Stand Alone Sermon--The Focus--Isaiah 6

Discussion Questions:

1.  What difficulties do you have with hearing but not perceiving when it comes to God and the Scriptures?  How does one grow in the ability to perceive more? 

2.  The death of Uzziah caused a “now what?” moment.  What kinds of “now what?” moments are you experiencing lately?  How can these moments help you to grow in your ability to see God on His throne and perceive what He is doing?  How can these “now what?” moments hinder this?

3.  How would seeing the greatness of God have helped the Israelites in taking the Promised Land?  How does being reminded of this help you with tasks that seem overwhelming?

4.  What are some ways you can magnify God’s greatness in your everyday living?  Tell of a specific time someone else has helped you see God more clearly by magnifying His greatness in front of you.

5.  How does God’s response to Isaiah’s confession of sin and His leaving a stump show you what He desires for each of us?  How do you see and perceive this truth in a culture filled with such a high level of negativity, frustration and doubt?

Backwards Living--Lesson 13--When All is Said and Done--Ecclesiastes 12

Discussion Questions:

1.  How much difficulty do you have finding joy in the mundane things of life?  How has our study of Ecclesiastes helped you to find joy in life under the sun? 

2.  What fear of death do you have?  How is viewing life through death a good and helpful thing?

3.  Describe the power of words.  How have you seen them create, build, and bless versus destroy, tear down, and curse?  How are God’s words a goad in your life and a solid nail to hang your life upon?

4.  How would you evaluate your fear of the LORD and your obedience to His commands?  Why are fear of the LORD and obedience difficult for us to maintain?

5.  How does the dual picture of Jesus as judge plus calling the children to Himself and offering an easy yoke relate with your experience of Him?  How does one balance the judge side of God with His offer of an easy yoke?

Backwards Living--Lesson 12--Set Yourself Up to Live--Ecclesiastes 11

Discussion Questions:

1.  How good are you at taking risks?  How do you know what are good risks to take versus foolish risks? 

2.  What struggles do you have with balancing God’s work with your work?  In the face of so many things that you don’t know, how does one move forward instead of getting stuck in the wilderness?

3.  Why do people tend to get more stiff (less pliable) as the get older?  How does this affect your spiritual life?  What kinds of things help people to stay more flexible and pliable? 

4.  How can Solomon talk about rejoicing in life and life being meaningless and a vapor in the same context?  In a world with so many unknown things facing us, how can one maintain a spirit of rejoicing?

5.  What is the benefit of remembering your Creator and Judge?  How do these two emphases guide one to hold fast to the plan God has for our lives?