CG Questions for James 2
Key Texts: James 2; Ephesians 2:8-10
Questions
I think we would all assume that we live what we believe. In what ways does or lifestyle demonstrate what we really believe? To phrase it differently how does your lifestyle undermine or confirm what you claim to believe?
In what ways are we/you enamored with the idea of Christianity more than the gospel itself?
Sunday’s sermon presented several instances in Jesus’ ministry where he called for action on the part of those who came to him. How is a person’s knowledge of Jesus to shape his/her life?
Revisiting the idea that we do not naturally love one another and naturally seek to build one another up in love through our service of one another, how are we to develop such a love that leads us to action? Do you tend to view others in the church as trophies of God’s grace, just as you are, or do you set a different standard for acceptance in love?
Looking at the comparison in James 2:26, how does this challenge you? Do you find yourself explaining away your responsibility here or seeking to be more faithful in what God has called you to do?
What are some practical ways that others can see God’s love through the church? If you are not faithfully seeking ways to serve others and to show others Christ’s love in our body and in your neighborhoods, why? If you are how are you doing that?
CG Questions for I Thessalonians 5:12-28
Key Texts: I Thessalonians 5:12-28
Questions
This passage points out two foundational principles: the doctrine of adoption and that we are known by how we treat one another. What is the relationship between these two as it pertains to us as members of the body of Christ?
Given our relationship as those adopted into one family together, how does the exhortation to “be at peace” play into our lives together? What does the wording assume about our interrelatedness? How does our understanding of ourselves and of others affect this harmony?
What is our role in the lives of those who are idle, fainthearted, or weak?
Is your treatment of other believers consistent with your view of God’s display of grace? Do you fall back on a human standard which determines how much you accept them?
How does your prayer for the church and its individual members demonstrate your love for them?
CG Questions for Consider Jesus
Key Texts: Hebrews 2:1-4; 3:1-6
Questions
What is the author of Hebrews asking us to do in 2:1? (Because of Christ’s superiority we must pay attention to the gospel or risk drifting away from it.)
How does the author argue that Jesus is better than Moses? How does this further inform our answer to the question in 2:1?
Why would the readers of this epistle be tempted to view Moses as more important than Jesus? How do we fall into similar thought processes? How does the text instruct us to counter this?
What does 3:6 indicate as the object of our hope?
“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scriptures, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”[1]
[1] D. A. Carson, For the Love of God: Volume Two (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1999), January 23.
CG Questions for The Sovereign Supremacy of Jesus
Key Texts: Hebrews 1
Questions
How is it that we grow indifferent towards the gospel despite the greatness of who Jesus is and what he has done? What is necessary to guard against this drift towards indifference? (Consider the difference between passively drifting and actively pursuing.)
What do we learn about Jesus in vv.1-4 and how does that help us to focus upon him?
How do worry and anxiety relate to the object of our focus?
What does it mean to treasure Jesus Christ? How does Matthew 6:19-21 relate to Hebrews 1:1-4? What makes something, or someone, a treasure in our minds?
If Christ is truly sufficient, how should this knowledge affect our mindset about our sin? About our priorities? About our works?
CG Questions for Rich in God
Key Texts: I Timothy 6
Questions
How do we often view the idea of godliness? Do we see it in a “cause and effect” light?
How is the Gospel at stake in the idea that godliness is a means of financial gain? (We are saying the Gospel is not enough. It is just a launching pad into more stuff)
Why does Paul add ‘contentment’ to ‘godliness’ when qualifying how we ought to view godliness that brings great gain?
Why is our contentment often so fragile? (Think about Colby’s statement that eternal perspective shapes how we are content in the here and now… we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out)
Meditate on v.10 – What things are you craving and how is that impacting your faith? How are we being diligent to flee craving worldly passions and pursuing righteousness and godliness?
CG Questions for Caring About Others
Key Texts: Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-37; Luke 10:25-37; II Corinthians 5:21; James 2:14ff; I John 3:16ff
Questions
God provides everything we need in order to fulfill His purposes for us. How do we twist this truth so that meeting our needs rather than fulfilling God’s purposes becomes primary?
What needs to take place so that we are completely satisfied in the Gospel? (i.e., our understanding of God, the gospel, and our daily experience of these things)
- How do we demonstrate this satisfaction in relation to material things?
- In relation to people?
How does the perspective of the believers in Acts 4:32 shape their actions? How do we often qualify the account in Acts so that they do not really affect how we are to live?
What is the relationship between what we see in II Corinthians 5:21 and what takes place in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)? How do you love your neighbor? In what ways can we pray for you as you continue to grow in grace in this area?
Paul quoted Justin Swanson as asking, “How are you going to meet someone’s needs unless you get involved enough in their life to know their needs?” How should that question challenge us?
Christopher J. H. Wright expounds the connection between the caring community and gospel proclamation in Acts 2 by noting,
In caring for one another and ensuring that there were no needy people among them, the early believers demonstrated a new quality of living that was appealing. And it was that quality of life that reinforced the evangelistic preaching of the apostles, so that people joined the church in great numbers.[1]
Commenting on Acts 4 John Piper explains,
Now if you will read Luke’s gospel, you will see that this is one of his main burdens: he wants us Christians to be FREE from the love of things! And he wants us FIRM in our love for people. And he does not believe that you can have both at the same time. Because if your heart is united in love to people, then you will sit loose to things, because things will have value only as means of loving people.[2]
[1]Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission, Biblical Theology for Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 145.
