Sermon Discussion Guide
Romans | Romans 3:27-31 | The Inclusively Exclusive Gospel

Gathering Question: 
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read Romans 3:27-31

Who Can Boast?

• Reflect on how the Five Solas directly challenge modern values:

Solas.............................................Modern Values
Scripture Alone..........................Subjective Truth
Grace Alone................................Achievement Culture
Faith Alone..................................Self-Reliance
Christ Alone................................General Spiritualism
Glory of God Alone....................Self-Glorification

• How do you see these modern values taking root in the world? How do you see them forming you?
• Which of the Five Solas do you find most challenging to your life? Why? 

Who Is This For?

• The gospel is often described as “the great leveler.” How does the gospel challenge the idea that some people are more deserving of God’s love or acceptance than others?
• The thief on the cross had no opportunity to repair his past or establish a record of good works. What does his encounter with Jesus teach us about the kind of people who can receive God’s grace?
• Why can it be difficult to accept that salvation comes through Christ alone? What concerns or objections do people commonly have about that claim?

What Now? 

• Why might someone conclude that, if salvation is a gift, the way we live no longer matters?
• When we understand grace, boasting in ourselves gives way to praise, worship, and thanksgiving. What helps you move from focusing on your own performance to giving thanks for what God has done?

Closing Prayer

Schweitzer Church is seeking someone to fill our part-time Administrative role.

The ideal person will have a growing faith in Jesus Christ and align with the mission and vision of Schweitzer Church.

The role will involve:

• Exhibiting a friendly and welcoming environment for guests.
• Maintaining the church resources and supplies
• Answering the phones
• Sorting mail
• Computer input
• Supporting the ministries of Schweitzer Church

Time and location requirements: 12-18 hours per week; Monday-Thursday, afternoons in the church office.

To apply, send a resume to jfortin@schweitzer.church.

Sermon Discussion Guide
Romans | Romans 3:21-26 | How God Saves Sinners

Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read Romans 3:21-26

Blood

• If we misunderstand the problem, we will misunderstand the solution. How does our culture tend to explain what is wrong with people and the world? How does the Bible’s understanding of sin differ from these explanations?
• Sin is more than individual mistakes or bad behavior; sin is a power that distorts our lives and brings destruction into the world. How does understanding the seriousness of sin help us understand the necessity of the cross?
• If we could make ourselves right with God through self-improvement, education, morality, or religious effort, why would we need Jesus to die for us? What does the cross reveal about both the seriousness of our sin and our inability to save ourselves?

Justice

• Romans 3:24 says that we are “justified freely by his grace.” What does it mean to be justified by God's grace rather than to earn our standing before him? Why is this difficult to accept?
• Grace is a scandal: Jesus gave himself for people who did not deserve it. Why is it difficult to receive forgiveness we haven't earned? When have you struggled to believe that God's grace really is for you?
• In Romans 3:25–26, Paul explains that God acted through Jesus to demonstrate his righteousness, so that he could be both just and the one who justifies sinners. How does the cross help us understand that God doesn't ignore sin but deals with it himself?

Faith

• Faith is more than believing that God exists or agreeing with Christian doctrine; it involves trust and reliance. What is the difference between believing something is true and actually relying on it? What does relying on Jesus look like in everyday life?
• The world asks, “Who tells me who I am? Who takes care of me? Who forgives me?” How might trusting Christ for our identity, security, and forgiveness change the way we respond to comparison, anxiety, failure, or other people's opinions?
• Good works are the fruit of grace, not the basis of our acceptance by God. How does this change our motivation to obey God, forgive others, serve people in need, or practice generosity?

Closing Prayer

Sermon Discussion Guide
Romans | Romans 3:1-20 | The Paradox of Sin and Grace

Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read Romans 3:1-20

The Power of Sin | Romans 3:9

• What difference does it make to think of sin as a power rather than simply a list of things we do wrong?
• Why is self-improvement ultimately inadequate to deal with the problem Paul describes in Romans 3? What can self-discipline accomplish, and what can it not accomplish?

Universal Sin | Romans 3:10-12

• Why is it easier to recognize sin in other people than in ourselves? What happens when we begin comparing our righteousness to the people around us?
• Sin is not limited to one kind of person, culture, political group, social class, or level of morality. Why is that truth both humbling and hopeful?

