Portraits of God--Lesson 7--A God Who Helps Us--I Samuel 7

Discussion Questions:

1. How has the piling up of problems over the past 2 months affected your spiritual walk?

2. The messages of Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Jesus and Paul to be set apart for God God above all else are very similar (Deut. 6:4-5; Joshua 24:14-15; I Samuel 7:3; Matt. 10:37-38; I Thess. 1:9-10). Why does every generation struggle with this? How does this struggle lead to the problems piling up even more?

3. How central is prayer in your dealing with life’s messes and battles? How has a person committed to prayer made a difference in your life?

4. What does it tell you that there is more power in the prayer and intercession of Samuel and Moses than in the activity of the armies of Israel during these battles?

5. What kind of list could you make of times from your past where God has been an obvious source of help? Do you have any “Ebenezers” to commemorate these?

Portraits of God--Lesson 6--Who is Able to Stand Before God?--I Samuel 6

Discussion Questions:

1. What kinds of struggles have you had battling your human nature?

2. How does dividing over race, gender, politics, religion or economics demonstrate that we do not know how to handle the ark of God any better than the Philistines or Israelites did?

3. How do you answer the question asked in 6:20—“Who can stand before the LORD, this holy God?” Tell how the answer moves from no one to potentially everyone: Jew, Greek, male, female, slave and free.

4. What temptations have you had to send God away rather than letting Him and His ways change you?

5. What is your reaction to the picture Isaiah gives of God’s Kingdom in Isaiah 11:6-9?

Portraits of God--Lesson 5--There Are No Other God--I Samuel 5

Discussion Questions:

1. What kinds of things has God done in your life, or in the lives of those around you, that have enabled you to see beyond your limited worldly perspective?

2. Discuss how you have seen your perception of God’s ways change as you moved further back from the initial experience you had. Why do we have such a difficult time with being patient and maintaining hope when we encounter difficulties?

3. In what ways have you been guilty of trying to put God in a box? How has He surprised you and acted different from what you expected?

4. How much of our suffering today is due to God attacking our idols?

5. How “scientific” has your research into the things of God been? What kind of evidence have you found that supports surrender to God and His ways?