Key Issues: Core Issues for This Year (and Beyond!)
Sermon Series from September - November 2020
"Let Us Make a Name for Ourselves"
November 1, 2020 • Mike Bullmore
Sermon Application Questions - 11/1/20 1. The account of the Tower of Babel is a very carefully written and constructed account. What parts stand out to you most in communicating the point of the story? 2 What are ways you are tempted to 'make a name for yourself'? Are there ways you are seeking to do that currently? 3. How do you distinguish the good and godly effort to do good work and accomplish things from the prideful seeking to make a name for yourself? 4. The sermon referenced the following words from C.S. Lewis: 'In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.' What needs to be in our lives in order for what Lewis is encouraging to happen?
"A Righteous Man"
October 25, 2020 • Mike Bullmore
Sermon Application Questions 1. Do you think personal righteousness is a 'foundational issue' like the other key issues that we’ve been considering? How is it like the others? How is it different? 2. How do each of the forces opposing your righteousness—the world, the flesh, and the devil—show up in your life? Which of them are you most aware of in your current circumstances? 3. Think of the things God has provided as allied forces in our pursuit of righteousness. What is most helpful to you in your pursuit of personal righteousness these days? Bonus Question: How do you square the statement 'Noah was a righteous man' (Gen. 6:9) with the statement 'there is none righteous' (Romans 3:10)? Look up Hebrews 11:7 to see if there is any help there.
"Am I My Brother's Keeper?"
October 18, 2020 • Brett Wendle
Sermon Application Questions 1. Cain’s murder of his brother started with pride, a feeling that he deserved God’s approval. Why is pride so dangerous, and why is it so hard to see in ourselves? 2. Can you identify any areas of your life in which you struggle with anger towards others? How might that anger be a manifestation of pride? 3. God has called his people to love their neighbors as they love themselves. Describe what it would look like to love another human being the way you love yourself—what would you want to make sure happened for them? As you consider what love ought to look like, can you think of any opportunities before you right now to show that kind of love? 4. How does knowing and trusting what Jesus has done shape us increasingly into people of love? How do you want the truth of the gospel to help you in your struggle from question 2?
"Be Fruitful and Multiply"
October 11, 2020 • Mike Bullmore
Sermon Application Questions 1. What should we learn from the fact that the instruction to 'be fruitful and multiply' is repeated so many times throughout the book of Genesis? 2. What should we make of the fact that the instruction to 'be fruitful and multiply' grows out of God’s design for human sexuality (1:27) and God’s design for marriage (2:24)? How important is that? How would you respond to someone who challenged that connection? 3. Read Psalm 68:5-6. What does this verse tell you about what God is like and what does it tell you about his design for families from Genesis 1? 4. During the times when the hard work of raising children seems overwhelming what truth from God’s word will help sustain you and keep you going?
"The Two Shall Become One Flesh"
October 4, 2020 • Mike Bullmore
Sermon Application Questions 1. What does the fact that both Jesus and the Apostle Paul refer to and quote Genesis 2:24 say about this verse? 2. What tells us that Genesis 2:24 applies to all humanity and not just to Adam and Eve? 3. How does the fact that marriage grows out of human sexuality—remember the 'therefore' at the start of Genesis 2:24—shape our understanding of marriage and singleness? Is marriage the only expression of maleness and femaleness? 4. If you are married, do you remember promising exclusivity and permanence to your spouse? If you are hoping to be married, would you want those promises made at your wedding? Why? 5. What does 'one flesh' mean and what should that reality look like in a marriage?
"Male and Female He Created Them"
September 27, 2020 • Mike Bullmore
Sermon Application Questions 1. Which of the four truths about human sexuality from Genesis 1 and 2 do you find most vigorously challenged in your interaction with people—designed, distinct, different, or determined? 2. Have you experienced the pressure of being forced into either the position of compromising on biblical truth or being considered someone guilty of hating certain groups of people? What has that been like? How do you think God wants you to respond to that pressure? 3. At one point in the sermon Pastor Mike said, 'Actually Christians have a view of human sexuality that is the only truly loving and unifying and holistic view.' What makes that true?
"And Breathed Into Him the Breath of Life"
September 20, 2020 • Mike Bullmore
Sermon Application Questions 1. What do you think are the different implications of receiving the 'breath of life' from God (Gen. 2:7) as opposed to being made 'in his image' (Gen. 1:26-27)? 2. There are many ways we can be guilty of not honoring or protecting the sanctity of human life—some very obvious, some less obvious. Think through what some of those ways might be and how they might show up. 3. Look again at Genesis 2:7, Exodus 21:22-24, Psalm 139:13-16, and Isaiah 46:3-4. What conclusions can you draw from the fact that this truth of the preciousness of human life is presented in such a wide range of Scripture?
In the Image of God
September 13, 2020 • Mike Bullmore
Sermon Application Questions 1. What comes to your mind when you think of yourself or others being 'in the image of God'? Is there anything in Genesis 1:26-27 or the surrounding verses that help you understand what that phrase means? 2. In the sermon it was said that being made in the image of God is the central and defining truth about our identity. Do you agree with that? What other things that define your identity might you be tempted to elevate to the primary position? 3. How is the truth that sin takes particular aim at distorting and destroying the equality of worth among humans showing up in your life? Where are you having to fight that effect of sin? 4. How is the truth that God is aiming his redemption at restoring his image in us and restoring the equality between people showing up in your life? Where are you able to rejoice in this redemptive work?