressed those things up as ‘maturity.’ We’ve allowed the spirits of judgmentalism and legalism those things foster to justify unkindness within us. And when these rigid structures we are relying on inevitably crack–in divisions, in corruption, in scandal–we walk away from our faith because it looks like it has let us down. Would those things have happened if we had held onto the mystery? Would they have happened if we had made our personal trust in the unfolding discovery of God’s love for us and the transforming conviction and guidance of the Holy Spirit our top priority, over and above what seemed practical and certain?”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Take a moment to try and summarize some of the things we’ve learned about the letter to the Galatians so far: What has stood out to you? What might God be trying to say to us?

2. So much of this series has been about the temptation to chase certainty in our faith: when have you experienced this temptation? Where has it led you?

3. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian? 

4. How can we stay open to the work the Holy Spirit wants to do in our lives? What do we have to be willing to give up in order to see it happen? 

5. What is your personal reason for being a Christian? For being a part of this church?

6. Kenny asked, “does Revolution exist because there is good work to be done in Annapolis [or] because the Holy Spirit, working freely and unmistakably in each one of us, makes the existence of Revolution inescapable?” What is the difference? How can we be a church more firmly rooted in what the Holy Spirit is doing among us? 

SCRIPTURE: Galatians 3.1-4.7

“The big story God has been telling remains the same: He wants to be known in the world. He wants to set a people apart for himself for that very purpose! But what makes those people set apart cannot be their purity, it must be His generosity. He sets prisoners free: that’s what God’s love looks like. That’s what His love does. We embody that Good News when we live in freedom.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Take a moment to try and summarize some of the things we’ve learned about the letter to the Galatians so far: what would you say is the “big idea” here? What has stood out to you? What might God be trying to say to us?

2. Why do you think God is committed to creating a “people set apart”? What’s the purpose?

3. Kenny used the analogy of our church softball team to talk about two ways of thinking about being set apart: we can be ‘set apart’ as an example of the values of our church… or we can be ‘set apart’ as a way of judging or condemning the values of others. What’s the difference between the two? Which is closer to the heart of what you believe about God?

4. What does the Law reveal to us about ourselves? 

5. Why is it so important to Paul for the Galatians to see the Good News as freedom? 

6. Paul describes the Holy Spirit as the Answer to the dilemma of the Law: how can we make listening to the Holy Spirit a more consistent practice in our lives? How can we do this in a way that is rooted in love and joy rather than legalism?

SCRIPTURE: Galatians 1.13-2.21

“The free gift of an intimate relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ draws us closer together. It draws us into harmony, in our hearts and in our actions. And that harmony can be the Church. In fact, it’s meant to be the Church. But this also means the best way of understanding the Church is as a kind-of miracle of grace: it’s what happens when we walk together in the same direction. It’s the community that emerges, just as freely, from our discovery of God’s grace alongside our friends.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Kenny said that “the Gospel is bigger than the Church.” What do you think he meant by this? Why does Paul (and why do we!) say the Gospel is something we preach instead of something we give or share? 

2. Many of us are wary of the Church. Take some time to talk this through: what makes Church difficult for you? What might make it difficult for others to trust the Church? 

3. After fourteen years of ministry, Paul goes to Jerusalem to share what he has been preaching with the leaders of the first Christian church there. What draws him back to them? What is he hoping will happen?

4. If the Gospel is true, it will draw us together: this is the “big idea” for tonight. How can this idea challenge you as you take the next steps in your faith? Where (and to whom?) is Jesus leading you?

5. How can our church better encourage unity among Christians? How can we be part of the solution, when it comes to the fears and anxieties of our neighbors who are skeptical of the Church? 

