CrossWay Community Church | Bristol, WI

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Have you ever found yourself resisting God with a stubborn, even defiant, heart? What did that look like? Trying to ignore God? Pleading with God in a crisis but then reverting to refusing him when the crisis passed? Simply defying him? What brought you to your senses?<br><br>2. How aware are you on a daily basis of God’s purpose to bring you 'out of slavery and into a promised place of goodness and freedom'?<br><br>3. What do you understand that 'promised place of gladness and freedom' to include?<br><br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>What do Gatorade commercials, library books, LGBT messaging and pop music have in common? They are telling us who we are as humans: our identity. How does modern identity show up in our world and how does it relate to the gospel?</p>

<p>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532<br><br>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>Have you ever been, like Moses, in a posture of resisting God out of fear and doubt? What kinds of things did you find yourself saying to God in that situation?<br><br>Has you fear-based and doubt-based resistance ever turned into outright disobedience? What kinds of things were you saying to God then?<br><br>What part of God’s response to Moses in Exodus 4-7 was most encouraging to you? Have you experienced that in your relationship with God?<br><br>Are there some places in your life where there is now faith where there used to be fear and doubt?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. What do you think of when you think of the book of Exodus? Have you, in the past, made connections between things you read in Exodus and Jesus?<br><br>2. With whom do you most identify in these early chapters of Exodus? How does what God is doing, i.e. 'forming a people and bring them out of slavery and into a promised place of freedom and goodness', relate to your own life and circumstances?<br><br>3. Early in the message Pastor Mike said, 'God’s entire plan of salvation is exodus-shaped.' What parts of the book of Exodus, and of the Bible as a whole, make you say, 'yes, that’s true!'?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. What do you worship or are you drawn to worship?<br><br>You can identify what you worship by considering what you daydream about over and over again. Or what is easy to spend (and overspend) on consistently. Or what in your life, if you lost it, would devastate you to the core, where you’d question if you should even live? (Counterfeit Gods, 165-170).<br><br>2. Is what you’re worshipping or what you’re drawn to worship fulfilling?<br><br>In what ways is it fulfilling? How does it leave you wanting more? Every pseudo god gives us some sort of benefit. And, often the things we go after might be good in moderation, just not as gods.<br><br>3. Would you give your allegiance or continue your allegiance to the God you heard about today?<br><br>If you’ve never trusted in Jesus, what keeps you from considering him as your one and only God?<br><br>If you have trusted in Jesus, what does it look like to actively resist the pull of other pseudo gods and rejoice in knowing God?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Before hearing the sermon, what would have come into your mind when you thought of the book of Numbers?<br><br>2. In Numbers 14:11 God says that the reason the people refused to enter the land was that they did 'not believe in me.' How does disobedience show unbelief? How is complaining (11:1, 4) also a fruit of unbelief? Do you see any habits of complaining or disobedience in your own life?<br><br>3. Hebrews 3:7-14 applies the story of Numbers 13-14 and calls us not to harden our hearts. What does he say leads to hardness of heart? What helps us not become hardened? What are some ways this practice can become a greater part of your life and the life of your Gospel Community?<br><br>4. Read Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-18. What truth does Jesus want Nicodemus to understand in comparing himself to the bronze snake? Do you find it easy to keep this truth firmly in your mind and heart? What happens when we forget this truth?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br> <br>1. What has been your experience with reading the book of Leviticus? What are your feelings about the book?<br> <br>2. Both Colossians 2:17 and Hebrews 10:1 refer to the stuff of Leviticus as “a shadow”. What do you take that to mean? How does that help you in your reading of Leviticus?<br> <br>3. As you read of the great Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16 and consider its great truths, i.e. the cost of sin, the provision of a substitute, the complete removal of our sin, how does knowing it is illustrating a much greater reality help you in terms of having a deep and personal appreciation for the gospel? Perhaps use Galatians 2:20 to help you here.</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br> <br>1. Is there a deep-seated confidence in Christ that produces a deep and genuine hope that characterizes your life?<br> <br>2. Do you genuinely believe that there are others to whom God intends to give that same hope?<br> <br>3. Are you ready to share with anyone who shows interest?<br> <br>Note: I recognize that on the face of it these are all “yes or no” questions. Don’t be content with a simple “yes” or “no”. Think carefully about each question and wrestle with the reality of your own life relative to the issue raised in each question.</p>

