Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Pursue- Week 3 Small Group Questions




Coastline Bible Church is doing a four-week sermon series called: "Pursue." During this series we are going to study the Scriptures about loving God, loving others, living a holy life, and having a healthy marriage or preparing for marriage. This is a sermon series for everyone who is looking to have a little more love in their life. It seems there has been so much division in our Nation over the last several years. Marriages are growing cold. Dating relationships are falling apart under the stress of the pandemic. For this sermon we had Doug Meye write the small group questions that go along with this sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ::: Love for a Lifetime ::: 1 Corinthians 13

Pretty much everyone agrees that “love” is one of the most important concepts in relationships and life.  Yet, love is used in so many different ways, to describe so many different things, that it’s difficult to know what love really means. As followers of Jesus, we can begin here: God is the definition of love. Furthermore, God’s love for us shows us how to love others. The deepest and most intense expression of this kind of love is found in the marriage relationship. In this study we will dig into the kind of love that’s needed to make a marriage last a lifetime, and why those who love for a lifetime come to understand God’s love in a richer way. But this study goes way beyond marriage: it’s for all of us who want our everyday relationships to better express and experience a different kind of love.

1) As a group think of as many different phrases/sayings as you can that have the word love in them. (For example – It’s love that makes the world go round.) 

Read I Corinthians 13

2) Based on I Corinthians 13, do your best to define love in a single sentence? 

3) Many people have noted that you could easily replace the word “love” in I Corinthians with “Jesus.”  Try it with some of the phrases.  In what substantial ways does Jesus’ love differ from the love you described in question 1? 

4) The divorce rate in our culture is very high. What is the reason Jesus tell his listeners Moses grant a certificate of divorce in the OT law (Matthew 19:8)? What different kinds of things can make it so challenging for two people to stay married for the rest of their lives? How does Matthew 19:8 factor into these challenges?

5) In the sermon on Sunday, the following 4 exhortations were given to help marriages last a lifetime: Stay Married, Choose Love, Apply Grace, Invest Generously.  What is meant by each of these? Which one spoke the most loudly to you personally? How can you apply it? What would you add to these?

6) Author Gary Thomas has written a (wonderful) book on marriage, called Sacred Marriage. The subtitle of the book is: What if God Designed Marriage More to Make Us Holy than to Make us Happy? How do you respond to this subtitle? Why is the marriage relationship such a powerful instrument in God’s hand for us to become more like Jesus?  

7) As a church, Coastline wants to be a community which strengthens marriages, comes alongside those who have experience brokenness, and helps all experience the transforming power of Jesus in their lives and relationships. Having gone through this study, what do you most need from others in your groups.

Monday, February 15, 2021

Pursue- Week 2 Small Group Questions



Coastline Bible Church is doing a four-week sermon series called: "Pursue." During this series we are going to study the Scriptures about loving God, loving others, living a holy life, and having a healthy marriage or preparing for marriage. This is a sermon series for everyone who is looking to have a little more love in their life. It seems there has been so much division in our Nation over the last several years. Marriages are growing cold. Dating relationships are falling apart under the stress of the pandemic. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ::: Live in the light ::: Romans 13

The month of February tends to get our mind thinking about love. Love is in the air, love is on our mind, love is what more of us need. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome in anticipation of his upcoming visit. In chapter 13 we read about being prepared for the return of Christ and living a holy life. The Romans culture endorsed idol worship, sexual promiscuity, and appealing sexual behavior. It would have been increasing difficult for a Christ follower to not partake in this type of behavior. But, not partaking in this type of behavior would have helped the Christ-follower to stand out as an anomaly in the Roman culture. The call of living a holy life is what God desires for all of us. Take some time to go over these questions and figure out what it looks like to pursue a holy life and not a life dictated by following the desires of the flesh. 

1) Have you noticed an increase of co-habitation before marriage, a decreased desire for marriage, or increase in divorce? If so, what do you think is causing that? 

2) Read Romans 13:11-12. Why do you think Paul talked about the return of Christ in regards to us living a holy life? Read Mark 13:32-37 and talk about what Jesus instructed us in regards to His second coming. 

3) Paul encouraged the church in Rome to put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Read Ephesians 6:10-20. How is putting on the full armor of God and putting on the armor of light similar? 

4) Coastline longs to see people find freedom in Jesus Christ and be sanctified. Read:  John 16:1-11, Ephesians 4:22-24, Romans 12:2, and 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23. What does the Bible teach us about leaving a life of sin and following Jesus? 

5) Read Romans 13:13-14. Paul instructed the church to avoid any sexual sin. Read Matthew 5:32, Acts 15:20, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, and Ephesians 5:3. How do we avoid sexual immorality in a sex saturated culture? 

6) What does culture teach us about the value of marriage, the reason for marriage, or the meaning of marriage? What does the Bible teach us about a Biblical marriage? See Genesis 2:24 and Hebrews 13:4. How can our marriage make us holy?  

7) Paul’s instruction is to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14). Read Colossians 3:12-17. As we live in a culture that is slowly degrading the value of marriage, how can we uplift marriage and clothe ourselves with Christ?  

Close your time in prayer. Talk about who you will invite to Coastline Online? 

