Aaron Ruins 'Away in a Manger' | Hebrews 5:7-10
Aaron Ruins 'Do You Hear What I Hear?' | Ephesians 1:7-12
Read Galatians 4:3-5
Pastor and author Tim Keller says, “If we impose our understanding of schedule & timing on Jesus, we will struggle to feel loved by Him.” Galatians tells us that God caused his son to be born, “when the fullness of time had come.” His timing is intentional in sending Jesus, in salvation, and even in the days of our lives. God knows what he is doing, but our view of things is so limited that it can be hard for us to trust sometimes. This time of year, remembering that Jesus' birth was planned and came to pass at the “fullness of time,” can help us continue to trust God and persevere in faith.
Discussion Questions
Have you ever struggled to trust God’s timing?
Do you have a testimony about a time when God’s timing proved to be just right?
Talk about God’s perspective and sense of timing compared to our own.
Pray that God would help you have an eternal perspective, to trust in him in the here and now and to hope for the time when he will make all things new.
Read Chapter 2 of Is Christmas Unbelievable: Can we take the Bible seriously?
Family Activity Time to bake those Christmas goodies! In any baking recipe every ingredient has a purpose. For example, in a cake flour gives the structure, eggs bind the ingredients, baking powder and baking soda make it rise, fats like butter and oil make it less chewy, and sugar sweetens and keeps it moist. Every part has a purpose, and the time spent in the oven matters too.
In the Christmas story, we know that all the details are important. They speak of things that were prophesied that then came to pass. The Bible also tells us that Jesus was born at the exact right time in history. Why didn’t he come earlier to lead the people instead of Moses or King David? Why didn’t he wait until later when your grandparents were little or even now? We don’t really know, but God does. In the book of Galatians it’s called, “the fullness of time.” This means the time was just right. Ask kids what would happen if we took our Christmas goodies out of the oven too soon. What would happen if we left them in too long? Have you ever burned the cookies before?
When your treats are ready to taste, thank God together that he sent Jesus when he knew that the time was just right!
John Ruins 'Mary, Did You Know?' | Luke 1:26-38
Advent Reading and Discussion Questions
Read Luke 1:46-56
Mary sings for joy at being seen and chosen by her mighty God. Up until this point, she was someone who had lived in expectation of the coming Messiah. We see in this passage that she was aware of how God was using her to fulfill his promise, but she was also likely aware that this would be a difficult and disruptive call on her life. While we will probably never experience it to the degree that Mary did, we can often rejoice when we see God at work without truly understanding how much perseverance and difficulty might be involved in the process.
Discussion Questions
Mary knew a lot about Jesus’s identity and mission. What more do we know with the full revelation of Scripture? How should that inform our lives?
Has God ever worked in and through your life in a way that felt difficult and uncomfortable? How did God show himself mighty through your situation?
Talk about what it might be like to be a 1st century Jewish person awaiting God’s promise to send a Messiah.
Pray that God would grant you patient endurance in the journey he has you on as a follower of Jesus.
Pray for an appreciation of the incredible story of salvation given to us in the Bible.
Read Chapter 1 of Is Christmas Unbelievable: Was Jesus even a real person?
Family Activity Think of how long the Jewish people waited for a messiah or even how Mary had to wait months to meet the child that was promised. As we start off this advent season make an appointment or two as a family, a time when you will watch a favorite Christmas movie, a time when you will go look at Christmas lights, or maybe if you are traveling for Christmas talk about the upcoming travel date.
Whatever your family likes to do, put it on the calendar in advance. Talk about it as a family and then regularly remind the kids that it is coming. Talk about what it would have been like for the Jewish people to wait for the messiah for hundreds of years! If you had to wait for that long for a fun Christmas activity, do you think you would stop being excited about it after a while? Do you think you would start to doubt that it would ever happen? When the event finally comes to pass, remember to talk about Mary welcoming Jesus into the world and what a long anticipated event it was!
Take Care of Yourself and Others | Jude 20-25
Discussion questions
Read together Jude verses 20-25 and share the characteristics of God that stood out to you.
In the pursuit of building ourselves up in the faith, how is God calling you to grow in the areas of praying in the spirit, staying in God’s love and looking to eternity?
As Jesus commands us to love others as he loved us, what are the reasons why you would hesitate entering into this type of loving relationship with others?
