8-28-24 Life Group Questions
^ Click Take A 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 listen to Sundays message if you missed it or just to refresh your memory. (Each Individual)
2. Dissolved By The Demonic In Its Infancy
Daniel 10:12-14
12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, 14 and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”
On Sunday Pastor Vaughn talked about Saul trying to "dissolve" the Christian church in its infancy by killing or imprisoning those who were just putting their faith in Jesus as the Messiah as the Christian church was being birthed into the world. In Daniel we see that from the "first day" or "beginning" of Daniel's determination to pray and hear from God their was a demonic opposition that wanted to prevent him from hearing from God. This is an actual battle in the place between heaven & earth as demons fight to prevent angels from getting God's word/love/direction into the lives of believers. This attempt to kill the things of God when they are just beginning is a consistent tactic the devil uses against the church/people of God.
Share one area of your life that you've wanted to do something but experienced this opposition and have been unable to get past the infancy stage. (Each Individual)
What are some of the areas that you think (or have actually seen) the enemy try to dissolve/derail/destroy the work of God in the lives of new believers? (⬅️ Someone write down this list) What makes you believe this is more than just the normal difficulty of developing new Christian practices? What are some of the tactics Jesus has given the church to help us overcome the work of the enemy in the lives of new believers (and in the lives of long-term believers who desire to do new things in Christ)? (Group Discussion)
3. Go On Sinning or Deal With Ongoing Sin
Romans 7:20-24
20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
On Sunday Pastor Vaughn talked about sin being "Insoluble" meaning that no matter how many good and pure works we do they can never deal with the sins we've committed. Pastor Vaughn then shared how Jesus is the "Solution" to the sin problem as He forgives us of our sin and pays the debt of death we owe on our behalf. The issue that most Christians have is that once we've come to Jesus we realize that there is still sin in our lives. There are old habits that take time to go away, there are the residuals of old sin that still affect the way we think and feel, and there are new sins that we commit after becoming Christians.
The question we must ask ourselves as Christians is whether we are just "going on sinning" or if we are truly seeking God to help us deal with the problem of "ongoing sin"?
1 John 3:9
9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
2 Corinthians 7:10-11
10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 11 Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.
How are you dealing with sin in your life since you became a follower of Jesus? Are there areas where you feel like your just "going on sinning"? Areas where you know you are seeking God to help you with "ongoing sin"? How do you know the difference? What has been the hardest part of dealing with sin in your life as a Christian? What has been helpful when it comes to dealing with or processing sin in your life as a Christian? (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!