SCRIPTURE: Genesis 4:1-15

REFLECT:

1. The big idea this week is that anger isn’t the problem; arrogance is. What are your thoughts on this statement?

2. Do you feel that anger is either good or bad? How do you experience anger in your own life?

3. Kenny said that Cain’s anger (the first anger in the Bible!) caused his “face to fall.” What do you think the significance of this is? Fall from where?

4. Cain’s anger also leads to his famous retort, “am I my brother’s keeper?” What does this reveal about Cain? About his priority in this moment? How are we also guilty of using this question to avoid our responsibilities in the world?

5. What can we learn from God’s anger in this story? What does he do/what doesn’t he do here?

6. How can we be more “long-nosed” with our own anger? What can we do to avoid what is dangerous in it and honor what is good in it?

7. Where should we be angry as we look at the world today? What is the God-like way to deal with that anger?

SCRIPTURE: John 20:11-23

REFLECT:

1. Kenny argues that saying “He is risen!” is the single most important claim in Christian faith. What do you think he means by that? Do you agree? Why or why not?

2. Why is it significant that the Roman authorities, the chief priests, and the disciples all blame each other for the disappearance of Jesus’s body on the morning of the third day? What does it suggest to us, as we consider the events from a historical perspective?

3. When Mary goes to the tomb and finds it empty, what does the risen Jesus say to finally get her attention/reveal himself to her? What might we learn from that, in our own lives? What does it teach us about who God is and how God feels about us?

4. In this sermon, Kenny argues that giving up is a good thing. He says it’s necessary, if we want to recognize a real miracle when it happens. What do you think he means by this? How does it fit into the story of Easter?

5. Where are you struggling with feelings of “giving up” in your own life? How can the Easter story meet you where you are? What comfort might it be able to provide? How are you challenged by this message…and who can you share what you’re feeling with?

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 8

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. When have you encountered or experienced the “majesty” of God? How would you describe it? How does it shape or affect you?

2. What can we learn about God when we consider the psalmist’s question, “what is man, that you are mindful of him”?

3. How does God exercise “dominion” over us? Over his creation? What do the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus teach us about how God intends for “dominion” to work?

4. The challenges from this Psalm could be to 1) reach everyone, as God, in his majesty, makes himself known to all of us, 2) accept intimacy with others and with God, as God chooses intimacy with us, and 3) model generosity, as God shares dominion with us and teaches us how to exercise it. That’s a lot to think about it! Talk through these points with each other, and try to identify which ones are most difficult for you...and how you might lean into your community to better reach out, accept intimacy, and model generosity.

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 9-10:18, Jeremiah 31:31-34, & Matthew 27:50-51

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 8

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 4:14-5:11; 6:19-7:29

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 3-4:13

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. In what way(s) is Jesus similar to Moses?

2. In what way(s) is Jesus greater than Moses?

3. Why do you think the Israelites turn away from Moses/God when they are wandering in the Wilderness?

4. How are we like the Israelites in the Wilderness? What warning is the author of Hebrews trying to share with us?

5. What do you believe about God’s forgiveness? What do you believe about salvation? 

6. Why do you think Christian salvation depends on belief, of all things?

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 1-2

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 1

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. [on the sermon] The Psalms are a collection of earnest songs expressing most every emotion: joy, fear, sadness, anger, envy, bitterness, excitement, hope, and more. Why would the Israelites preserve this collection and even use it in worship? What might this teach us about what worship should be?

2. One of the most remarkable things about the psalms is that they often express pretty “un-Christlike” desires, including the punishment and destruction of the psalmist’s enemies. How can we hold the teachings of the psalms in one hand…and the teachings of Jesus (who revered the psalms!) in the other?

3. What is David’s symbolic connection to the psalms? Why is he such an important figure to Israel, and what is the connection between him and the coming Messiah?

4. What do the Psalms do? How can we use them effectively in our own worship?

5. [on Psalm 1] What does it suggest that the "blessed man" does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers? Why those 3 verbs?

6. Think on the comparison the psalmist makes between meditating on the law and a tree planted by streams of water. How might we be challenged by this comparison?

SCRIPTURE: Ruth 1-4

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Where do we notice people really seeing one another in this story? Who do you, personally, struggle to see?

2. Throughout Ruth’s story, various characters go a step beyond seeing others and actually become curious about them. This leads to real questions about people’s stories and what their needs might be. Is there anyone in your life right now who deserves your curiosity? What would it look like to seek out their story or learn about their needs?

3. Ruth, the workers in the field, and Boaz are all examples of people who share generously in this story. Why is sharing so important?

4. Why do you think this simple story was so important to the Israelites, who passed it along for centuries as an oral tradition before it was even written down for the first time?

5. Kenny said that one of the most important things about what Boaz does for Ruth isn’t just that he’s generous and kind…it’s that he connects that generosity to the generosity of God by telling Ruth that she’s not just under his care, she is under God’s care. Kenny also said that church’s sometimes drop the ball on this last part: we convince ourselves that being generous is enough…when our real responsibility is to connect that generosity to the hope God gives. How can we do a better job—as individuals, as a church—in sharing what we believe about God’s character with others?