CrossWay Community Church | Bristol, WI

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. Do you struggle at all with doubt about these things Isaiah 40 is saying about God? If so, what kind of doubt is it? The kind that is open to being convinced or the kind that is completely closed to being convinced?</p><p> </p><p>2. Isaiah calls us to respond to God’s incomparability in two ways: trust (i.e. do not fear) and hope. Do you feel weak or strong in these two responses? What is it that most challenges you in these two areas?</p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. With which of the first three pictures of God that Isaiah presents in 40:1-11 do you most resonate—his glory, his foreverness, his power? With which one do you feel least in touch?</p><p> </p><p>2. Read Isaiah 40:11 slowly and out loud. Do you know God this way? Do you want to know God in this way? Which moment in that verse stirs up the greatest longing in your heart?</p><p><br></p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. Read James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:6-7. What do these passages contribute to our understanding about God’s purposes in testing our faith?</p><p> </p><p>2. Hezekiah faced very different kinds of tests: a national crisis, a personal illness, a temptation to which he was vulnerable. Is your trust in God being tested by something like one of these, or maybe something different? Is something in your life challenging your undivided trust in and devotion to God?</p><p> </p><p>3. In what ways are you tempted to doubt that God is a living God, fully present with you and fully active on your behalf? How does the way he reveals himself in these chapters help you?</p><p> </p><p>4. In what ways are you tempted to doubt that God is a loving God? Is it easier to believe that he loves other people than that he loves you? How does the way he reveals himself in these chapters help you?</p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. What places can you be tempted to go to find security or comfort for your inner self?</p><p><br></p><p>2. Do you feel like you know God well enough to trust him? What steps might you need to take to grow here?</p><p><br></p><p>3. It is really hard to begin to trust God in the midst of a crisis. How might you prepare now for challenging times that will no doubt come? What can you do now to ensure that you are firmly anchored and at peace, even in the face of the final challenge?</p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. What facet of the rest God will provide when Jesus comes (rest in God’s presence from human hostility, death, sorrow, and shame) do you find yourself most looking forward to? Why?</p><p><br></p><p>2. Is there any area of life in which you encounter either opposition or ridicule for what you believe and how you live? How does the assurance from this chapter that all our mistreatment will be made right and all the truth made known help you bear opposition and scorn now without responding in kind?</p><p><br></p><p>3. Are you carrying any sorrows or griefs right now? What difference does it make to you to know that one day all our tears will be wiped away, even if they keep coming now?</p><p><br></p><p>4. Do you find it easy to face the reality of death, or do you find yourself avoiding and ignoring it? How does what God has already done through Christ and what he will do in the future change the way you experience the reality of your (and your loved ones’) mortality?</p><p><br></p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. Do you find yourself in any way resistant to the fact that God intends to judge those, both people and nations, who have lifted themselves up against him? If so, what specifically troubles you about that?</p><p> </p><p>2. Do you find yourself in any way resistant to the fact that God intends to save people from all “nations” of the earth? If so, what’s behind that? Do your best to get to the root of whatever might be there so that you can, with God’s help, pull it out.</p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. Are you “optimistic about the future”? In other words, does your confidence regarding your future help you live with a kind of joyful optimism now? If not, do your best to locate where the problem is.</p><p> </p><p>2. When you stop to think about it what do you find the actual longings of your heart to be? Where is the most likely place you’ll find satisfaction for those longings?</p><p><br></p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. Think of your life apart from God. What particular forms of “darkness” characterized your life?</p><p> </p><p>2. Consider the line in Isaiah 8:19: “Should not a people inquire of their God?” Where, other than God, are you inclined to look for guidance and provision in your life?</p><p> </p><p>3. Read John 12:46. Think of that image of Jesus as light. How does the reality that image speaks of show up in your experience? In other words, how are you experiencing the light that Christ has brought into your life? Describe that as concretely as you can.</p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. In what areas of your life do you find yourself regularly tempted to fear? Are you fearing anything right now?</p><p><br></p><p>2. Are there promises from God’s Word that speak to your particular fears? (The sermon mentioned 1 John 1:9, Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:28, Romans 8:32, and Romans 8:38-39.) What difference would believing that promise make for you?</p><p><br></p><p>3. Where, other than God, are you tempted to put your trust in the face of uncertainty and fear? What might happen if you put your ultimate trust in that rather than in God?</p><p><br></p><p>4. How can you keep the truth of God’s Word, especially the promise you identified in question 2, in your thoughts when you’re tempted to fear?</p><p><br></p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Session 3 Discussion Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. How does 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 give us hope and joy as we think about Jesus' return? Try to be specific in your answers.</p><p><br></p>

<p>This week has audio only.</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p> </p><p>1. It’s hard for all of us to acknowledge our sin. What tendencies to avoid acknowledging your sin do you see in yourself? What are the affects you experience as a result of not acknowledging your sin?</p><p> </p><p>2. What part of God’s solution to your sin problem is most meaningful to you? What is the most meaningful way you have expressed your gratitude to God for his provision?</p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

