Greetings! Below you will find questions which reference the sermon preached on Sunday, March 15th, 2015 at The Park. This week we studied Chapter 20 of Genesis. Have someone in your group read this section of scripture.
Each week new questions are posted to track along with the sermons. Work hard to facilitate discussion. Listen to the hearts around the room and close with prayer.
Intro to Tent & Altar:
Abraham was a man called and sent by God. He is revered in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity today. Abraham’s name was originally “Abram”, which means ‘the father is exalted’. His name was changed to “Abraham”, which means ‘father of a multitude’, when God initiated His covenant with him (Genesis 17). God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many people. As we study his life and journey of faith in Genesis, we believe we will be challenged and encouraged by what we see and hear. Simply put, Abraham trusted God and believed God could accomplish all that He had promised.
Questions for this week:
- Who’s the guy behaving ethically in this story? Who’s being forthright and obedient to God’s revelation? Who should have known better? Like Abimelek admonished Abraham, describe a time you learned a lesson from God through an un-Christian source. Discuss how God uses all circumstances to teach us.
- What did Abraham’s repeat behavior say about his faith? Was there a disconnect between belief and action? Describe times where you hear and believe, but sometimes fall back to old habits. Read Romans 7 starting in verse 14. Discuss how can you can overcome this disconnect.
- God uses the situation to chide Abraham. Does scripture say this discipline was out of anger? Read Proverbs 3:11-13 and Hebrews 12:5-13. Does God point out our missteps out of anger or love?
- Describe a time (even now) when you felt God revealing an area for you to work on. Describe a time when he disciplined you? How did you respond? Did it lead to growth, after the pain? Discuss why or why not?
- Abimelek was vindicated and shown he had been wronged. Did he respond in anger or seek retribution? Describe how you think Abraham might have felt, seeing a pagan king receive a message from God and act as he did. How could have Abraham responded? Did Abraham own up to his actions? Does God still love Abraham after this? What does that tell us of God and us today with our faults and missteps?