Pervasive Sin | Romans 3:13-18

• Sin affects our speech, relationships, actions, desires, and even our relationship with God. What does that tell us about the depth of the problem?
• Why can a focus only on outward behavior give us a false sense of righteousness? What might we miss if we only ask, “What am I doing wrong?” rather than, “What is happening in my heart?”

Trust Structures

• A “trust structure” is a deep inner posture where we rely on something other than God for our well-being, identity, security, or purpose. What are some things people commonly look to for those things?
• What is something you are tempted to believe you cannot be okay without? What might that reveal about where you place your trust?
• Think about a good thing—money, marriage, children, career, health, politics, ministry, reputation, etc.—that can become a “savior.” Why is it so easy for good things to become things we ultimately trust instead of God?
• Consider these three questions from the sermon: “What am I trying to control? What am I afraid of losing? What am I trusting to take care of me?” Which of those questions is most revealing for you right now, and why?

The Paradox of Grace

• How does a deeper awareness of your own sin change your understanding of the cross? What happens to our view of Jesus when we minimize the seriousness of our sin?
• The sermon ends with the thought, “If Jesus can save a sinner like me, he can save anybody.” Who is someone you find difficult to believe Jesus could really save or transform? How might the gospel challenge that attitude?

Closing Prayer

Schweitzer Church is seeking someone to fill our part-time Connections Director role.

The ideal person will have a growing faith in Jesus Christ, align with the mission and vision of Schweitzer Church, exhibit the gregarious hospitality of Schweitzer Church, and have the ability to recruit and rally volunteers for an exciting opportunity.

Time and location requirements: 15-20 hours; Sunday and Monday mornings on-site; the remainder may be off-site.

To apply, send a brief cover letter and resume to jason@schweitzer.church.

Looking to fill this position by 1 January 2027.

Sermon Discussion Guide
Romans | Romans 2:17-29 | Religion Can’t Save You

Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read Romans 2:17-29

Trust-Structures

• What are some ways our culture encourages us to look to ourselves for peace, joy, meaning, or security? Why is self-reliance so attractive to us?
• Think about your own life right now: where are you most tempted to say, consciously or unconsciously, “I can handle this myself”? What would it look like to trust God in that area instead?

The Law Exposes Our Hearts

• What are some ways we can obey God outwardly while still resisting what God wants to change in us inwardly?
• Why can religious obedience actually make it harder for us to recognize our need for God’s grace?
• What is one area where you tend to measure your faithfulness by what you do rather than by what God is doing in your heart?

Self-Righteous Religion

• Paul asks, “You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?” How can we know the Bible, teach the Bible, and even help others follow God while our own hearts are far from God?
• What are some outward religious activities that can be good things but can also become ways we measure our own righteousness?
• Have you ever caught yourself caring more about how other people perceive your faith than about what God actually sees in your heart? What does Romans 2:29—“Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God”—say to that temptation?

Who Then Can Be Saved?

• Who then can be saved? Why does that question naturally emerge when we take God's law seriously? What answers are we tempted to give?
• “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” What does this tell us about our ability to save ourselves? What does it tell us about God's work?
• What is the difference between trying to become a better person through self-discipline and allowing God to transform you from the inside out?

Closing Prayer

Sermon Discussion Guide
Romans | Romans 2:1-16 | You Can’t Save Yourself

Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read Romans 2:1-16

God’s Judgment is Inescapable

• Why do you think it is easier for us to recognize the sins of other people than our own?
• What is the difference between saying, “I have things I need to improve,” and recognizing, “I cannot save myself”?
• Consider our culture’s emphasis on self-improvement and self-help. Why can these things be helpful in some ways while still being inadequate to solve our deepest problem?
• Romans 2:4 says that God's kindness, tolerance, and patience are intended to lead us to repentance. How does God's patience change the way we should respond to the reality of his judgment?

God’s Judgment is Righteous

• What would be wrong with a God who simply ignored evil and never held anyone accountable?
• Romans 2:6–10 speaks about God judging according to what people have done. How should we understand the relationship between faith and works?
• Imagine standing before God and being asked to live according to your own definition of a good person. How well would you actually measure up?
• Paul's argument ultimately takes away our ability to say, “I'm a good person because I'm better than them.” Why is that such an important part of understanding the gospel?

God’s Judgment is Impartial

• What kinds of things can people today use as evidence that they are “okay with God”?
• How can religious activity actually become a source of self-righteousness?
• Why is “we all need a Savior” such an important message for both the obviously broken person and the morally respectable person?