6. What do you think it means to “live the Gospel”? Why is it impossible to do this alone? 

SCRIPTURE: Galatians 3.1-3 & 1.10

“The difference between a legalistic faith and a relational faith is in who we are focused on: in a legalistic faith, your eyes are always on your neighbors, to see if they approve of what you are doing–to see if they even see you at all! But in a relational faith, your focus is entirely–even blindingly–on the one you love. What Paul asks us to consider is who our behavior pleases–who the behavior is for. Under the old system of the Law, you could only love and serve God by proxy, through the medium of rule-following and ritual. Paul’s challenge is to try and remind the Galatians that Jesus is better: the rule-following and rituals are responses to a real and personal delight in being loved and known by God.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians can feel a bit like eavesdropping on an argument. Why do you think it is important for us to continue to read and consider letters like this one? What do they contribute to the greater whole of Scripture?

2. At the center of Paul’s frustrations with the Galatians is this verse, from chapter 3: “After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” What do you think this verse means in context? What does it mean to you?

3. How would you define “legalism”? What makes it not only tempting but reasonable, at least some of the time?

4. Paul’s response to the legalism of the Galatians is to insist that Jesus is enough–in fact, Jesus is better. What do you think Paul means? How can it help the Galatians in their situation?

5. Although we really want everyone to return to the regular rhythms of church, we are committed to encouraging folks to rediscover God’s love for them first. What do you think of this value for our church in this season? How are you taking steps to better feel and know God’s love for you?

SCRIPTURE: Luke 11:1-13 & Matthew 21:28-32

“When you chase survival, when you chase self-sufficiency, the best you can ever hope for is appreciation. But when you admit weakness, you can experience love. If faith is confidence in God’s promises and God’s character, the only way you will ever truly discover it is by learning to more deeply–and more audaciously–depend on Him.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Have you ever felt like you are in “survival mode”? Kenny said that one of the consequences of this feeling is that “your world shrinks down.” Do you know that feeling? Have you felt it in the last few years, as we have been going through the pandemic?

2. How do you get out of “survival mode”? 

3. Kenny defined faith as “confidence (not certainty!) in the promises and character of God.” Take a few minutes to think over this definition: what is helpful about it? What questions do you have? Would you agree or disagree?

4. In the story of the two neighbors, it is the first man’s “shameless audacity” that ultimately convinces the second man to help. Try to connect this to prayer: does praying feel “shameless” or “audacious” to you? Would you want it to? How does this story challenge you?

5. It’s important to the parable that God is not like the second man, who only answers requests begrudgingly. How does Jesus describe God’s attitude towards our needs/prayers?

6. What about the second parable, about the two sons? When have you said “no” to something…and then changed your mind? When have you said “yes” to something…and then dropped the ball? How do you feel about each experience in hindsight?

7. What is Jesus trying to communicate about God’s Kingdom in this parable? 

8. How can you take a step of faith towards God this week? How can you accept a deeper connection in our church community? 

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

SCRIPTURE: Luke 11:1-13 & Matthew 21:28-32

“When you chase survival, when you chase self-sufficiency, the best you can ever hope for is appreciation. But when you admit weakness, you can experience love. If faith is confidence in God’s promises and God’s character, the only way you will ever truly discover it is by learning to more deeply–and more audaciously–depend on Him.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Have you ever felt like you are in “survival mode”? Kenny said that one of the consequences of this feeling is that “your world shrinks down.” Do you know that feeling? Have you felt it in the last few years, as we have been going through the pandemic?

2. How do you get out of “survival mode”? 

3. Kenny defined faith as “confidence (not certainty!) in the promises and character of God.” Take a few minutes to think over this definition: what is helpful about it? What questions do you have? Would you agree or disagree?

4. In the story of the two neighbors, it is the first man’s “shameless audacity” that ultimately convinces the second man to help. Try to connect this to prayer: does praying feel “shameless” or “audacious” to you? Would you want it to? How does this story challenge you?

5. It’s important to the parable that God is not like the second man, who only answers requests begrudgingly. How does Jesus describe God’s attitude towards our needs/prayers?

6. What about the second parable, about the two sons? When have you said “no” to something…and then changed your mind? When have you said “yes” to something…and then dropped the ball? How do you feel about each experience in hindsight?

7. What is Jesus trying to communicate about God’s Kingdom in this parable? 

8. How can you take a step of faith towards God this week? How can you accept a deeper connection in our church community?