How does being secure in Jesus allow us to enter into loving relationships with others?
Share the people God has brought into your life who have helped build you up in the faith.
Prayer points
Pray that the Holy Spirit would empower you in the pursuit of growing in the faith.
Praise God for the godly men and women in your life who have helped build you up in the faith.
Pray for the love of God to be revealed to those who are wavering in their faith.
Pray that Sound City Bible Church would be filled with people who are grounded in Jesus and seek to enter into loving relationships with others.
Sad, But Not Surprised | Jude 5-19
Discussion questions
What is your attitude and posture towards the realities of spiritual warfare?
False teachers and teachings often infiltrate and masquerade as truths. How can you identify differences between the two?
How does the Bible teach us to respond against false teachers and teachings?
Why is it important to worship Jesus as lord and king? Are there areas in your life the Holy Spirit is calling you to surrender to Jesus and worship him as Lord and King?
Prayer points
Pray that the Holy Spirit would help saturate you in God’s word and protect against false teachers and teachings.
Pray that Sound City Bible Church would be filled with people who surrender to Jesus and worship him as Lord and King.
Pray for healing of people who have experienced pain through false teachers and teachings.
Called, Loved, and Kept | Jude v1-4
Discussion questions
Read together Jude v1-4 and answer the following questions.
What stood out to you from v1-2 and v3-4?
Share other passages from the Bible where we read about the need for our identity in Christ preceding behavior.
Describe what happens when our behavior leads before our identity?
How are you prone to wander from your identity in Jesus and seek elsewhere for your purpose, love, and safety?
Share with one another areas of your life where Jesus is continuing to grow your love, purpose, and safety.
Prayer points
Pray that the Holy Spirit will remind us of our identity in Christ and protect us from the attacks of the enemy.
Pray that the people of our church would love and serve one another out of a heart of belonging to Jesus.
For those you know and love that don’t yet know Jesus, pray that the gospel would save them and break down their false assurances of purpose, connection and safety.
Giving to the Lord | Leviticus 27
Discussion Questions
Read together Leviticus ch. 27:1-8, 28-34. In what ways does the theme of Dedication & Devotion appear throughout the passages?
As you examine your own life, does God truly have your heart’s deepest devotion? Have you counted the cost of following Jesus?
In what ways can we help one another grow in devotion to God?
As we conclude our sermon series in the book of Leviticus, discuss some of your biggest takeaways.
In a few sentences, how would you summarize what the book of Leviticus is about?
Prayer Points
As difficult to understand and culturally removed as we may feel, praise God for his words from the book of Leviticus!
Pray that the Holy Spirit would help us grow in our devotion to God.
Pray that Sound City would be filled with people who share the gospel message and desire to see our neighbors live a life devoted to God.
The Two Pathways | Leviticus 26
Discussion Questions
Discuss how progressive nearness and progressive estrangement helps us stay connected to the realities of heaven and hell.
Compare and contrast your understanding of discipline from the perspectives of your family of origin and the Biblical view of discipline serving to prevent judgment.
Discuss what it means that God’s covenant faithfulness is accessed by ongoing repentance.
How can you help one another keep your eyes on eternity? Phrased differently, how can you encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ to live by God’s mercy, continue repenting and reinforce hardships as loving, forming and shaping discipline?
Prayer Points
Praise God for the grace and mercy we’ve received as his children.
Pray that the Holy Spirit would remind us of God’s mercy and help us live a life of continual repentance.
Pray that Sound City would be filled with people who speak the truth in love to all those around us so that progressive nearness to God would become their reality.
Sacred Time | Leviticus 23, 25
Discussion Questions
What does it mean that sacred time is greater than sacred spaces? Why is this an important distinction?
What was the significance and importance of Sukkot to the Jewish people?
How does Sukkot ultimately point to Jesus? How can we apply the meaning of Sukkot to our lives today?
How is Jesus living water, rain, light, shepherd, and king in your life? How does the gospel help relieve your fear and anxiety?
Prayer Points
Pray that the Holy Spirit would lead you to worship recalling all the amazing things God has done for you.
Pray that Sound City would be filled with people who have regular rhythms of rest built into their lives.
Blasphemy | Leviticus 24
Discussion Questions
Why is blasphemy more serious than other sins? How do we grapple with this sin today?