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<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. What are the ways you are “prone to wander”? Do you find any connections between the “wanderings” of the people outlined in Nehemiah 13 and those of your own life? How would God call you to respond to the awareness of your wanderings?</p><p><br></p><p>2. Stop and consider that simple phrase in v. 22: “The greatness of your steadfast love.” Do you sense that you feel the weight of the reality of the “steadfastness” of God’s love for you? What scripture helps you to know and feel this? Consider some of the passages that were referenced in the sermon, e.g. Psalm 25, Psalm 103, Romans 8, Hebrews 12.</p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:</p><p><br></p><p>1. Read Jeremiah 32:36-44, a prophecy about the return of God’s people from exile in Babylon. What do you see fulfilled in this prophecy in Nehemiah 11-12?</p><p><br></p><p>2. Why did the people gather to rejoice in Jerusalem?</p><p><br></p><p>3. We saw four pictures of devoted and joyful community. Which of them was most encouraging or inspiring to you and why? </p><p><br></p><p>4. How might your small group grow to be more like the picture of devoted and joyful community seen in Nehemiah 11-12?</p><p><br></p><p>_____________________________</p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions: </p><p><br></p><p>1. Did God "highlight" anything in the passage--did anything jump off the page as a message for you? </p><p><br></p><p>2. What are some ways your gospel community can commit to holiness--to be distinctly good in ways that represent God's grace to outsiders? </p><p><br></p><p>3. Is your commitment to God empowered by the gospel? Why or why not? </p><p><br></p><p>4. Is there anything in your life that is keeping you from a wholehearted commitment to God? </p><p><br></p><p>_____________________________ </p><p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. If you were asked to describe what God is like in a word or two what would you say? Why did you choose the words you chose?<br> <br>2. How does reading through the history of Nehemiah 9:9-31 affect you? Are there any similarities there to your own history?<br> <br>3. Think about how you have experienced the mercy of God. What stands out?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. How do you come to the gathering on Sunday mornings? Take a moment to actually think about the state of mind and heart you are typically in on Sunday. How would you describe that in a word or two? Does it match with what Nehemiah 8 pictures for us?<br> <br>2. Stop and imagine for a moment what your life would really be like without God’s word. In the absence of God’s word what would you most likely live by?<br> <br>3. Which of the six components outlined in the sermon is most in need of attention for you? What practical step can you take to strengthen your commitment to and practice of that component?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>Do you feel like you live with an awareness of God’s personal knowledge of you and his care for you? What convinces you that God is, in fact, personally attentive to you?<br> <br>2. How aware are you that while God cares about your here and now, he is also moving you (and others) toward some great future time and place? How real is that to you day to day and what difference does it make? What difference should it make?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. When was the last time you faced opposition for being committed to Christ and his kingdom? What form did that opposition take? How did you respond? How do you wish you would have responded?<br><br>2. What about God most strengthens your desire to stay with the work? Think carefully about this recognizing that particular truth about God should have particular effects in our lives<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. What makes it challenging for you to be generous? Is there a particular desire, for example for security or comfort, that makes it challenging for you to give to others? How does the gospel motivate us to be generous?<br><br>2. Do you find that you’re in close enough relationships with others that you see opportunities to be generous? If not, what can you do to grow in your relationships at CrossWay?<br><br>3. Why does God describe the relationship he wants with his people using the word “fear”? Describe the kind of fear that is right for Christians to have towards God. Do you find yourself growing in this right kind of fear? How can you pursue greater growth?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Where do you see opposition to Christianity and Christians in our culture today? In what form do you experience opposition?<br><br>2. Do you find yourself tempted to discouragement or fear when you see or experience opposition? What form does that take? If not one of those, how does it affect you?<br><br>3. How does directing your thoughts to truth about God help you avoid discouragement and fear? What specific truths about God help you?<br><br>4. This passage shows us how God uses both our praying and our working (i.e. our participation in strengthening his kingdom and helping others enter it) in accomplishing his purposes. Are you more likely to neglect praying or working? How does remembering what God is like help you pursue the more neglected of those with renewed vigor?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. When was the last time you experienced the effect of a fellow Christian’s sin? When do you think was the last time someone experienced the effect of your sin? When you felt the effect of another’s sin, were you tempted at all to disengage from serving God?<br><br>2. How have you experienced “multiplied” and enriched relationships in the course of your engagement with God’s work?<br><br>3. As you look around and see others engaging in Kingdom work, whether large or small, what effect does that have on you?<br><br>4. What brings you the most joy?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. When you read a book like Nehemiah do you ever think something like, “What does this have to do with me?” How did this sermon help you with that question?<br><br>2. Are you convinced that God actually does listen to you when you pray? What effect would really believing that--or not believing that—have on your praying? When was the last time you prayed truly believing God was listening?<br><br>3. How much of your day do you spend with at least some awareness that you are part of God’s work in the world? What specific effects does it have on you when you live in that awareness?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>