Ryan Moffat

Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 11:1-5

1. What did the Holy Spirit say to you through the teaching this weekend?

2. How does the metaphor of Isaiah 11 strike you? What elements caused new awareness for you?

3. Re-read the hymn from Cowper (God Moves in Mysterious Ways). What resonates with you? What experiences in your life demonstrate these truths? God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform; he plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable mines, of never-failing skill; he fashions up his bright designs, and works his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, the clouds that you much dread, are big with mercy and will break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan his work in vain; God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain.

4. How can you enjoy God more fully this advent season? How can God be enough for you as you wait between the first advent and the second advent (New Heavens and New Earth)?

Steve Stratos

Malachi 3:1-4

1. What aspect of prophecy fulfilled is most powerful: emotional, spiritual, or mental? Why?

2. What captivates your imagination in your walk with God?

3. What part of knowing Jesus as your Shepherd is the most meaningful?

4. How does the birth of Jesus in a cave most strike you?

5. How do His humble beginnings shape your relationships?

Ryan Moffat & Mark Seekins

1 Corinthians 4:14-21 1

. What did God’s Spirit say to you this week through the teaching?

2. Where do you see the “orphan spirit” wreaking havoc on people today? How has spiritual orphanhood effected your own life, family, or church?

3. Who has moved from “Teacher” to “Spiritual Parent” in your life? What did they do with you that moved beyond content/information exchange that caused a deeper transformation?

4. How is God calling you (and SCC) to be a part of His mission in re-parenting the orphans back into the family of God? How willing are you to be a part of His mission in doing this work? What role do you sense you’re being called to play?

Ryan Moffat

Daniel 9:1-19

1. What did the Holy Spirit say to you from the teaching or service this week?

2. Honestly assess your prayer life. Do you remember a time you felt desperate for God? What was happening that unlocked that desperation? How often do you allow yourself to become “poor of spirit”?

3. It says that Daniel “turned his face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer” (vs. 3). How can you more proactively turn your face toward God? What issue or situation in life are you walking through right now that you have simply tried to manage instead of petition God in prayer?

4. Daniel’s prayer is marked by confession: “we have sinned, we have gone astray, we have defied the covenant”, etc. Read Psalm 51 (specifically verses 1-4). Why don’t we confess our real shortcomings? Why don’t we stop pretending and just become honest with God, ourselves, and others about our neediness?

5. Daniel ends his prayer by focusing on God’s activity that prayer evokes in God (“O Lord hear, O Lord forgive, O Lord pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name”). How would your life change if you really believed God hears, God forgives, God pays attention to our requests, and then God acts?

6. How motivated are you to engage at least one hour this next week to invest in our week of prayer? Which day & time will you commit to attending?

Ryan Moffat

Psalm 78:1-8, Deuteronomy 6

Liturgies of glory: How our rhythms shape our life, define our center, and transform our destiny

1. What did the Holy Spirit say to you through the Scriptures this weekend?

2. How can you help pass on the LIGHT (not necessarily the TORCH, just the LIGHT) to the coming generation?

3. How do you see the Church being effective in helping the coming generation “PUT THEIR HOPE IN GOD”? How can the Church (SCC or the Church in general) do this more effectively?

4. Do you have “anchor points” from your own spiritual history that help you, your family, and the coming generations find their hope in God? What are those?

5. Spiritual formation and discipleship of our families is to be both formal and informal. Which do you gravitate towards? Where do you need more help, encouragement, teaching, and training to do this more effectively?

Dustin Smith

1 Corinthians 4:1-13

1. What stood out to you in today's sermon?

2. The Christian community is designed to bear each other's burdens. What burdens do you need help carrying?

3. What is the difference between judgment and discernment? How have either of these played out in your life?

4. List characteristics of your ideal community? In what ways have you loved this idea more than the reality of Christian community?

5. Name a way/step you can take to merge your public and private life closer together?

Ryan Moffat

1 Corinthians 3:1-22

1. What did the Holy Spirit reveal to you through the teaching this week?

2. How would you honestly rate your spiritual development (baby, infant, child, teenager, parent, or grandparent)? What has caused you (if anything) to stay stuck in your spiritual growth? How important is it for you to keep growing?

3. Which metaphor stood out the most to you this week (God’s Field, God’s Building, or God’s Temple)? How do these metaphors inform and animate the way Body Life should function?

4. Paul exhorts the Corinthian Church to “be careful [take care] how you build upon it.” What does it mean for you and for SCC to be more thoughtful and careful in how we’re building our Church? Where might distraction and inattention to detail derail the work God is doing?

5. What else did the Holy Spirit teach you this week?

Ryan Moffat

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

1. What did the Spirit say to you this weekend through the Scriptures?

2. Paul contrasts Spiritual Wisdom vs. Natural Wisdom in this section. What are some embodiments of “natural wisdom” that have seeped into your thinking that you might need to re-evaluate?

3. Paul says the Spirit does two things (that are synonymous) in this passage: He “REVEALS” (2:10) and He helps us “understand the things freely given us by God” (2:12). Where do you need greater understanding in the sufficiency of the gospel? How would your life change and your interior hidden CORE be strengthened if you had greater confidence in what you have in Jesus?

4. What do verses 14-16 tell us about the challenge of evangelism? If the natural person CANNOT accept spiritual wisdom, what strategies and steps should you take to convey spiritual truth to those who can’t see or accept it?

5. What else did the Holy Spirit teach you this week?

Ryan Moffat

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

1. Discuss this statement: “A ministry must be gospel centered to be a faithful ministry.” Agree or disagree?

2. How confident are you to explain the gospel? Can you articulate it to someone effectively and quickly?

3. What ill effects have you seen when a church, ministry, or institution loses the gospel? How does a church, ministry, or institution keep it central?

4. What are the excuses you hear (or make yourself) that allow the “tyranny of the urgent” to push out the centrality of the gospel? How did the early church deal with this? (See Acts 6:1-15.)

5. What else did the Holy Spirit teach you this week?

Jonathan Martin

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

1. What is self-righteousness? Describe someone you have known (without using his/her name) that is self-righteous.

2. Make a list of ten attributes of self-righteousness. How many of the things on the list are seen in the Church? How many on the list do you see in yourself?

3. Read the passage: 1 Corinthians 1:18-30 How does Paul dismantle self-righteousness?

4. What does true humility look like? Make a list of ten attributes.

5. How does a true understanding of the Gospel dispel self-righteousness and instill humility? And what should this look like in the relationships in the church? How does this bring unity?