Today’s Question: What does God use hardship for? How does He move in adversity?
Q1: Hard times will happen in our lives.
What separates us from godless people when we go through hardship?
- Faith & belief in God’s plan is key
- Who is in the boat with you when you’re going through challenges?
Pastor Julian talked about life being like a rollercoaster, but that God is the cart that carries you on the track. He always has you.
- How does this faith-in-the-moment promise help you daily?
Q2: Wisdom about spiritualism
Pastor Julian talked about people who visit mediums, psychics & who practice other divinations & use dark magic. Scripture is pretty plain about avoiding these practices and the people who follow them.
- Why are we so desperate to know the future?
- Why is living in faith alone difficult?
- How does God encourage you to trust in Him, to focus on the blessings He brings today?
Q3: Be patient & understand
Pastor Julian told a story about a parent having to sacrifice what they wanted in order to give good things to their child. He talked about the way children will sometimes respond by saying, “ I deserve this!” or “You owe me that.”
- How have you seen yourself acting like a child in regards to God’s timing or provision?
- How have you experienced the patience of God when you behave like this?
Q4: Listen for the small whispers
Phillip was told by the Holy Spirit to go to a desert road. He was then told to go up to a passing chariot. These commands may not have made sense in the moment, but God was leading to a moment for evangelism & salvation.
- Walking by faith means not seeing the full path, but just a step ahead. How do you see God leading you in this step-by-step way?
- How has God grown you over the past chapters of your life?
Q5: Simple actions with big results
Pastor Julian reminded us that Phillip’s little acts of obedience led to Christianity unfolding in a whole new continent. There’s no way he understood the big impact his simple actions would have.
- How can we encourage one another to take these simple steps of faith?
- How can we pray for each other to be bold, to be faithful & to listen to God’s next-step-call?