<p>1. How does the definition of encouragement offered in the message square with what you see in the Bible? How does it square with your own experience?<br><br>2. What puts you most in need of encouragement in your day-to day life?<br><br>3. Do you feel like heaven is actually functioning as an encouraging thing in your life? How might you be able to help it function as an encouragement in other people’s lives?<br> <br>4. Think about a time when you were truly encouraged by a brother or sister in Christ. What was the encouragement? What effect did it have on you?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. What might purposing to “train yourself for godliness” look like for you at this stage of your life? What steps of intentionality or consistency or organization need to be taken in your life?<br> <br>2. What specific means of grace are proving most fruitful in your pursuit of godliness right now? What means of grace do you need to avail yourself of more? Be very specific here.<br> <br>3. Which of the two motivations mentioned in Titus 2:13-14 is most compelling for you? Why is that? How might the other be strengthened?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. When you read Psalm 1 what phrase or line most stands out for you? And what phrase or line is most meaningful to you? Why is it so meaningful?<br><br>2. In the message Pastor Mike made the point that the phrase the 'law of the Lord' (v. 2) represented the 'ways of the Lord' which are presented in all of Scripture. He also spoke of 'the goodness of the ways of the Lord'. How deeply convinced are you of the goodness of God’s ways? How does that conviction show up in your life? How might that conviction be strengthened?<br><br>3. How do you plan to grow in your 'delighting' in the law of the Lord this year?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>Review the four 'Shepherd Truths' below and pick the one that seems to be most relevant to you in your current situation. What do you think God would have you do in response to that particular truth? Where might there be some resistance to what God would have you do? Make it a point to pray about this and perhaps talk to a Christian friend about it.<br><br>The 'Shepherd Truths'<br><br>1. Having your life interrupted by God is an unavoidably unsettling thing.<br><br>2. When your life is interrupted by God the best thing to do is respond right away.<br><br>3. When God does something in your life you should make it known to others.<br><br>4. When God interrupts our lives he usually wants us to go back into our ordinary lives, but differently.</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>Let’s focus in on the three things that God delights to see in us—humility, faith, and awe-filled praise. In which of these do you feel there is strength in your life? Where do you feel like there may be some room for growth?<br><br>1. How might a prideful resistance show up in your relationship to God and what he has said? Think about what genuine humility might look like in this area.<br><br>2. How conscious are you throughout the day of God’s presence and the fact that he is at work doing something great in the world? And, can you think of a recent time you actively trusted something God has said in his word? What did that produce in you?<br><br>3. Where does awe-filled praise show up in your life? Is there room for it in your private time with God? Is it in your heart when you worship with the gathered church?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Waiting on God is hard. At one point in the message the following statement was made: 'You cannot judge God by your calendar. God’s plan does not follow our schedules. His timing might seem completely wrong to us, until it becomes clear that it isn’t.' Does that apply to anything in your life right now?<br><br>2. Joy shows up a lot in the first two chapters of Luke: 1:14, 1:44, 1:47, 2:10. How would you rate your JQ (joy quotient) these days? If it’s not what these passages (and the Bible as a whole) suggest it should be what might be the reason for that?<br><br>3. How does longing for God show up in your life? Read John 14:23. What does that awaken in you? Does that describe something you desire? Do you believe that can really happen?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions - 11/29/2020:<br><br>1. Verses 18-21 and 22-24 depict two different ways to encounter God. What does each emphasize about what God is like? What effect do you think God wants vv. 22-24 to have on us after first reading vv. 18-21?