2/9 - 2/13 Life Group Questions
^ Click “Note” ^ Remember to write down some short notes for each of the questions below before heading to life group.
1.
Share 1 thing that stood out to you about Sunday's Message. (1 minute max please) Also press play button in image above to watch or listen to Sundays message if you missed it or just to refresh your memory. (Each Individual)
2. Let Justice Roll & Righteousness Flow
Amos 5:24
24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Micah 6:8
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Will living according to Micah 6:8 as an individual lead to justice rolling & righteousness flowing? Can you come up with a better sentence to build your vision and priorities and way of life on? Can Micah 6:8 be applied to every area of your life and at every stage of your life? (Group Discussion)
3. Worshipping & Going To Church
Amos 1:1-2
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 2 And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.”
On Sunday Pastor Vaughn highlight that Amos was a Prophet from the southern kingdom of Judah but he was called to declare God’s judgment to the people in the northern kingdom of Israel. The roaring of the Lord came from Jerusalem in the south and the withering happened on Mount Carmel in the north. Even though location was important in Amos’ time, Pastor Vaughn said that later Jesus declared a day when worship wouldn’t be about a city in the south or a mountain in north.
John 4:19-21
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
What does it mean to worship God in spirit and truth? How is that different than prioritizing worshipping God in a specific location like Jerusalem or Mount Carmel or the Vatican in Rome or any other “Holy” site? With all that in mind, how should we view prioritizing going to a local church every Sunday? (Group Discussion)
4. Loving God & Loving People
Amos 2:4
4 Thus says the Lord : “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the Lord , and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked.
Amos 2:6-9
6 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— 7 those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; 8 they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
On Sunday Pastor Vaughn said that with Judah in the south the prophetic judgement was about how the people denied the word of God & refused to keep the law but with Israel in the north the prophetic judgement was about how the people exploited and harmed each other instead of caring for one another.
Matthew 22:-35-40
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Are you better at loving God or loving people? (Each Individual)
Why do you think God cares so much about our relationship with Him and the role His word (the Bible) plays in our relationship with Him? Why do you think God cares so much about how we treat other people? Those with more than us and those with less than us, those who are like us and those who are foreign to us? Those who believe what we believe and those who don’t? Do you think God cares more about how we relate to Him or how we relate to other people? (Group Discussion)
* Remember to pray for each other before heading home from life group and to stay in communication here in the app throughout the week on your life group messaging thread!