Put it Together

• Consider the three common responses to the judgment of God: dismiss it, be afraid, be humble. Which option normally describes your response to this teaching?
• Consider Martin Luther’s conclusion on the judgment of God: “Judgment day is called a day of wrath, and a day of mercy; a day of tribulation and a day of peace; a day of damnation and a day of glory.” What is your response? How do you see yourself in this?

Closing Prayer

Sermon Discussion Guide
Romans | How the Fall Affects Us All | Romans 1:24-32

Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read Romans 1:24-32

The Purpose of the Human Being

• We are not our own creators. How does being a creature rather than the Creator shape the way we think about our identity and purpose?
• Genesis 1 says that every human being is made in the image of God. How should that truth shape the way we see ourselves and the people around us?
• Genesis 1 is filled with complementary pairs that ultimately point to Christ and the Church. What does this larger biblical picture teach us about God's purpose for humanity?

The Tragedy of the Human Being

• The tragedy of humanity is rejecting God and then reaping the consequences of that rejection. Where do you see this pattern at work in the world?
• Paul’s list includes both dramatic sins and seemingly ordinary sins like envy, greed, gossip, arrogance, and lack of mercy. Why is it important that Paul puts these things together?
• When something created becomes an ultimate thing (something we depend on for identity, fulfillment, security, or happiness), it becomes an idol. What created things are you most tempted to make ultimate?
• Don’t “miss the forest for the trees.” How can focusing too much on someone else's sin keep us from seeing the larger human problem Paul describes? 

The Hope of the Human Being

• Romans 2:1 turns the accusation toward the person who judges others: “You, therefore, have no excuse.” What does that reveal about our own need for God's mercy?
• Read Romans 12:1-2 together. What connections do you see between Romans 1 and Romans 12, especially regarding our bodies, minds, worship, and purpose?
• Salvation is more than simply being declared forgiven. It is being “healed, set free, transformed,” and restored to life with God. Where do you most need God's transforming work right now?

Closing Question
Where in your life are you most tempted to live as though you are the Creator rather than the creature? How would it look if you surrendered that area to God?

Closing Prayer

Sermon Discussion Guide
Romans | The Wrath of God | Romans 1:18-23

Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer:
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read Romans 1:18-23

The Wrath of God

• What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “the wrath of God”? How did the sermon challenge or deepen your understanding of it?
• Romans 1:18 connects God’s wrath to his righteousness. How are God’s wrath and God’s righteousness connected? What would be troubling about a God who simply ignored evil?

The Human Condition

• Paul says humanity “suppressed the truth” about God and exchanged the Creator for creation. Where do you see that pattern in our culture? Where do you see it in your own life?
• Why is it so difficult for us to recognize our own unrighteousness? What are the ways we convince ourselves that we are basically good people?
• If the human problem is ultimately misplaced worship and self-reliance, rather than simply bad behavior, what does that suggest about what we actually need from Jesus?

The Love of God

• How does the reality of God’s judgment affect the way we understand the good news of the gospel? Why is God’s wrath actually part of the good news?
• Why can't we fully understand the cross without understanding God's righteousness and judgment?
• If God’s wrath is God’s love opposing everything that destroys his creation, what does that tell you about what God is like?

Closing Prayer

Sermon Discussion Guide
Romans | Not Ashamed of the Power of the Gospel | Romans 1:8-17

Gathering Question
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions
What stood out to you in the sermon?
What insights did you gain?
What questions did it raise?

Read Romans 1:8-17

1) Paul’s Prayer and Ours

• Paul shares a prayer he has been praying for the church in Rome. As you read his heart for the Romans, who is stirred up in your heart as someone to pray for? Why do you suspect they are brought to mind?
• In his prayer, Paul says he wants to be encouraged by the faith of the saints in Rome. How does the faith of the others encourage your own?
• John Stott said about this text, “Happy is the modern missionary who goes to another country and culture with reciprocity.” When considering the work of global discipleship, how much of an expectation do you have for the work of going to also be the work of receiving?

2) Not Ashamed

• Read 1 Corinthians 1.18-24
• Do you suspect Paul was tempted to minimize the significance of Christ?
• What are some contributing factors that quiet our own witness for Christ?

3) Good News is the Power of God at Work

• Karl Barth said, “The revelation of the Gospel doesn’t happen once; it is ongoing anytime Jesus is preached.” How has preaching revealed Jesus in a greater way to you?