[2]John Piper, “Be Like Barnabas Not Like Ananias!” (2-10-1991), [on-line], accessed 11-16-2011, http://www.desiringgod.org/; Internet.
CG Questions for Covetousness, Contentment, and Care
Key Texts: Luke 12:13-34; Philippians 4:11-13; I John 3:16-18
Questions
Do you primarily view and use your resources, for God’s glory and the growth of his kingdom, or for your self-indulgence, whether now or later in retirement?
What does it mean to seek God’s kingdom?
What do we learn about anxiety in Luke 12? How does God’s sovereignty affect how we live? Where do you see yourself living inconsistently in your belief that God is sovereign? How does/should this shape the way you pray?
How do the promises of God aid our understanding and shape our use of what he gives us? Look at I John 3:16-18 – what are some examples of “gospel generosity” toward others? What does this text say about a lack of generosity? What does this say about you?
What is necessary in our minds for us to be able to say with the Apostle Paul: “to live is Christ and to die is gain?” Where do you find your true satisfaction?
Looking at Philippians 4:11-13, what is the source of true satisfaction? How does this shape our thoughts about “every circumstance?”
Commenting on Luke 12:15 Tim Keller explains, “To ‘consist’ of your possessions is to be defined by what you own and consume. The term describes a personal identity based on money. It refers to people who, if they lose their wealth, do not have a ‘self’ left, for their personal worth is based on their financial worth.”[1]
[1]Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters (New York: Dutton, 2009), 56.
CG Questions for Jonah 4:5-11
Key Texts: Jonah 4:5-11
Questions
Are there people to whom you feel God should not show mercy? What steps have you been taking throughout this study to see your heart changed on this matter?
How does the picture of Jonah being “exceedingly glad” about the plant in 4:6 contrast with his attitude toward God’s dealing with Nineveh in 4:1?
Look at the contrast in verses 10-11. What temporary and meaningless things do we view as more important than God’s work of grace in other peoples’ lives? What are some of the underlying reasons we value these things over the gospel?
How can our own selfishness prevent us from participating in the mission of God?
What is the role of the church in the process of our sanctification? What about the Word of God and the Spirit of God?
Can a person really know the gospel and be merciless?
How has the theme “Salvation belongs to the Lord” impacted you through this study?
CG Questions for Demands of Discipleship
Key Texts: Luke 18:18-30; 1 Peter 1:3-9, 17-21
Questions
What does the account of the rich ruler teach us about religion and our hearts?
What do you think of Jesus’ demands? Why are they so difficult?
In what ways do we tend to put God into a context (a contrived context) and limit what God’s word says?
Looking at I Peter 1:3-9, 17-21, how should the gospel affect what we treasure? If the gospel is the death of self then what should our lives be about and what are true riches?
What causes the tension between serving God and serving money? What role does “joy” and/or “perceived joy” play in this tension?
In the sermon, we were challenged about believing in the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus of the gospel. In what ways are we tempted to buy into a different Jesus than the Jesus of Scripture?
Crossway has posted Prosperity or Idolatry?, an excerpt from Voddie Baucham’s Family Driven Faith, that may be of help on this topic.
CG Questions for Godly Wisdom with Money
Key Texts: Proverbs 1:7; 3:9-10; 4:23; 6:1-11; 13:18; 21:17, 25-26; 22:7; 23:4-5; 24:30-34; 30:8-9
Questions
What are some of the ways that finances can hinder a person’s faith? How can the local church work to counter this?
As Americans, how does our way of life influence (for better or worse) our understanding of financial matters? In your experience, do you find it easy or difficult to adhere to biblical teaching on this issue?
What are some tangible ways that the gospel should shape our approach to our finances and possessions?
Looking at Proverbs 22:7 how is borrowing bondage and in what ways can our possessions exercise authority over us? How do our possessions possess us and hinder our task to subdue and exercise dominion over creation?
How does the OT understanding of “wealth” as referring to the whole of your resources challenge us to think beyond just the money that we give? What might this wealth refer to and how can we use it?
Our church covenant states: “I will contribute my time, energy, gifts, and financial resources to further the purpose and ministries of Providence Community Church.” If you are a member what grade would you give yourself (not grading on a curve)?
D. A. Carson writes, in A Call to Spiritual Reformation:
“We quickly learn [from Paul's prayer in Eph 3] that God is more interested in our holiness that in our comfort. He more greatly delights in the integrity and purity of his church than in the material well-being of its members. He shows himself more clearly to men and women who enjoy him and obey him than to men and women whose horizons revolve around good jobs, nice houses, and reasonable health. He is far more committed to building a corporate “temple” in which his Spirit dwells than he is in preserving our reputations. He is more vitally disposed to display his grace than to flatter our intelligence. He is more concerned for justice than for our ease. He is more deeply committed to stretching our faith than our popularity. He prefers that his people live in disciplined gratitude and holy joy rather than in pushy self-reliance and glitzy happiness. He wants us to pursue daily death, not self-fulfillment, for the latter leads to death, while the former leads to life.”
