Sermon Discussion Guide
Sunday, June 20, 2010
In These Last Days: Wickedness
How do you stay true to God, and the calling He has put on your life, when wickedness is multiplying all around you?
….you keep reading the Bible every single day.
….you get away from persons who are pulling you into their wickedness.
….you trust that Jesus will sustain you to the end.
1.) Read Matthew 24:1-13. Does it seem to you that wickedness has multiplied as history progresses, or does it seem that things are mostly the same as they always have been? Why? What is it about the progress of time that produces an increase of wickedness? Pastor Craig stated that just as the challenges of staying true to God have increased as history progresses, so it is true in our individual lives that the challenges of staying faithful increase rather than decrease as the years of life go by. Do you agree with that? Why, or why not?
2.) Read II Timothy 3:1-5, 10-17. What does Paul list as the benefits of reading scripture? Give examples of how you have seen those benefits in your life. The power of family, friends, media, etc., to influence our hearts and minds is so great, what is it about reading the Bible day by day that gives us strength to be true to God and His calling on our lives? In other words, how can there be so much power in reading the words on a page? Why is it so difficult to keep a consistent discipline of scripture reading?
3.) Read Ephesians 5:3-8, I Corinthians 15:33, Proverbs 22:24-25. Have you had to get away from persons who were pulling you into their wickedness? How did that work out? Is it judgmental to say that bad company corrupts good morals? Why, or why not?
4.) Read I Corinthians 1:4-9. How does trusting that Jesus will sustain you to the end give you strength to hold on to your faith? What do see in this passage of scripture about how it is that Jesus sustains us? How does the fear of failure become a self-fulfilling prophecy?