Monday, February 08, 2021

Pursue- Week 1 Small Group Questions



Coastline Bible Church is doing a four-week sermon series called: "Pursue." During this series we are going to study the Scriptures about loving God, loving others, living a holy life, and having a healthy marriage or preparing for marriage. This is a sermon series for everyone who is looking to have a little more love in their life. It seems there has been so much division in our Nation over the last several years. Marriages are growing cold. Dating relationships are falling apart under the stress of the pandemic. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ::: Love God, Love Others ::: Matthew 22

This week we kick off a brand new sermon series called: Pursue. For the month of February we’re going to focus on the love of God and how that impacts our lives. In Matthew 22 we read that the religious leaders tried to trap Jesus with a question. Jesus does a great job at summarizing the 600+ Jewish Laws into one statement. Jesus knew it was all about love. He encouraged us to focus on loving God, loving others, and loving ourselves. The words that so easily rolled off Jesus’ lips can be a tough teaching for us to implement in our lives. We have past hang-ups, negative interactions, and a poor ability to put boundaries in our lives. Before studying these questions, ask God to help you to understand love in a new way this week; a way that He loves. 

1) Neal started the sermon by sharing a story of a time when he had a difficult time loving someone he worked with. Think about a time in your life that you’ve had a hard time loving someone, how did you respond to that person? Did it work?  

2) Read Matthew 22:34-38. Jesus tells us to love God with all our heart. Read Psalm 73:25, 1 John 4:19, & 2 Corinthians 3:16. What does it look like to love God with our entire heart? What holds us back from loving God with all our heart? 

3) Jesus also invited us to love God with all our mind. There are some churches that want you to ‘check your mind at the door’ and simply trust. But Jesus invites us to love God with our mind. How can we love God with our mind this week? 

4) Next, Jesus invited us to love God with all our soul (Matthew 22:37). Read: Matthew 11:29, Mark 8:36-37, Luke 1:46 & 1 Peter 2:11. How do these passages provide instruction on what it looks like to love God with all our soul? 

5) Jesus added to the question and told us to love our neighbor as ourself (read Matthew 22:39). How come we don’t love others? Read 1 John 4:11, 1 Peter 4:8, Romans 12:9, & Ephesians 4:32. How can we love our neighbor this week? 

6) Neal said that one of the reasons we don’t know how to love our neighbors is that we don’t love ourselves. Read Micah 6:8, 1 John 3:1, and John 3:16-17. What holds you back from loving yourself? How can you grow in loving yourself this week? 

7) Jesus was able to answer the question with Scripture (read Deuteronomy 6:4). Do you feel confident in knowing God’s word so that you can answer questions based on Scripture? If not, how can you know God’s better? (see Psalm 119:11) 

Close your time in prayer. Talk about who you will invite to Coastline Online? 

Monday, February 01, 2021

Lean in to the Holy Spirit- Small Group Questions

Coastline Bible Church is doing a five-week sermon series called: "Lean In" as we move into the New Year. There are so many parts of our lives that we don’t engage. We lean away from confrontation, difficult subjects, broken relationships, and things that require change. But what would happen if we began to lean in? What would change if we choose to lean in to God this year and see what He has for our lives? For five weeks we are going to lean in to different aspects of the Christian faith. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ::: Lean in to the Holy Spirit ::: John 14

As we wrap up our sermon series Lean In, we are going to talk about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity. We see the work of the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture. The Holy Spirit is rarely preached on and some people can think of Him as mysterious. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would come on a person for a certain time or task but in the New Testament there is a change. in John14, Jesus promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would be their guide and comforter. We know that the Holy Spirit is a free gift of God; He is not something that can be purchased. One purpose of the Spirit is so we are not alone. The Holy Spirit helps us to accomplish the commands of God. Take some time to study these questions and lean in to the Spirit. 

1) One of the places we read the most about the Holy Spirit is in the book of Acts. We see the Spirit embolden the believers to do the work of God. Share about a time when you knew the Spirit was giving you power to do God’s work. 

2) Read John 14:15-21. Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit as a free gift. Meaning the Spirit is available to anyone and everyone who places their trust in Jesus. Read Acts 10:44-48 and talk about how the free gift of the Spirit was seen. 

3) In John 14:17-18, Jesus told the disciples that the world neither sees or knows the Holy Spirit. Read: Matthew 1:18, 3:16, and Luke 1:41. Talk about how God’s people saw the Holy Spirit at work in miraculous and tangible ways.  

4) Read John 14:22-24. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit wouldn’t leave us alone. Think of a time when you felt lonely and needed the Holy Spirit to help you. Read Acts 4:8-22 and talk about how the Spirit helped Peter when he needed it most. 

5) Some of Jesus’ final words were a commission to the early church (read Matthew 28:18-20). Read Acts 2:42-47, 8:34-40, 13:1-3, and16:11-15. What do these stories teach us about the obedience of the disciples? 

6) Read John 14:25-27. Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would teach us and remind us of all the things that He said. Read Acts 4:8-22 and talk about how the Spirit gave Peter the words to speak.

7) Some believers have never really studied the work of the Holy Spirit in their life. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:19. Paul encouraged the church not to “quench” the Holy Spirit. Can you ways to allow the Spirit to work more in your life? 

Close your time in prayer. Talk about who you will invite to Coastline Online?