<br><br>2. There is a tension in this passage; on the one hand, God wants his people to have assurance of his acceptance; v. 22 says that his people have already come to all the realities he lists in vv. 22-24. On the other hand, he warns that if they refuse God’s voice, there will be no escape for them (v. 25). How should we hold these truths together? How does 3:12-14 help us understand this?<br><br>3. V. 25 warns us not to refuse God’s voice. Is there any area of your life in which you are falling short of believing what God has promised or doing what he has commanded? How can your Gospel Community pray for you in this area?<br><br>4. V. 28 says that ‘acceptable worship’ is both 'grateful' and marked by ‘reverence and awe.’ Do you find that either gratitude or awe come more naturally to you in your relationship with God? How can you cultivate the one that seems less characteristic of you?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Has there been a time or season in life where you've joyfully welcomed discipline in a particular area? [e.g., sports, career, diet, exercise, personal growth, etc]. If so, why were you happy to have discipline?<br><br>2. Why is God's discipline a good thing? How can it help a follower of Jesus kill sin and grow in holiness?<br><br>3. When hard things come into your life, what do you instinctively think and believe about God? Choose one of the options below and share why you feel that way.<br><br>I believe he's distant, forgotten, and uninvolved<br>I believe he's punishing you for something you did<br>I believe he's a loving Father disciplining you for holiness and eternal reward<br>Something else?<br>4. Have you experienced God's discipline? If so, what was it like? If not, what do you think it would be like?<br>5. Is God's discipline a welcomed category in your life? Why or why not?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Are you aware of any weariness (12:3) in your life, whether weariness of body or soul? How is your weariness affecting your spiritual life?<br><br>2. We can be hindered in the 'race' of faith by both 'weight' and 'sin' (12:1). Are there any 'weights' in your life, things that are not inherently sinful but are consuming time and energy you could otherwise devote to knowing and serving God? What change do you want to make in that area of life?<br><br>3. Are there sins that you are particularly struggling with right now, that regularly trip you up as you follow Jesus? What does repentance look like for you? What are some ways your group could serve you as you seek to walk in obedience?<br><br>4. Jesus is right now seated in the presence of God, interceding for his people (12:2, 7:25). What are some specific differences that truth makes in our daily lives? As you remember that he sits on a throne of grace, ready to help us in time of need (4:16), what help do you need right now?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions - 11/8/2020<br><br>1. Sunday's message focused on four specific promises. Which one of them most encouraged you? Which one do you need to more actively lay hold of?<br><br>* God is with me. Hebrews 13:5<br>* God is for me. Psalm 56:9<br>* God will provide everything I need. Romans 8:32<br>* God will sustain me to the end and all will be well. 1 Corinthians 1:8-9<br><br>2. Are there specific areas of your life where you deal with fear? Name them very specifically. What has God said that is designed to help you replace that particular fear with particular trust?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions - 11/1/20<br><br>1. The account of the Tower of Babel is a very carefully written and constructed account. What parts stand out to you most in communicating the point of the story?<br><br>2 What are ways you are tempted to 'make a name for yourself'? Are there ways you are seeking to do that currently?<br><br>3. How do you distinguish the good and godly effort to do good work and accomplish things from the prideful seeking to make a name for yourself?<br><br>4. The sermon referenced the following words from C.S. Lewis: 'In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.' What needs to be in our lives in order for what Lewis is encouraging to happen?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. Do you think personal righteousness is a 'foundational issue' like the other key issues that we’ve been considering? How is it like the others? How is it different?<br><br>2. How do each of the forces opposing your righteousness—the world, the flesh, and the devil—show up in your life? Which of them are you most aware of in your current circumstances?<br><br>3. Think of the things God has provided as allied forces in our pursuit of righteousness. What is most helpful to you in your pursuit of personal righteousness these days?<br><br>Bonus Question: How do you square the statement 'Noah was a righteous man' (Gen. 6:9) with the statement 'there is none righteous' (Romans 3:10)? Look up Hebrews 11:7 to see if there is any help there.</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. Cain’s murder of his brother started with pride, a feeling that he deserved God’s approval. Why is pride so dangerous, and why is it so hard to see in ourselves?