Are you able to be honest with God and others about your doubts, your frustrations, your fears? Why are these expressions not the same as blasphemy?
Where in your life do you need to be honest with God and his people about your frustrations, doubts, or fears?
How is God calling you to grow in speaking the truth in love (Eph 4:15)?
How does Jesus meet us in our words and speech with his word of grace?
Prayer Points
Praise God for the boundless grace and mercy that we receive as his children.
Pray that the Holy Spirit would help put our pride to death and help us approach God with humility and honesty.
Pray that Sound City would be filled with people who speak the truth in love to all those around us.
Rights and Responsibilities | Leviticus 21-22
Discussion Questions
What character and attributes of God do you see more clearly reading through the various priestly and high priestly standards?
How does a biblical understanding of rights and responsibilities help address the cultural movements in the area of authority?
What does it mean for Jesus to hold ultimate responsibility and deserves ultimate praise?
In what ways have you experienced the misuse of rights and responsibilities as the contributor or recipient?
What would rights and responsibilities rooted in Jesus look like in your marriage, parenting, work and friendships?
Prayer Points
Praise God for the boundless grace and mercy that we receive as his children.
Pray and repent of the ways you’ve misused rights and responsibilities.
Pray that Sound City would be filled with people who use our rights and responsibilities to ultimately point back to Jesus!
False Spirituality | Leviticus 20
Discussion Questions
1. Why do we instinctively look down on the idolatrous Israelites? In what ways should we relate to their idolatry and wandering hearts instead?
2. What are some common examples of spirituality divorced from the one true God? Do any of these tempt your heart away from the Lord?
3. Past or present, what things have you allowed to replace God on the throne of your heart?
4. What are some ways we can root out the internal reality of idolatry and its external results? What has helped you to do this in the past, or what do you need to do now in your efforts to worship God alone.
Prayer Points
1. Pray that God would wake us up to the seriousness of false spirituality.
2. Ask God to impress upon us the need to guard our hearts to keep him on the throne.
3. Pray that God would lead us to join him in proclaiming true spirituality found in the truly good news of Jesus.
A Life of Holiness | Leviticus 19
Aaron Gray | September 18, 2022
Discussion Questions
How have you personally interpreted and applied the Leviticus 19: 1-2 passage that calls God’s people to be Holy? To think about it differently, are you naturally pulled to reading the command to be Holy as a to-do list or maybe neglect it all together because it seems like an unreachable summit?
How does holiness rooted in God’s heart of love change the way we pursue and help others to pursue holiness?
In what areas of your day to day life do you pursue and neglect to pursue holiness?
Consider breaking up into smaller groups of 2-3 men or women and share areas of your life where you would like to grow in holiness and seek accountability with one another.
Prayer Points
Praise God for the gift of forgiveness and righteousness through Jesus and pray that the Holy Spirit would empower us to pursue holiness rooted in God’s love.
Pray repenting of the ways you’ve pursued holiness from a sinful motive.
Pray that Sound City would be filled with people pursuing holiness with gospel humility, honesty and hunger.
Holy Sexuality | Leviticus 18
Discussion Questions
For this week, consider having men and women meet separately to help facilitate a more open and honest conversation.
1. What happens when we avoid talking about sex in the church? What happens when we only focus on the prohibitions and not the fuller picture?
2. What are right and wrong ways to think about the doctrine of “total depravity”? What does it mean that all of us have been affected by the fall in our minds, feelings, bodies, and desires? What does it not mean?
3. Why is it important to think of the gospel message in terms of a loving husband pursuing his unfaithful wife? Why is this such an important image for the good news of Jesus?
4. How can Sound City foster a culture of holiness around sexuality? How can we be simultaneously morally serious and filled with exceeding grace for one another?
5. If there is any sexual sin that needs to be confessed, consider sharing it with your group. If there is any sexual woundedness that needs to be healed, consider sharing it with your group or a trusted person.
Prayer Points
1. Pray that Sound City would foster a culture of holiness when it relates to sexual behavior: upholding God’s standard for sexual activity, mercy and grace for those who stumble, and courageous honesty in our conversations about such matters.
2. Pray that God would use us to reach people who are trying to satisfy their need for God with earthly loves and lusts.
The Life is in the Blood | Leviticus 17
Discussion Questions
Why does the Bible spend so much time talking about blood? What reasons might there be for our culture to avoid real blood and instead relegate it to movies and TV?
