Waterville Community Church Podcast

The third message in a six-week series studying the book of Isaiah called, "New Horizons."

Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the concept of justice.  Do you tend to think of justice as giving people what they deserve?  Why?  Where did you get that picture?  Do you think that’s the way God thinks about justice?

2. Discuss the three implications implied in God’s judgment of everyone: 1) he loves everyone, 2) he has expectations for everyone, and 3) he has somehow communicated those expectations to everyone.  What do you think? 

3. What do I mean by the phrase “catholicity of the kingdom?”  Discuss the difference between “no kingdom to kingdom” vs “kingdom hidden to kingdom revealed.”  How does that shift in understanding challenge how you think about God and what his plans are? 

4. If it is “kingdom hidden to kingdom revealed,” why is the advent of Jesus so definitive? 

5. How does God intend for his “kingdom to come…on earth as it is in heaven?” 

6. How does this approach change the way we think about evangelism and discipleship?  How does it change the way we see people?  (perhaps read Acts 17 to generate discussion) 

7. What does Isaiah say is the purpose of God’s judgment in Isaiah 26:8-11?  Discuss the implications of that. 

 

Message #2 in a six-week series studying the book of Isaiah called, "New Horizons."

Discussion Questions:

1. I made the argument that we tend to distort our picture of God as we move from positions of weakness and vulnerability to positions of strength and power.  What do you think about that? 

2. How have you seen this phenomenon revealed personally, socially, nationally, and ecclesiastically (within the church)? 

3. How did God respond to the people of Judah misunderstanding his nature and their role?  How does this relate to the parable of the unmerciful servant?  Discuss the implication of Jesus saying, “you will not get out unto you’ve paid the last penny.” 

4. What theme(s) do Isaiah 9:1-7 and Isaiah 11:1-5 have in common? 

5. What is significant about the fact that the predicted savior figure will eradicate evil with his “breath?” 

6. Discuss the vision of Isaiah 11:9 

 

This is the first sermon in a six-week series on the book of Isaiah called, "New Horizons."

Discussion Questions:

1. Why would the people of Judah have been shocked by Isaiah’s indictment of them in Isaiah 1:1-4? 

2. Discuss the fact that Isaiah calls the leaders “leaders of Sodom” and the people “people of Gomorrah.”  What’s interesting about that in light of what he accuses them of actually doing? 

3. Discuss God’s question, “what makes you think I want all of your sacrifices?”  Why would that have been a difficult question for the people of Judah to hear and how should we interpret the significance of it? 

4. What does it mean for God to be “holy” and consequently for his people to “reject his holy name?” 

5. What happens when we fail to cultivate lives that proactively seek the good of others?  How is that depicted in this chapter? 

6. What is the ultimate purpose of God’s “punishment” according to the vision in these opening chapters?  How does that challenge your picture of God?

 

Every few months we take a step back from our regular routine of teaching through the books of the Bible and set aside a Sunday service for a "Vision" message to outline our core values, mission statement, and our vision for The Church. We'll talk about our Life Cycle discipleship model (i.e. what it means to KNOW God in Christ, GROW in your faith, and GO where He sends you). This week Mike focuses on what it looks like for us to GROW in our faith.

This Easter message is the finale of the series, "The Way Forward." 

Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the way Jesus compares his death on the cross to the bronze serpent episode in Numbers 21:4-9.  How are they similar?  How are they different?  What should the differences communicate to us about God’s nature? 

2. What do I mean when I say, “if we try to understand the meaning of the cross apart from the resurrection we trap ourselves into wrong thinking about God?” 

3. How do Christians today try to understand the cross apart from the resurrection? 

4. Discuss the scapegoat ritual in Leviticus 16:20-22.  Is this how you’ve been taught to understand the meaning and significance of Jesus’ death?  If so, how do you respond to my suggestion that such thinking not only ignores the resurrection but tacitly rejects it? 

5. In light of difference between the events of Easter weekend and the scapegoat ritual of Leviticus 16 how should we think about God and how should we think about how God “takes away” human sin?

 

Guest Speaker Derek Moran talks "Real Life," teaching from Matthew (chapters 16 & 28) and Mark (chapters 8 & 16).

This is the sixth message in the series called "The Way Forward" which is a study of the Old Testament books of Leviticus and Numbers. This was a six-week series, but the Easter Sunday message on April 5, 2015 will be the conclusion for this series.

Discussion Questions:

1. Read Numbers 34-36 and review how the various themes that came up throughout this series appear again in these closing chapters.  How are they similar?  How are they different? 

2. I suggested that development is not about arrival but learning to be faithful to the revelation you’ve been given.  What do you think? 

3. I argued throughout this series that God should be compared to a committed parent and the nation of Israel to a growing or developing child.  If that is true how should we approach what Israel wrote and did? 

4. Do you believe you’re being as faithful as you can be to the revelation you’ve been given? 

5. Reflect on the state of the church today.  Do you think the Christian church is being as faithful as it can be to the revelation it’s received in Jesus?  In other words, do you see places where the Christian church espouses beliefs, drafts doctrine, or enacts policy that seem pre-Christian in their depiction of God?

 

The fifth message in a six-week series called, "The Way Forward" which is a study of the Old Testament books of Leviticus and Numbers.

Discussion Questions:

1. In this message I argue that violently eliminating other people groups as perceived threats (as Israel does with Midian) cannot be God’s will for his people even if the Bible says God told them to do it.  What is your response to that statement?  Why? 

2. Discuss the practice of elimination.  Does the felt-need to eliminate perceived outside threats by definition indicate an immaturity on the part of the one doing the eliminating? 

3. I argued that Israel’s foreign policy was anchored in an immature understanding of God?  What specific immature understanding of God did I suggest Israel had?  What do you think? 

4. Why did I suggest God was so vehemently against the making of idols?  How do we construct idols in the church today? 

5. What is God’s actual desire with regard to how his people treat other nations and how do we know for sure? 

 

The fourth message in a six-week series called "The Way Forward" which is a study of the Old Testament books of Leviticus and Numbers.

You can view the diagram referenced HERE.

Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the inevitability and therefore necessity for generational transition in order for movements to stand the test of time.  Have you been a part of successful or unsuccessful generational transitions?  What made them successful/unsuccessful? 

2. What did I argue is the most important factor influencing successful generational transition?  What burden does this place on 1st generation people?   How do you see this embodied in Israel? 

3. What did I argue is the reason why some movements fail to successfully transition from one generation to the next? 

4. What pattern for generational transition does Leviticus/Numbers establish? 

5. What do episodes like the daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 27:1-4 and the hand-washing episode in Mark 7 teach us about what’s at stake if we don’t adhere to this pattern?

 

This is the third message in a six-week series called, "The Way Forward" which is a study of the Old Testament books of Leviticus and Numbers.

You can view the diagrams that are reference by clicking the following links:

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

Discussion Questions:

1. How does God respond to Israel’s lack of trust?  How does the author of Numbers “show” this?  Why is it so important that God would respond this way? 

2. What is the first condition necessary to be a blessing to someone else?  How does this relate to what God is trying to do in and through the people of Israel? 

3. What does it mean to “be holy because I am holy?” 

4. What does a life of listening to and obeying God look like according to Leviticus 19? 

5. What is the second condition necessary to be a blessing?  How does this relate to what is trying to do in and through the people of Israel? 

6. What is the significance of Leviticus 19:18?