<br><br>2. Can you identify any areas of your life in which you struggle with anger towards others? How might that anger be a manifestation of pride?<br><br>3. God has called his people to love their neighbors as they love themselves. Describe what it would look like to love another human being the way you love yourself—what would you want to make sure happened for them? As you consider what love ought to look like, can you think of any opportunities before you right now to show that kind of love?<br><br>4. How does knowing and trusting what Jesus has done shape us increasingly into people of love? How do you want the truth of the gospel to help you in your struggle from question 2?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions <br><br>1. What should we learn from the fact that the instruction to 'be fruitful and multiply' is repeated so many times throughout the book of Genesis?<br><br>2. What should we make of the fact that the instruction to 'be fruitful and multiply' grows out of God’s design for human sexuality (1:27) and God’s design for marriage (2:24)? How important is that? How would you respond to someone who challenged that connection?<br><br>3. Read Psalm 68:5-6. What does this verse tell you about what God is like and what does it tell you about his design for families from Genesis 1?<br><br>4. During the times when the hard work of raising children seems overwhelming what truth from God’s word will help sustain you and keep you going?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions <br><br>1. What does the fact that both Jesus and the Apostle Paul refer to and quote Genesis 2:24 say about this verse?<br><br>2. What tells us that Genesis 2:24 applies to all humanity and not just to Adam and Eve?<br><br>3. How does the fact that marriage grows out of human sexuality—remember the 'therefore' at the start of Genesis 2:24—shape our understanding of marriage and singleness? Is marriage the only expression of maleness and femaleness?<br><br>4. If you are married, do you remember promising exclusivity and permanence to your spouse? If you are hoping to be married, would you want those promises made at your wedding? Why?<br><br>5. What does 'one flesh' mean and what should that reality look like in a marriage?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions <br><br>1. Which of the four truths about human sexuality from Genesis 1 and 2 do you find most vigorously challenged in your interaction with people—designed, distinct, different, or determined?<br><br>2. Have you experienced the pressure of being forced into either the position of compromising on biblical truth or being considered someone guilty of hating certain groups of people? What has that been like? How do you think God wants you to respond to that pressure?<br><br>3. At one point in the sermon Pastor Mike said, 'Actually Christians have a view of human sexuality that is the only truly loving and unifying and holistic view.' What makes that true?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. What do you think are the different implications of receiving the 'breath of life' from God (Gen. 2:7) as opposed to being made 'in his image' (Gen. 1:26-27)?<br><br>2. There are many ways we can be guilty of not honoring or protecting the sanctity of human life—some very obvious, some less obvious. Think through what some of those ways might be and how they might show up.<br><br>3. Look again at Genesis 2:7, Exodus 21:22-24, Psalm 139:13-16, and Isaiah 46:3-4. What conclusions can you draw from the fact that this truth of the preciousness of human life is presented in such a wide range of Scripture?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. What comes to your mind when you think of yourself or others being 'in the image of God'? Is there anything in Genesis 1:26-27 or the surrounding verses that help you understand what that phrase means?<br><br>2. In the sermon it was said that being made in the image of God is the central and defining truth about our identity. Do you agree with that? What other things that define your identity might you be tempted to elevate to the primary position?<br><br>3. How is the truth that sin takes particular aim at distorting and destroying the equality of worth among humans showing up in your life? Where are you having to fight that effect of sin?<br><br>4. How is the truth that God is aiming his redemption at restoring his image in us and restoring the equality between people showing up in your life? Where are you able to rejoice in this redemptive work?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions <br><br>1. The meaning of Proverbs 27:19 is not immediately clear. How do you initially respond to the second part of that verse?<br><br>2. Do you feel like you are aware, on a regular basis, of how important what is going on in your heart is? What might keep you from being attentive to your heart?<br><br>3. At the end of the message, three lines of pastoral counsel were given: 1) We guard our hearts by guarding what we take in. 2) We guard our hearts by guarding what we dwell on. 3) We guard our hearts by how we choose to act. Which one of those felt most pertinent to your present Christian walk?