Philippians | Week 7 | Small Group Questions

Coastline Bible Church is doing an eight-week sermon series called: "Defined by Joy." The Apostle Paul helped plant the church in Philippi (see Acts 16) but never forget about them. They played a key role in supporting him as God called him to plant other churches. From this series we want to learn how to have our lives defined by joy and not circumstances. Paul modeled this well to the early church. For this sermon Joey Ross preached and wrote the questions below. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions | Peace in an Age of Rage and Anxiety | Philippians 4:1-9

Paul begins to close his letter to the Philippians with some very practical exhortations. He encourages them those who are at odds to iron out their difference and make up and encourages those may be fretting and worried (anxious) to give up their anxiety. Both of these calls to live at peace with others and to have inner peace are rooted in one things. Taking an unchanging grip on the unchanging life of Jesus Christ within us. It is only in his presence that true peace is made possible. Discuss in your group the following questions, in order that we might encourage one another to be peacemakers and non anxious presence in culture defined by rage and anxiety.

1) Read Philippians 4:1, Paul says in light of everything that he has said in the book of Philippians that he wants the best for us and the best for us is to hold tight/ stand firm in the Lord.  When has it been difficult for you to hold on to Jesus? What circumstance tempt you most to let go?

2) Read Philippians 4:2-5 and John 13:35. How does Jesus say others will know we are his disciples?  Do you think Christians are good at loving each other and resolving conflict? Why/ Why not?

3) When talking with the women in conflict in Philippi, he tells them the key to resolving their conflict is to agree in the Lord and to rejoice in the Lord. What do you think it means to agree in the Lord?  Why is that so important to Paul?

4) Read Philippians 4:6-9. Have you ever experienced severe anxiety or sleepless night?  If you would be so vulnerable would you be willing to share what the source of it was.

5) Read James 1:2-4.  The peace of God is an inner calm found in the presence of God. Similar to joy, peace does not seem to be built on our circumstances. Why do you think that is? Why might it be more important that it is not?

6) Paul encourages us to think, pray w/thanksgiving, and love God as remedies for anxiety.  Giving thanks even when we don’t feel like it can be a powerful exercise in priming the pump and giving us a heart of gratitude. What are you thankful for today? And why is giving God thanks even before he answers our request so important.

7) Close your time in prayer by praying for: Ukrainian Missionaries with International Partnerships

Job 38- Small Group Questions

Our church is doing a four-week sermon series called: "Questions from God." We are looking at times in the Old Testament where God asked questions from His people. The questions pertain to different subjects and situations (kind of like our lives). They take place in different time periods showing that questions from God are always relevant. In this series we are learning how to hear God's voice and follow His leading. For this sermon we had Joey Ross as a guest speaker. A big "thanks" to Joey for writing these questions. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ::: Questions from the Storm ::: Job 38

The book of Job is written like a play, There is action in two stages.  There is what happens on earth and what happens in heaven.  While the reader/audience knows what’s happening in both settings, the characters on earth do not.  Job cannot see, he cannot hear, and in the end he never finds out even why its all happening.  But far more important than knowing the whole story, Job discovers who God is and


1) What did you find most memorable about this weekends message regarding Job struggles?

2) Share one things you're learning about God through this pandemic/ or something you learned about God during another storm in your life?

3) Read Job 1:1-5 and 1:20-22
What kind of person was Job and how was he perceived by the people of Uz?
What is Job reaction when calamity strikes?

4) Read Job 2:4-5; 10
What is the main question Satan is challenging to God?
What happened to Job and how is his reaction different this time?

5) Read Job 38:2-7 and 42:12-15
How does God respond to Job question of why is he suffering?
What does God’s answer communicate to Job (and to us)?
How does Job respond?

6) During the early part of Job’s story, the amount of blessing that Job experiences is mistakenly seen as being proportional to the amount of ;obedience he offers to God.  How does this belief influence the way that you approach your own life?

7) Job has an experience of Orientation-Disorientation-Reorientation with God.  Have you had similar experiences where you believed something about God or Christianity and then your life experience / new learning of God force you to reevaluate?

Close in a time of prayer

You can watch the entire worship gathering and find the sermon here

Mark 12:1-27 Small Group Questions

Our church is currently studying the book of Mark. For twenty-eight weeks we're walking through the book and talking about the action-packed story of Jesus. Mark was more concerned with what Jesus did than what Jesus said. I'm so thankful for Joey Ross preaching this week and writing these amazing questions. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ::: Power, Politics, and Prenups ::: Mark 12:1-27

Jesus now finds himself in an increasing hostile situation, he is in Jerusalem, surrounded by various religious parties all of whom are are out to get him.  Here Jesus tells a parable, one that is an indictment on them and the way they have stewarded the gift of leadership God has given them.  From this, they look to trap him every way they can, in order to arrest and eventually kill him.  Today this passage serves as a reminder to us that we are called to steward our gift from God, and in addition to hold everything in its rightful place.

1) Share a time where you held on to something a little to tightly and it was eventually taken from you.  Or to put it another way share about something that became an idol in your life.

2) Read Mark 12:1-27:  Share anything that stood out to you in this passage, a word, phrase, question or something that stood out to you from the from the sermon this week.

3) In Jesus' Parable of the Tenants, who does the vineyard builder represent? The vineyard (Isaiah 5)? The tenants? The son? (Mark 12:1-9).  What character do you most relate to in your life?

4) Read Mark 12:12 Why is this parable the tipping point for the religious leaders?  What about the parable upset them so much?  Have you ever met people who not only doesn’t/didn’t believe in God, but was hostile to God?  What was that like?

5) Christianity has always thrived most as a life-giving minority, not a political majority, however its hard to ignore that these two topics effect one another. Politics and religion have always been hot topic issues.  In Mark 12:13-17, how does Jesus put these topic in proper perspective?

6) What will be the state of marriage in heaven? How does Jesus demonstrate resurrection from God's words to Moses?

7) In Mark 12:18-27 Jesus is very straight forward with his feelings about the Sadducees and their understanding of Scripture, and what God is like.  He says at the end they are badly mistaken.  The truth for all of us is we are all mistaken on something we believe about God.  We just don’t know what it is.  How do you remain open to God’s correction in our understanding of him?

Close your time in prayer and ask God to reveal to beliefs or things in your life that need to be open to him correcting.