4) Belief & Faith is the beginning of the Journey 

• Martin Luther wrote in his prelude to his comments on Romans the following: "Faith is not that human notion and dream that some hold for faith. … (Faith is not) an idea in their hearts, which says, “I believe” (and that’s it). This they hold for true faith. But it is a human imagination and idea that never reaches the depths of the heart, and so nothing comes of it and no betterment follows it. Faith, however, is a divine work in us. It changes us and makes us to be born anew of God (John 1); it kills the old Adam and makes us altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers, and it brings with it the Holy Ghost. Oh, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing… Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man would stake his life on it a thousand times. This confidence in God’s grace and knowledge of it makes men glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and all His creatures; and this is the work of the Holy Ghost in faith. … Pray God to work faith in you…"
• What is new or different about Luther’s description of faith and your own?

Closing Prayer 

Sermon Discussion Guide
Romans | The Majesty of the Gospel | Romans 1:1-7

Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read Romans 1:1-7

Good News, Not Good Advice

• How do you think most people would define the “gospel?”
• The early Christians used the Greek word euangelion (“announcement of a victory”) to describe their message. We translate that word as good news, or gospel. How does that background change the way you hear the word "gospel"?
• Reflect on this quote by N. T. Wright in Simply Christian,

“Christianity is about something that happened. Something that happened to Jesus of
Nazareth. Something that happened through Jesus of Nazareth. … The need which the
Christian faith answers is not so much that we are ignorant and need better information,
but that we are lost and need someone to come and find us, stuck in the quicksand
waiting to be rescued, dying and in need of new life.”

• What stands out to you most in Wright’s statement that Christianity is about “something that happened”? Why do you think that distinction is important?
• How is the idea that Christianity is “news” different from thinking of Christianity primarily as advice, self-help, or a collection of moral teachings?
• Where do you see people (including Christians) trying to solve spiritual problems by getting more information, trying harder, or becoming more disciplined?

A Servant of Christ

• What is the difference between saying, “I belong to Jesus, so I need to obey him,” and “I obey Jesus so that I can belong to him”? Why does that distinction matter?
• Our culture emphasizes self-reliance and personal autonomy. How does the gospel challenge this idea that we belong to ourselves and get to define our own life? 

Put it into Practice

• Have you ever found yourself, like John Wesley, doing the right spiritual things but still lacking peace or assurance? What might be the difference between religious effort and genuine dependence on Christ?
• If the resurrection is something that actually happened, how should that change the way you live this week?

Closing Prayer 

Sermon Discussion Guide
Jonah | Angry Enough To Die | Jonah 4:1-10

Gathering Question
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions
What stood out to you in the sermon?
What insights did you gain?
What questions did it raise?

Read Jonah 4:1-10

The Love of God is Sovereign

• God provides the fish (1:17), the plant, the worm, and the wind (4:6-8).  Some of these are gifts, and some are discomforts. God uses both to accomplish his purposes. What does this tell you?
• Jonah is angry that God is "Sovereign" over Nineveh's fate, but he's just as upset when God is Sovereign over his own comfort (the plant, the worm). Where in your life do you find it easier to accept God's control?
• Read Matthew 20:1-16. What is your first reaction to this parable? 
• "Are you envious because I am generous?" What are some common ways envy of God's generous grace and love may show up in a Christian’s life? Do you recognize your own temptations in any of these ways?

The Love of God is a Mystery

• Read Ephesians 3:14-19. Why does a Christian need God’s help to understand the love of God?
• What's the difference between knowing about God's love and actually experiencing it?
• We can't comprehend the love of God any more than we can comprehend the size of the ocean or the distance of the cosmos. Does thinking of God's love as being beyond your comprehension feel comforting, unsettling, or both? Why?
• The doorway into experiencing the mystery of God's love is "coming to the end of yourself." When has coming to the end of your own answers/wisdom/intellect actually opened you up to God rather than closing you off?

 

Closing Prayer: Wesley Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and glory.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
You are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Sermon Discussion Guide
Jonah | Wherever You Go, There You Are | Jonah 4:1-4

Gathering Question
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Opening Questions
What stood out to you in the sermon?
What insights did you gain?
What questions did it raise?

Read Jonah 4:1-4

The Head

• Jonah quotes Exodus 34 almost word for word:  "gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love." Why is it ironic that he uses these exact words to complain about God?
• The love of God is based on God, not us. What are some implications of this truth?

