Sermon Discussion Guide
Sunday, July 4, 2010
In These Last Days: Wait???
How can I learn to accept the things I cannot change? To accept the things I cannot change does not mean to do nothing, but rather it means to keep doing all the Lord commands of us without a bitter heart even though things in my life and this world are not as I desire.
I can learn to accept difficult circumstances in my life that I cannot change if I am willing to wait for the Day of the Lord.
I can learn to accept weaknesses and challenges in my own heart that I cannot change if I am willing to wait for the Day of the Lord.
I can learn to accept those things about this world that I cannot change if I am willing to wait for the Day of the Lord.
1.) Read James 5:1-8. Most of the first Christians were poor, a large percentage of them slaves. They had very little opportunity to change the circumstances of their lives. How would you describe what James’ counsel to the poor Christians in the Roman Empire was in verses 7 and 8? What is, and is not, the meaning of his words to, “be patient…until the coming of the Lord”? What does he mean by the words, “Establish your hearts”? Has knowing that the Lord is coming given you strength to accept difficult circumstances that you could not change? Why, or why not?
2.) Read Romans 8:18, 24-25. What does Paul mean by the words, “the glory that is to be revealed to us”? What makes it so hard to patiently wait for the Day of the Lord? What is the alternative to waiting for the Day of the Lord when there are difficult circumstances that truly cannot be changed?
3.) Read Colossians 3:1-4 and Philippians 1:6. What happens if we don’t believe the promise in these verses that God will bring to completion the work that He has begun in us? Why is it often so difficult to see what God is doing within us? Pastor Craig stated that accepting the weaknesses in your character doesn’t mean that you don’t work to change them; but rather the opposite, that as you accept those weaknesses you find strength to keep working to overcome them even when you don’t see in yourself any visible progress. Have you experienced this? If so, how did that work out?
4.) Read II Corinthians 4:16-18. Describe an “unseen, eternal work” that you came to realize God was doing in your heart. Do you find it easy or difficult to believe, “our inner nature is being renewed every day”? Why?
5.) Read Revelation 21:1-4 and Isaiah 35:5-6, 10. What does John mean by a, “new heaven and a new earth”? The Bible tells us that wickedness continues to multiply as time moves on, yet at the end of time God suddenly intervenes and establishes righteousness over all the earth. How does believing these two claims of Scripture motivate us to continue to serve the Lord no matter what?