Discussion Questions 9/5/20

9/5/2020

Selva Mason will be providing the discussion questions today. They will be posted in the comment section sometime after the sermon.

5 Comments

Selva Mason

9/5/2020 12:18:58 pm

These discussion questions are based on the sermon titled "Good News in a Bad Society" by: Elder David Alao.

1. How does putting our trust in God help us to have good news in a bad society?

2. Why is it important to have a good relationship with God?

3. How does our pride get in the way of our blessings?

4. How did Naaman’s character lead to his healing?

5. Why should we boast in our strength instead of our weakness?

6. Why is sin a moral problem and not an intellectual problem?

7. What message did you personally take away from this sermon?

8. How can you apply this sermon to your life?

9. What practical thing can you do today to get started?

Feel free to share some of your thoughts in the comment section below:

Wayne Jamel

9/5/2020 01:47:19 pm

Thank you selva for leading the discussion questions today. Very good questions you wrote. Thats the teacher in you.
#1: God will give us guidance in sharing the good news.
#2: Without God i can do nothing good.
#3: Sometimes God has gifts for us, but because we are not ready for it He has to hold it back for our own safety. I dont want to miss out.
#4: He had a willingness and openmindedness at the end of the day to give God a try. Thats trust.
#6: sin starts in the heart not in the mind. Just like worship starts in the heart.

Selva Mason

9/5/2020 08:08:10 pm

Thank you for the opportunity Pastor Wayne. Good bless you.

Your responses to questions 3, 4, and 6 are spot on.

Pr. Wayne: #3: Sometimes God has gifts for us, but because we are not ready for it He has to hold it back for our own safety. I dont want to miss out.

Selva: #3: Yes. Sometimes we are not ready for what God has planned for us because we have our own idea or expectation of how we want the gift to look, feel, and when we want the gift to arrive. God knows what is best for us, so we must always wait for His timing and follow His lead.

Pr. Wayne: #4: He had a willingness and openmindedness at the end of the day to give God a try. That's trust.

Selva: Isn't, it amazing how God continues to want us even after we spend so much time putting Him off. It's funny how we put God as our last priority and he is always there, like a faithful and trusting friend or a loving parent who never leaves our side.

#6: Sin starts in the heart not in the mind. Just like worship starts in the heart.

Selva: This is perfect. So we don't make sense of God's love for us by thinking about His love over and over. We make sense (feel) of God's love for us based on the transformation that takes place when we make room for Him in our hearts.

Helen Morgan

9/6/2020 07:52:14 pm

3) How does our pride get in the way of our blessings: There is the famous excuse used all the time that says. "Pride get in the way" meaning that we relish/look for flaws in others as a way of concealing our own. I think that pride is emotional and can make you feel that you are superior to others. In addition, you will work hard to make sure your appearance is impressive. In other words your pride becomes a way of promoting self-affirmation. Pride is seen as the root of all evil and the beginning of sin.
God says we must humble ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. This tells me that we allow pride to block our blessings in that we do not see our needs. Like the hymn, "Amazing Grace, says, "I once was blind but now I see." Jesus is the light of the world and he is our amazing portion of grace.
Most times we are not willing to admit our need and we start with lying saying we are ok when we know that we are really not ok. Lack of faith will cause us to not to believe God has the power to give us whatever we need and ask for. We can also block our blessings because we do not believe that God is approachable or interested in our desires. As Hebrews 4:16 says, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Finally, I think that pride can cause us to glorify ourselves in a way where we are in contempt of God and that is dangerous.

7) What message did you personally take away from this sermon: The leper's experience with Jesus had my attention in that I know that lepers lived as outcast in Leper's Colonies. Some how this man finds himself face to face with Jesus. I do not know if he heard that Jesus had the power to heal or not but one thing I know for sure is that he was prepared to do whatever was necessary. This man allowed his great need to move him to Jesus. He knew that he could not hide the disease because the nature of his need was exposed and that exposure gave him the freedom to admit his need to Jesus.
Many of us have great needs and we keep them hidden because we are either ashamed or fearful. As humans we sometimes find a way to interact with the world and then escape to take care of our brokenness instead of praying to God and asking him to open our eyes, minds and soul to know that he is our healer and also for him to grant us the faith to approach him boldly. For me personally I pray that I will not hesitate to recognize when I have a need and take it to God in prayer.

Selva Mason

9/7/2020 02:20:45 pm

Helen Morgan: "Most times we are not willing to admit our need and we start with lying saying we are ok when we know that we are really not ok. Lack of faith will cause us not to believe God has the power to give us whatever we need and ask for."

Selva: I like that you said "We say we are ok when we know that we are really not ok." The truth is God knows everything so we can be dishonest with ourselves, our friends and our family but we can never be dishonest with God. God knows our real/true experience.

James 4:6 tells us that, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” We are encouraged to bring our burdens to the Lord, putting our pride aside and letting the Lord lead.

Helen Morgan: "Many of us have great needs and we keep them hidden because we are either ashamed or fearful. As humans we sometimes find a way to interact with the world and then escape to take care of our brokenness instead of praying to God."

Selva: James 4:10 tells us, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." Philippians 4:6 tells us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

God wants us to humbly share our needs with him in prayer.

Discussion Questions 9/5/20

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