The Heart

• Reflect on the attributes of God that Jonah says versus how Jonah lives: 

• Look at the two columns side by side. Which pairing hits you as the most striking contradiction? Why?
• Think of a specific relationship or situation right now. If someone examined only your actions and reactions in it, which column would they conclude you actually believe about God?

What Do We Do? Confess and Surrender

• The cross, not our feelings, is where we know for certain that God's love is real and abounding. Why is it significant that Jonah wanted mercy withheld from his enemies, while Jesus went to the cross to provide mercy for His?
• What is one specific area of your life where you're holding back from fully surrendering to God's love and lordship?

Closing Prayer: Wesley Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and glory.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
You are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Sermon Discussion Guide
Jonah | Slow To Anger | Jonah 3

Gathering Question
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions
What stood out to you in the sermon?
What insights did you gain?
What questions did it raise?

Read Nahum 3:1-5

• Given the description of Nineveh in Nahum, how likely would you have been willing to obey God and head to Nineveh?
• How does this description of the city in Nahum, or the one in Jonah 3.2 & 3, & 4.10 – that it’s a great city – reflect on how you see and imagine cities? Are there cities you wouldn’t go to? What would it take for you to go someplace God said my heart is for that place?

Read Jonah 3:1-10

• Jonah is seen by many as a ½ hearted prophet. What does his obedience to the bare bones say to you about your own life?
• In contrast, have you ever encountered someone who was brief, yet said much? How did they convey a message of the Lord to you?
• Re. Repentance – the text says that the king sat on an ash heap, and the animals wore sackcloth. How do you express repentance? How do Jesus’ comments in Matthew 6.16-18 speak to you?
• The Lord shows to the people of Nineveh, and to Jonah, what he said to Moses – “I am slow to anger (Exodus 34:6). How does this shape your picture of God? Have you known the embrace of the Kind Father (Luke 15:32)? What is stopping you from knowing God’s mercy? 

Closing Prayer: Wesley Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and glory.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
You are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Sermon Discussion Guide
Jonah | Grace in the Darkness | Jonah 1:17-2:10

Gathering Question
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions
What stood out to you in the sermon?
What insights did you gain?
What questions did it raise?

Read Jonah 1:17-2:10

How has The Great Fish been present in your life? Has it proved challenging to your faith?
How has it served as a metaphor, as it did for Jesus? (see Mt. 12.38-41)

• “The Lord arranged” – how does this line catch your soul? How has God arranged a gracious path for you when you were sinking down, or thought there was no hope?
• Read Eph 4.14-19 – how does this prayer speak to those moments when you think you are far from God? How does it speak to us about others?
• Jonah experiences Solitude, Silence, and Suffering . . . God uses these gifts in his life to awaken him and turn his eyes back to God’s ambitions. How has God used Solitude, Silence, and Suffering to turn your eyes back to Him?

Jonah’s prayer rises from prayers he has memorized, lines within the Psalms … what prayers have you memorized, and have you found yourself praying back to God? How does the covenant prayer below challenge and grant you a picture of God’s grace?

Closing Prayer: Wesley Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and glory.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
You are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Sermon Discussion Guide
Jonah | Wherever You Go, There You Are | Jonah 1:1-16

Gathering Question
What is one way you’ve seen God at work in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions
What stood out to you in the sermon?
What insights did you gain?
What questions did it raise?

Read Jonah 1:1-16

The Inescapable Presence | Read Psalm 139:7-12

• Why do you think God's omnipresence was terrifying for Jonah but comforting for David? When does God's presence feel like good news and when might it feel uncomfortable?
• What does it mean that God has a claim over every part of our lives? Are there areas where it's easier or harder to acknowledge his authority?

God's Claim on Your Life

• What does it mean that God has a claim over every part of our lives? Are there areas where it's easier or harder to acknowledge his authority?
• “Sovereign Individualism” is the belief that I belong entirely to myself, and no one else has the right to define me or set limits on my life. Where do you see that idea show up in everyday life?
• Modern culture tends to be very uncomfortable with the idea of God's authority or claim over a life. What do you think that preference reveals about what people actually want from God?
• Jonah kept saying, in effect, "My life is mine." The Christian must pray, "It's all Yours." What is one area of your life that you're tempted to hold onto instead of surrendering to God?

