Life Group Questions
Main Text:
2 Corinthians 11:25-28 and 12:7-9
Questions:
- The sermon started out with the question, “How do you define the goodness of God? His material blessings only? Or, His very nature and who He is as a person from which all good things flow?” (James 1:17).
Discuss some ways that are tempting to limit God’s goodness to, as well as some ways that we should define as God’s goodness.
2. In the sermon’s main passage, 2 Corinthians 11:25-28 and 12:7-9, Paul the Apostle writes to the church of Corinth and lists a bunch of trials he has faced throughout his ministry. In chapter 12, we see God not delivering Him from the “thorn in his side,” rather God’s grace gets him through it and helps him to deal with it making Him stronger in his relationship with God (12:9).
In what ways throughout your life, maybe even today, has God allowed you to go through something (maybe it was painful either physically or emotionally) where you can now look back and see that He used it to bring you closer to Him?
3. In the sermon, Josh reminded us through James 1:13, that one reason God is good is because He cannot be tempted nor does He tempt anyone. This can also translate as, “God cannot stumble, nor does He trap anyone or try to make them stumble.”
Would you agree that often times within our trials in life, we are tempted to accuse God of letting us be trapped? Sometimes we feel like He’s picking on us just because He can? What are some ways we can change our thinking in this area and focus more on the healthier perspective that God is allowing it to shape us and to prepare us for the plan that He has for us?
4. Another reason we see that God is good is because He does not see like we do, rather He sees our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). People, ourselves includes, tend to judge and focus on abilities/disabilities rather than purpose and character.
Discuss how encouraging this is, especially in relation to this generation of looking perfect all the time in order to be accepted and “loved.” What are some ways we can look at the “outward appearance” rather than the heart? At the same time, what are some ways we can look at the “heart” and not the outward appearance)
5. Lastly, God is so good because “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In other words, salvation isn’t a “get out of Hell free card,” rather, it is a “my relationship is restored back to its original intent card.”
Isn’t it encouraging to know that Christ did not have to die for us, rather He wanted to? Can you see His love magnified through His choice to love you, rather than obligation? In which ways can we choose to love Him as a response?
