Q15 | What is the world’s great hope?

Fleming Island UMC

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Q15 | What is the world’s great hope?

U7 Last Things

April 17, 2024 • Revelation 22:20

Q. What is the world’s great hope?

A. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again to redeem all things and reign as King forever. (Revelation 22:20)

● Discussion Question: What is your favorite part of the Bible? Is it the ending?

● Discussion Question: What are some different reasons we read the Bible? Is there one main reason? Or are there many reasons we should read the Bible?

● Discussion: Read Matthew 6:9–13 together. What does the part in the Lord’s prayer, where we say, “thy kingdom come,” mean for life on earth now? How is it connected to all the other parts of the prayer?

● Discussion Question: Why is the story of God, as told in the Old and New Testaments, important for knowing what the future holds?

● Discussion Question: What do God’s past acts of redemption tell us about the future act of redemption?

● Discussion Question: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis have both written extensively on how great stories and pieces of fiction actually reflect the great story of God, many of them including signposts toward the great truth about reality, that all will be made right in the end. What stories—think of nursery rhymes, books, movies, and even music—can you think of that reflect this truth?

● Discussion Question: Should the Christian pray for Christ’s second coming? Or should the Christian pray for more time to reach more people? Should the Christian desire death—union with Christ; or life—opportunity to work as Christ?

● Discussion Question: What was the most important idea you learned from this lesson? Is there anything you still don’t understand?

● Application Question: How does knowing that Jesus is returning to redeem all things change how we live here and now?

More from Absolute Basics of the Christian Faith

Q1 | Who is God?

March 27, 2024 • 2 Corinthians 13:14

Q1. Who is God? A. God is the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons in one God. (2 Corinthians 13:14) ● Discussion Question: Understanding God as 3-in-1 can be hard. Which way of thinking about God being 3-in-1 made the most sense to you? ● Discussion Question: We heard the analogy of playing 3 notes on a piano that form a chord to help us think about the Trinity. This is a helpful analogy. Can you think of any analogies for the Trinity that you’ve heard that are unhelpful? How are these bad analogies? ● Discussion Question: Look up and read together: 2 Corinthians 13:14 and Titus 3:4–7. How does God work together in our salvation? What does Paul say God, Jesus, and the Spirit are doing? If we pray to the Father in the name of the Son, what is the Holy Spirit up to when we pray? ● Discussion Question: What was the most important idea you learned from this lesson? Is there anything you still don’t understand? ● Application Question: How does a discussion about the Trinity actually impact our lives? How does the fact that God is a Trinity change how we do relationships?

Q2 | What is God Like?

March 27, 2024 • Psalm 147:5

Q2. What is God like? A. God is perfect in power, knowledge, and in His holy love. (Psalm 147:5) ● Discussion Question: You are putting together a team of superheroes. Which of these do you choose: Power Person, Genius Guy, or Moral Man? ● Discussion Question: Look up and read together: Psalm 147:5 and 1 John 4:7–16. Since God is love, what is expected of us? ● Discussion Question: Because God is all-loving, God is merciful. Mercy is when someone does not get what they deserve. How can God execute justice and still be loving and merciful to us? ● Discussion Question: Anselm, in pointing out that God was perfect, went so far as to say that any perfect being (God) must exist, for it is more perfect to exist than not exist. Some have really taken this and run with it and called it the “ontological argument for the existence of God.” Do you think this is a good argument for God? Discussion Question: If God knows everything, does He know the future? Are we free if He does?

Q3 | What did God Make?

March 27, 2024 • Hebrews 11:3

Q3. What did God make? A. God spoke everything into being, by His own free choice, and it was very good. (Hebrews 11:3) ● Discussion Question: Have different people each look up and read Genesis 1:1–5 and John 1:1–5 The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, which has a word, “ruach,” that means spirit, wind, and/or breath. That is the word in Genesis 1 that we read in verse 2. In John, the Greek word for Spirit is “pneuma,” which means spirit, wind, and breath as well. What do these two passages tell us about what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are doing in the work of creation? ● Discussion Question: God decide to create out of His own free will. That includes time and space. Why do you think God decided to create the universe? ● Discussion Question: When Christians claim that God created everything, atheists are fond of responding with the question of “who created God?” How do we respond to the question of who created God? Did He create Himself? Or did God just always exist? If something has to always exist, which is more likely to be always existent, God or the universe? ● Discussion Question: God has given us a very good gift by giving us creation, and our natural response is gratitude. What are the ways you normally show gratitude to someone who gives you a good gift? Is it just a feeling in our hearts? How do we show that to God? What is the wrong way to show gratitude? Is there a way that we can be well-meaning and desire to show gratitude but do it in the wrong way? ● Discussion Question: If God is best, then does He always necessarily do what’s best? Does this mean God’s decision to create—and all other decisions—aren’t free? ● Discussion Question: What was the most important idea you learned from this lesson? Is there anything you still don’t understand? ● Application Question: You heard about God bringing life simply through speaking. Do we have the ability to bring life, or take life, through our words? How?