The Cross and the Presence of God

• Sometimes the storms are invitations to come home to God. Without assuming every hardship is discipline, have you ever experienced a difficult season that deepened your dependence on God? What did you learn?
• In Matthew 28:20, Jesus promises, "I am with you always." How does the cross and resurrection give credibility to that promise? Why can we trust him to keep it?
• Think about a season when you wondered if God had abandoned you. How does looking at the cross reshape the way you interpret God's presence in difficult seasons?

Closing Prayer: Wesley Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and glory.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
You are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Sermon Discussion Guide
Jonah | What It's Like to Run Away | Jonah 1:1-3

Gathering Question
What is one way you have encountered God this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions
What stood out to you in the sermon?
What insights did you gain?
What questions did it raise?
Read Jonah 1:1-3

What Faith Really Is

• Read James 2:14-19
• What's the difference between believing in God and trusting God? 
• What are some ways that living faith shows up differently from just believing the right things?

The Question Jonah Isn't Asking

• Reflect on The Westminster Catechism: “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” What are some practical ways this statement challenges how you normally think about your life and decisions?
• The world sees the Jonah way of life as normal: putting yourself first, choosing what's comfortable, and avoiding what's costly. Where do you see that pull most strongly in your own life right now?

If This Can Happen to Jonah, What Hope Do We Have?

• Read Philippians 2:5-11
• Jonah goes down and keeps going down. Jesus also travels down. He willingly descends into enemy territory for our sake. How does the contrast between Jonah and Jesus change how you think about your own failures and your running?
• Reflect on the Wesley Covenant Prayer below. What lines stand out to you? What are some specific areas of your life where you might need to pray this prayer and surrender to God’s call of faith?

Wesley Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and glory.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Sermon Discussion Guide
The Ten Commandments | How to Be Content | Exodus 20:17

Gathering Question
What is one thing from this sermon series that has stayed with you?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon?
• What insights did you gain?
• What questions did it raise?

Read Exodus 20:17

The Only Commandment on the Inside

• The tenth commandment is the only one that fully happens on the inside. What does this tell us about the nature of our sin problem?
• Coveting can disguise itself as ambition, drive, or just being competitive. Have you ever recognized that coveting might be hiding under one of these things in your own life?

Spiritual Fitness

• The rabbis taught that, if you keep the first nine commandments, your life will be so full and rich that you won’t want anyone else’s life. What is true and helpful about this idea?
• What are some areas in your life where you need to build some “spiritual fitness?”

Pentecost

• Compare Acts 2:1-4 with Exodus 20:18-21. What similarities do you see? What differences do you see? What do these differences teach us about the new covenant?
• Read Galatians 5:22-23. What are practical ways that you might grow in the fruit of the Spirit? 
• As this series ends, what is one thing you want to carry forward from these eleven weeks?

Closing Prayer

Sermon Discussion Guide
The Ten Commandments | You Shall Not Lie | Exodus 20:16

Gathering Question
What is one way you’ve experienced God in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read Exodus 20:1-17

Questioning Christ

• In what ways do the 10 Commandments reveal essential aspects of God’s character?
• Why might these 10 particular commandments be such a priority in God’s outline of how a healthy society should function?

Living in the Tension

• What evidence do you see around you of a distrustful society? 
• What are some of the different approaches the world takes to how and where truth is found? Where might God be on the move in those discussions?
• Why is it significant that the commandment about telling the truth is phrased in a way that focuses on the benefit to others rather than the benefit to ourselves?

Made New

• Read Ephesians 4:17-25. What observations do you have about the way this passage addresses truth?
• Why does it matter that truth comes from the Holy Spirit within us now that we are made new, rather than having to search for where to find truth?
• What does it mean to witness to the truth rather than just telling the truth?

Don’t Be A Cynic

• “Like all dreamers, I mistook disenchantment for truth.” – Jean-Paul Sartre. This quote laments the equivalence between being cynical or distrusting and being wiser or more intelligent. Do you agree with this quote? If so, why might we tend to assume cynicism is the wiser approach?
• Do you find yourself tending toward a cynical and distrustful approach to people? What might it look like to embody a more generous spirit in those interactions?
• Telling the truth is not just about calling out issues and problems, but also testifying to the good. What might it look like in your life to be a truthteller in the positive sense? 

