Next Steps--Lesson 13--Make It a Double--Isaiah 61 + Various Passages

Discussion Questions:

1.     What kinds of things help you remember the way God has acted in your life to bless you?  What kinds of things would your own Dayenu prayer include?

2.     The breakdown of the Passover Dayenu prayer is first remembering being set free from slavery, and then remembering God’s provision in the desert, and then what God provides to draw us nearer to Him.  How have you seen God do the same kinds of things in your own life?

3.     What does it mean to receive a double portion?  What responsibilities come with being first-born and receiving the double portion?  How does this apply to us today?

4.     Why are the Israelites referred to as “prisoners of hope” in Zechariah 9:11-12?  How is seeing God’s response to the rebellion of the Israelites a source of hope to you?  Is there a rebellion in which we have no hope?

5.     Why would Elisha need a double portion of Elijah’s spirit?  How is God providing it another message of the desire God has to restore us to Him?

6.     How does a double rainbow provide a good image of the double blessings God wants to pour into our lives?  What type of blessings would you say are more visible, and which are not as clear?

7.     How has the empty tomb changed your perspective when things seemed to be crashing around you?  Who or what assists you in remembering the empty tomb when you feel overwhelmed?

8.     How does the double blessing or double portion of God’s provision help you take steps of healing?

Next Steps--Lesson 12--How Could You Do This to Me?--Acts 27-28

Discussion Questions:

1.     Tell of a time you felt shipwrecked and snakebit in the same day?  How did you see God use those situations for good?

2.     How have you seen the Holy Spirit act like the wind and blow where it wishes?  In what ways have you fought against the wind and tired yourself out?

3.     God blocked Paul’s way and blew him to a destination he didn’t expect.  How has He done the same thing to you?  How was this act favorable for Paul and for those he encountered in Malta?  How might the same thing be happening when you are blown off course from your plans?

4.     How have you seen God be more concerned with what you are becoming than where you are?  What role does character play in being fit for God’s Kingdom?  Why is this an important thing to remember in your spiritual development?  How did the Israelites struggle with this in the wilderness?

5.     How did the two thieves on the crosses next to Jesus display the importance of looking at our worst day circumstances with eyes of hope and faith in the LORD?  How does this example help you in your own difficult situations?

6.     What kind of story do you believe the Author is writing for you?  How do you know what He is writing?  How does your faith help/hinder you from waiting for Him to reveal the next step?

7.     Why did Paul tell the sailors they had to cut away the lifeboat and let it fall?  What message should we take from what is happening in this shipwreck?  How does hearing other people’s experiences help you to develop a level of trust that enables you to cut away the lifeboat and trust in the LORD?

Easter Sermon--Exiled Behind a Veil-Now What? --Various Passages

Discussion Questions:

1.  How have you felt times of exile (that there was a veil between you and God) in your life?  What brought about those feelings of exile?  How have you seen God working to remove the veil between you and Him?

2.  How does the story of what God allowed to happen in Joseph’s life discourage you and encourage you?  Are there any areas in your own life that you could see Him doing the same thing with you and your situation?

3.  Why is it important to know that God had a plan prior to creation to choose us in Jesus and make us holy and blameless?  How did that plan twist and turn through the history of the Israelites?  What helps you keep your focus upon His plan rather than your circumstances?

4.  Gideon lamented about God’s presence being missing among his people.  Have you had times of feeling the same way?  How might God call you to go in your strength and change things because He is with you?

5.  Do you think it is a coincidence that Gideon trusted in the presence of the LORD and then they experienced 40 years of peace?  How have you seen God bring peace to your situations that seem impossible and/or overwhelming?

6.  Discuss the statement Scott made about needing acts of God and a mediator in order to take what is unholy and restore it, or take what is dead and bring it back to life.  What do the two great acts of God that happened when Jesus died upon the cross (Veil tore and dead rose from the grave) teach you about God’s plan for you? 

7.  Considering what God did through His great acts and the mediation of Jesus, what is there between you and God?  How does this provide you hope?  How will that hope make a difference in the way you live this next week?