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. What does strength and vulnerability look like in Proverbs 31:8-9?<br><br>2. Where do you sense strength in your life right now? Where do you sense vulnerability?<br><br>3. If you're a follower of Jesus, how do you remember what God has done for you?<br><br>4. What would/does it look like for you to practice proximate care?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. Is there anyone in your life that models repentance well? What does it look like?<br><br>2. Are there any areas in your life that you need to be quicker to confess when you sin (to God and others)?<br><br>1. How do you think the gospel can help keep us from both wallowing in sin and concealing sin?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. In what areas of life do you need to exercise some degree of self-control every day? See how many you can name.<br><br>2. What area of self-control do you find most consistently challenging? Why do you think that area in particular is so challenging for you? What could happen if you continue to have trouble exercising self-control in that area?<br><br>3. Look at Titus 2:11-14. Why does grace train us in self-control more effectively than fear of punishment? How does being more aware of God’s grace to you change the way you will approach your struggle from #2 above?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. Is there some situation you are regularly in where you are tempted to “whisper” or to listen to “whisperings”? How might you best void sinning in that situation?<br><br>2. The second half of Proverbs 26:22 says that the words of a whisperer “go down into the inner parts of the body.” What do you think that is trying to communicate? What is God warning us about there?<br><br>3. Look up and read Proverbs 25:9. What does that proverb tell you about how you should handle something you feel needs to be addressed?<br><br>4. As we are going through this series in Proverbs are you finding it challenging or easy to keep in mind that this is God’s grace for us? What helps you to remember that God’s moral instruction is a gracious gift?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. Of the two proverbs found in Proverbs 26:4-5, which one are you more naturally inclined toward? Do you think that is due to a character strength or a character weakness?<br><br>2. How might you develop your ability to exercise the wisdom in the proverb you didn’t choose in question 1? What specific Christ-like character might need to be strengthened? Humility? Gentleness? Courage? Self-control? Something else?<br><br>3. Do you think you can get better at discerning which of these two proverbs should be followed in a particular situation? What would be necessary for that growth to happen?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions <br><br>1. Can you think of a time you were more concerned about “expressing your own opinion” than “taking pleasure in understanding” someone else? What was the effect of that?<br><br>2. Which of the four characteristics laid out in the message—self-restraint, understanding, humility, and love—was most compelling to you? What is it about that characteristic that makes you want it? <br><br>3. Which of those four characteristics is most in need of development in your life? Is there a proverb that comes to mind that might help you focus on this need? <br><br>4. Think about how you see these characteristics show up in Jesus’ life. How does seeing those things in him affect your love for him?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. Does the strong language of Proverbs 11:1 surprise you? Why do you think God's Word uses such strong language in connection with simple, everyday business dealings?<br><br>2. Look back at Proverbs 1:1-3. How does Proverbs 11:1 fit into this category of wisdom?<br><br>3. What are ways a 'false balance' might show up in your life? Where are the places you face temptation in this area? Make sure to think over your life thoroughly.<br><br>4. Proverbs 1:7 says, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.' Look again at Leviticus 19:35-37 and Proverbs 16:11. How do these verses relate to the truth of Proverbs 1:7?<br><br>5. How does it make you feel to know that your acts of honesty are a 'delight' to the Lord?</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions<br><br>1. Have you ever made the connection between Jesus and Solomon before? Look at Matthew 12:42 and Colossians 2:3. What does the connection made in these verses tell us about how we might hear Proverbs?<br><br>2. How does Proverbs 1:1-7 keep us from thinking that wisdom is just something that has to do with our minds?<br><br>3. What comes to your mind when you read the words 'The fear of the Lord'? Based on God’s Word, what should come to our minds? How might a verse like Proverbs 14:27 help us here? <br><br>4. What is an area in your life right now where you feel you could use some wisdom and/or guidance? Does the Book of Proverbs have anything to say that relates to that area of your life?</p>