Closing Prayer

Sermon Discussion Guide
The Ten Commandments | You Shall Not Steal | Exodus 20:15

Gathering Question:
What is one way you've experienced God in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon?
• What insights did you gain?
• What questions did it raise?

Read Exodus 20:1-17

• Tom Skinner suggests that hundreds of years of slavery contort a soul and require that it be transformed to walk in the way of life. How does this observation help you see and hear the commandments?

• Of the catechism commentary on this text, which resonates with you? Which one posits something new for you to consider?
  • It’s the unauthorized and willful taking of what rightly belongs to another… I can steal wages, identity, credit, intellectual property (Anglican)
  • It teaches us to hold sacred the property of others (Wesleyan-Methodists)
  • God also labels as theft wicked tricks and schemes by which we seek to get our neighbors' goods: false weights, deceptive advertising, counterfeit money, and exorbitant interest. He forbids greed and misuse and waste or his gifts . . . and encourages work for the good of our neighbor (Heidelberg Catechism)

• How does work and being generous serve as a pathway to peace in the neighborhood and a way to God’s good and beautiful life?

• Read Malachi 3:8-9 and 1:7-8. Malachi accused the priests of robbing God. Judas displayed something similar (in John 12). As you worship today, what do you hear the Holy Spirit God asking of you? How does being generous with God bring forth joy?

Closing Prayer

Holy Father, there is nothing I have that You have not given me. All I have and am belong to You, bought with the blood of Jesus.
To spend everything on myself, and to give without sacrifice, is the way of the world that You cannot abide.
But generosity is the way of those who call Christ their Lord, who love Him with free hearts and serve him with renewed minds;
Who withstand the delusion of riches that chokes the Word; whose hearts are in your kingdom and not in the systems of the world.
I am determined to increase in generosity until it can be said that there is no needy person among us.
I am determined to be trustworthy with such a little thing as money that you may trust me with true riches.
Above all, I am determined to be generous because You, Father, are generous.
It is the delight of your daughters and sons to share your traits, and to show what You are like to all the world.
Amen.

Sermon Discussion Guide
The Ten Commandments | You Shall Not Commit Adultery | Exodus 20:14

Gathering Question:
What is one way you've experienced God in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon?
• What insights did you gain?
• What questions did it raise?

Read Exodus 20:1-17

The Worldview of a Moral System

• “…many people treat morality as a list of rules. But in reality, every moral system rests on a worldview. In every decision we make, we are not just deciding what we want to do. We are expressing our views of the purpose of human life.” (Nancy Pearcey, Love Thy Body)
• If every moral system expresses a view of the purpose of human life, what would you say the "No Big Deal" sexual ethic says the purpose of human life is? 
• What does the Christian sexual ethic say it is?

Lust vs Love

• Read Matthew 5:22-30
• Love and lust represent two entirely different worldviews. Lust is “me first”; love is “me last.” Where do you feel the pull of the "me first" worldview most strongly in your own life?
• The sermon said that lust uses the other person instead of caring for them. Can you think of ways that the "me first" worldview shows up in relationships that don't involve sex at all? What does that tell you about how deep the problem goes?
• In a Christian marriage, the ranking is God, spouse, then you. Does that ordering feel like a burden or a gift? 

Getting Honest

• Is there an area of your life where you've been living with a "No Big Deal" attitude about something that actually has a very high cost?
• Some people need the gift of the church to get free: prayer, confession, fasting, and community. Is there something you've been carrying alone that you need to bring into the light with trusted people?

Closing Prayer

Sermon Discussion Guide
The Ten Commandments | You Shall Not Murder | Exodus 20:13

Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve encountered God this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon?
• What insights did you gain?
• What questions did it raise?

Exodus 20:13 | Why is murder wrong?

• Discuss how different “worldviews” would answer the question: why does a human being have value? How does a Christian answer this question?
• The image of God is stamped on every person, including the frail, the elderly, the terminally ill, and the unborn. Where in our culture do you see that image being denied or diminished? Where do you find it hardest to affirm?

Matthew 5:21-22 | Contempt

• Do you see the difference between anger and contempt? How are they related? How are they different?
• Our world is full of contempt. When we normalize contempt, we shouldn't be surprised when it takes root in us. Where has contempt snuck into your life without you naming it as such? What does it look like for you (a short fuse, an inability to forgive, cutting people out, the way you talk about someone behind their back)?

