Q&A Nehemiah Conclusion - Anniversary Sunday

October 12, 2015 | by: Dave Maniquis | 0 Comments

Posted in: Sermon Questions

PARTICIPANT'S GUIDE FOR COMMUNITY GROUP GATHERINGS
Sermon: Q&A Nehemiah Conclusion - Anniversary Sunday, October 11th, 2015
Series: Nehemiah: Building for the Future
Speaker: Pastor Anthony Orzo

Referenced Passages: Matthew 15:16-19; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Proverbs 3:1-8; James 1:5; Genesis 12:1; 2 Corinthians 9:7; Philippians 1:3-11.

Launching Question: Do you have many key decisions to make on a weekly basis? If so, do you wish you had less? If not, do you wish you had more??? Explain your response.

Sermon Questions:

1. When you want to seek clarity about God’s will in any particular area of your life, how much does God’s revealed will in Scripture play a part in your decision making process?

2. Anthony’s message mentioned key principles such as, “over analysis leads to paralysis,” “the wisest decision for your life,” “peace in your heart,” “affinity for,” “freedom to pursue,” “flesh out God’s particular will in our lives,” etc.

Based on the message and Scripture, what is your understanding about how to exercise Christian freedom in making choices?

3. When it comes to our emotional life, these two key passages were cited:

“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matthew 15:16-19)

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Anthony summed up the teaching of these passages insisting that we should be on guard about what our heart (emotions) tells us to do and “listen to it with a very skeptical mind when it comes to decision making and understanding God’s will. In other words, when it comes to our emotions, without some objective clarity we’re likely to do things that feel right in God’s eyes, but straight up aren’t.”

In what ways has Scripture given you “objective clarity” for a decision(s) involving your emotional tendencies? What are some examples of the so-called “gray” areas you have needed to resolve in order to come to a decision concerning a “feeling” you have about something?

4. Anthony laid out three steps that he described as the “Holy Trinity of Decision Making,” which you should always take before acting on an emotional impulse.

Ask God:

(1) …if what you are about to do is aligned with His Revealed Will in the Scripture?

(2) …to reveal the true motive of your feelings and bring some clarity to them. Like Jesus said, don’t blindly trust your heart.

And ask:

(3) ...a trusted believer. Ask yourself, “Is what I’m about to do affirmed by people I trust and love and who have a proven track record of fidelity to God.” (Feelings always need a second opinion from such a person.)

God has made mankind in his image with mind, will, and emotions. Consequently, our emotional life is integral to being human. Nonetheless, they must be kept in a delicate balance. How often do you ask and apply at least one or more of these things to yourself when unsure or confused about a decision to make that is being driven by your feelings alone?

5. A dominant theme in the Nehemiah series is that God’s people “got stuck in the ‘what is’ and never longed for ‘God’s what could be.’” They got comfortable giving thanks for what God did in their past at the expense of believing and living in light of the fact that God wants to work through his people in the future.

At this 5-year mark of RCPO, Anthony emphasized his fear that the, “god of complacency would rob us of the joy and responsibility our true God has assigned us.” This goes for making disciples of Jesus and serving our community, as well as meeting certain financial needs in order to make the wisest decision for a permanent building. All that God has accomplished through us thus far has been done together.

Are you experiencing a certain degree of complacency or staleness in your personal walk with God as a Christian? If so, how? How can personal complacency affect the church as a whole?

As individuals, and as a group, genuinely ask yourselves if you think you’re doing your part when it comes to giving of your time and resources?

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