Week 8: Isaiah 4-9

Love Authority

At the beginning of his sermon, David tells a story of Dean Smith, his college basketball coach. David professes that Coach Smith's players would do whatever he asked, obeying his requests due to their respect for him. Who have you held such a respect for that you would follow their requests, respecting their authority over you?

To whose authority have you had a difficult time submitting?

God ordered authority. the necessity of authority serves as proof of our sinful nature.

Authority structures exist in the home (Ephesians 5:19-33). Husbands how are you demonstrating submission to Christ? Wives, how are you demonstrating submission to your husbands? Children, how are you demonstrating submission to you parents?

Many of us don't think of submitting to the church. Truth be told, when we encounter something in the church we do not like, we become like dissatisfied customers and either complain to management or take our business elsewhere. This is not a biblical picture of the church. What does it look like to submit to spiritual authority at the church?

Where does submitting to church authority become difficult?

How do you feel about our current government? (respect, apathy, ambivalence, hostility, etc)?

Read Romans 13:1-2. What does this do to your view of our government?

Read Isaiah 9:6-7. The promise foreshadows Jesus, the one upon whose shoulders all government rests. What does it feel like to know he will rule for all eternity?

Big Idea: God ordered authority. Our feelings for God should direct our submission to his authority structures.

Week 7: 2 Kings 24-Isaiah 3

The place of forgiveness in Love.

This study will address the content of the sermon presented by Jonathan Scott on 2/14/10. For context to the sermon and the primary passage in Isaiah 1, be sure to read the closing of the book of 2 Kings, chapter 22 through the end. Also, read the commentary in this week's edition of 'the Post.'

The theme of this week's study is forgiveness and its place in love. Think of a time when you were wronged by someone you considered to be close. It could be a serious wrong or simply a harsh word. Share that example with your group.

What impact did it make for you to forgive that person?

For many of us, it is far simpler to think of a time we have been wronged than a time we have wronged someone else. Describe a time when you have hurt someone else and have been in need of their forgiveness.

What impact did it make for you to be forgiven by the one you offended?

Contrast the experience of extending forgiveness to someone else with being the recipient of forgiveness.

Holding fast in mind your personal examples of forgiveness, recall the list of offenses of God's people in 2 Kings and the punishment this rebellion incurred. Talk about them with your group. Why were these things so offensive to God?

Now read Isaiah 1: 16-20 aloud with your group. What does God seem to be looking for in order to extend forgiveness to his people?

Where are examples in your life of people who need to be forgiven? Think of the difficult examples.

Having read the passage from Isaiah 1, now read Ephesians 4:32 and make a plan for forgiving the offending party identified in the previous question. Talk about your plan with your group.

Big Idea: concepts of justice appear in many places. It seems the availability of forgiveness is a unique characteristic of God's relationship with his people. As objects of his forgiveness, it should also be a unique characteristic of our relationship with other people.

Week 6: 2 Kings 14-23

David opened the sermon this week with the question, "What will be written on your tombstone?" If you were to die tonight, what would be written on your tombstone?

If the last question points to the reality of your legacy as of now, think of your legacy in idealistic terms. What would you like to be written on your tombstone?

The religious reforms of Josiah lasted only 3 years. In theorizing the cause of the collapse of these reforms, David states "you can't change your life by trying harder." What does he mean by that? (ref Jer 31:31-34)

The reforms of Josiah and the promise of the new Covenant in Jer 31 represent two approaches to the Law of God (10 commandments, Leviticus and Deuteronomy). How would you explain the distinctions between these two approaches?

Josiah's response to God's Law:

Jeremiah's promise of God's Law:

Jehoahaz, Josiah's son, had another response to God's Law (2 Kings 24:32). What was his reaction?

In contrasting these three responses to God's Law, does your reaction to the Law look more like that of Josiah, Jeremiah, or Jehoahaz and why?

Your approach to the Law of God (the scriptures) determines the legacy you leave. To leave the legacy you wish to leave, what must change in your response to God's law?

Big Idea: are you over the scriptures or under them?