Matthew 5:23-26 | Two Kinds of People

• Reflect on these words from Dallas Willard, "Now just think of what the quality of life and character must be in a person who would routinely interrupt sacred rituals to pursue reconciliation with a fellow human being. What kind of thought life, what feeling tones and moods, what habits of body and mind, what kinds of deliberations and choices would you find in such a person? When you answer these questions, you have a vision of the true righteousness that is at home in God's kingdom of power and love." (The Divine Conspiracy)
  Take some time to answer the rhetorical questions he raises about what this kind of person is like. 
• What are some practices, habits, and thoughts that you would need to change in order to become the kind of person Jesus is describing?

Jesus Left the Altar

• Jesus is the kind of person who would drop what he’s doing to search for the lost. He left the throne room of heaven to be reconciled with us. How does the gospel shape how we should think about other image-bearers? 

Closing Prayer

Sermon Discussion Guide
The Ten Commandments | Honor Your Father and Your Mother | Exodus 20:12

Gathering Question
What is one way you’ve encountered God this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon?
• What insights did you gain?
• What questions did it raise?

Read Exodus 20:12

The Covenant and the Generations

• The promise attached to this commandment  (live long in the land) is about the covenant made to Abraham. How does connecting this commandment to the salvation of the earth change the way you think about it?
• Reflect on Deuteronomy 6:1-9 and Psalm 145:3-7.  What does that kind of ongoing testimony look like in your own life? Where does it feel natural? Where does it feel difficult?

Honor, Not Just Obey

• The Hebrew word for honor means to treat something as weighty or important. Who carries weight in your life right now? What voices do you find yourself listening to most?
• This commandment cuts both ways: younger generations are called to honor, but older generations are called to have something worth honoring. What does it look like for an older person to steward that responsibility well?
• We live in an age that divides the generations, often pitting them against each other. Where do you see that division most clearly? How can a church push back against the division? 
• In the church, we belong to a new family. Who have been the spiritual fathers and mothers in your life? Who might you be that for?

The Challenge of Honor

• For some people, honoring parents is the easiest commandment; for others, it is the hardest. Where do you fall, and why?
• Our culture tells people who have been hurt by their parents to double down on anger and cut toxic people out. Jesus offers a different path: blessing and not cursing (Matthew 5:38-48). How does that land for you? What makes it hard?

Sermon Discussion Guide
The Ten Commandments | Remember the Sabbath | Exodus 20:8-11

Gathering Question:
What is one way you've experienced God in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Read Exodus 20:1-17

Exodus 20:8-11 | The Longest Commandment

• The fourth commandment is the longest of the ten, taking up almost a third of all the words. And yet it is the one most treated as optional. Why do you think that is? What does that say about us?
• The word "sabbath" literally means stop. What does it do to you to hear the commandment framed simply as: stop? Does that feel like a gift or a threat?
• The commandment is light on details about what exactly to do, but long on who it is for: seven specific groups, including servants and foreigners. What does it tell us about God that he insists the sabbath is for everyone, not just the privileged?

The Two Ditches

• The sermon described two ditches: work as an ultimate thing (“burnout” culture) and rest as an ultimate thing (“quiet quitting” culture). Which ditch are you more naturally pulled toward? What does that reveal about your disordered desires?
• Augustine taught that sin is not just doing bad things, it is taking good things and making them ultimate things. Can you think of a time when work or rest became an ultimate thing in your own life? What did that cost you?
• The sabbath pushes back against both ditches at once. How does that reframe what the sabbath is actually for?

Forgetting the Sabbath

• The commandment says remember the Sabbath, which implies the danger is forgetting, not outright rejection. CS Lewis wrote that the safest road to hell is the gradual one. Where do you see that gradual drift happening in your own life around the sabbath?
• The sermon pointed to historical attempts to abolish the sabbath as evidence that it is contested ground. Do you feel the resistance to sabbath in your own life as personal failure, cultural pressure, or something more? How does naming it as spiritual opposition change how you respond?
• Voltaire argued that if you want to kill Christianity, you must abolish Sunday. We've made Sunday optional even among Christians. What have we lost by doing that?  

Come and Rest

• Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your souls.” What is the difference between the rest Jesus offers and the rest our culture offers?
• The Sabbath is a gift of rest, a gift of grace. The more irrelevant we make the sabbath, the more we will struggle with grace, trust, and resting in Christ. Do you feel that connection in your own life? What would it look like to take one small step toward remembering the sabbath this week?

Closing Prayer