3/9 - 3/13 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. Would You Like That Sugar-Coated
Micah 2:6
6 “Do not preach”—thus they preach— “one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us.”
Micah 2:11
11 If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be the preacher for this people!
Micah highlights the type of preaching God’s people wanted and how the Prophets & Priest gave them what they wanted. A spoon full of sugar wasn’t required because there wasn’t any medicine offered that was tough for the people to swallow. On Sunday Pastor Vaughn said that many people want to hear messages every week that are all prosperity all the time but the scriptures don’t make that option available to those who are preaching the full counsel of scripture.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Ephesians 4:15
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ
What type/category do you desire most when it comes to listening to the word of God being preached? Prosperity, Teaching, Passion, Hope, Grace, Repentance, Application, Truth, Love, Sacrifice, Joy or something else? What do you think you hear most at The Way? What would you like to hear more or less of at The Way? What role should what people want/like to hear play in how the leadership develop their plans for preaching in a church? (Each Individual)
3. Hating Good & Doing Evil
Micah 2:1
1 Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Micah 3:2
2 you who hate the good and love the evil
Micah 6:16
16 For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels
Romans 1:28-32
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
There are multiple lists like this throughout the bible and our series through the minor Prophets has consistently highlighted types of behaviors that God hates and fall into the category of evil & wicked. On Sunday Pastor Vaughn told us that unlike many countries today, there are no statutes of limitation with God so months, years, & even decades later judgement will be made and justice must be done addressing all evil.
Micah 6:10-11
10 Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? 11 Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights?
These lists in the bible include everything from being disobedient to parents to murder. Considering that God has no statutes of limitation and He refuses to acquit the guilty, how are we supposed to live? Haven’t we fallen short and won’t we continue to fall short? Do consequences and judgment only come to the unsaved or to the saved as well? Is there a difference between “evil/wicked” and just “not good” in God’s eyes? What does it mean to be given over to a debased mind in Romans 1:28? Can we learn to love good and hate evil? (Group Discussion)
4. He Still Loves Us
Micah 7:7-9
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. 8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. 9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.
Micah 7:18-19
18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Micah 5:2
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
The book of Micah weaves in and ends with so much hope. On Sunday Pastor Vaughn said that Micah and the people couldn’t have seen Jesus as the way God would save them, bring them out of darkness, pardon their iniquity, and cast their sins into the sea BUT we have seen God’s plan unfold with the child born in Bethlehem who died on a cross and rose from the grave on the third day. Because Micah knew it would happen even though he didn’t know how or when, he said in chapter 7 verse 9 “I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned”. Micah acknowledged his sin, submitted to the indignation/punishment of God, and repented.
Romans 2:4
the goodness of God leads you to repentance
Micah knew and we should know that God still loves us. How should the goodness and love of God lead us to live in repentance & ready to endure any consequences for our sins? How should the goodness and love of God also lead us to live with so much hope and joy at the same time? (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!