If someone said to you, “tell me about your life,” how would you likely respond (e.g. family, occupation, hobbies)?
Why is it so important that we connect all aspects of our life to the gospel of Jesus? What happens when we live our lives disconnected from the good news of his death and resurrection?
How is Jesus currently inviting you to abide more deeply in him: in your spiritual life, in your practical life, and your inner/personal life? What steps do you need to take as Jesus invites you to abide in him?
Prayer Points
Pray that Jesus would help us each abide more deeply in him in every aspect of our lives: our spirituality, our practical matters, and our inner personal life.
Pray for our church community to be a church where people are welcomed and invited to abide in the love and grace of Jesus.
The Day of Atonement | Leviticus 16
Discussion Questions
Of the five problems discussed in Leviticus 16 (distance, disobedience, death, demonic, and direction/leadership), which one resonated with you most and why?
What in your life most commonly keeps you from drawing near to God?
The Day of Atonement is jam-packed with symbolism, all of which points to Jesus as the ultimate Day of Atonement. What aspect of Jesus’ Day of Atonement work was new to you, or stirred your heart most?
Consider the people in your life who do not follow Jesus. What reasons might they have for not drawing close to God? How can you help show them God’s desire to draw them close?
Prayer Points
Pray that God would continually draw us near. And pray that we would not believe any lies or excuses that keep us from coming close to God.
Pray that we would be people who constantly invite non-Christians to come close to God through the love and sacrifice of Jesus.
The Power of Life | Leviticus 15
Discussion Questions
What do you think when you hear the phrase “life is sacred”? Where are you tempted to lose wonder, awe, and reverence for life?
Where are you personally experiencing the brokenness of the world and the forces of death at work (e.g. illness, death of a family member)? How can those in your group pray for and support you in these difficulties?
How does Jesus’ resurrection give us hope in the face of so much death in the world? How can we help one another experience the abundant, resurrection life of Jesus while we await his return?
How has God gifted and equipped you to be a force for life in this world? What specific issues are you personally passionate about, and where has God opened opportunities for you to serve and minister? (Note: think about your own personal work, and less about voting and politics in light of the list that Aaron shared on Sunday.)
Prayer Points
Pray that God would help us—as individual disciples and as a church—to be about the work of life in our region.
Should the Lord delay his return, pray that each of us would live each day with a readiness to face death with the hope of the gospel and our future resurrection.
For Further Reading
Are You Truly Pro-Life? blog post by Russell Moore
Debunk 8 Abortion Myths blog post by Josh Howerton
Scaly Skin and Mildewed Walls | Leviticus 13-14
Discussion Questions
“The purity laws of Leviticus are not about morality, but about mortality.” How do things like skin diseases and mildewed clothes remind us that we are living in a land polluted by death? How should we think about the world in its fallen state?
Why are so many of us prone to hide and cover up our fallenness, both our sin and our sufferings? Which one do you struggle with more?
Read Colossians 3:1-11, with a particular focus on verse 3. What does it mean to be “hidden with Christ”? How does this truth free us from hiding, covering, and pretending?
Who do you have in your life that you can be completely open and transparent with, both with your sin and also your suffering? If the answer is “nobody,” what steps do you need to take to change that?
Prayer Points
Pray that Jesus would help us as individuals and a church community to walk with openness and transparency with each other, supporting and loving one another with the care of Jesus.
Pray that we would be known to the world around us not as “holier than thou” but as broken people who are loved by a perfect Savior.
Pray for those in your group who share aspects of sin or suffering that they feel ashamed of. Pray for the cleansing that is offered by Jesus, our high priest.
The Blessed Life | Psalm 1 & 2
Discussion Questions
Do you make room in your life for silence, solitude, and meditation?
It can be uncomfortable to be in this kind of quiet; who can help you do this more often?
Have you ever confessed (agreed) to God about your rebellious nature?
Do find hope in the truth that Jesus will hold everyone accountable?
How does Jesus's definition of blessedness challenge yours?
Prayer Points
Pray that our church would grow in our practice of meditation and adoration of Jesus.
Pray that God would give our church a passion to memorize his word.
Pray that our unbelieving friends, family, and neighbors would be stunned and compelled by Jesus’s blessed life lived in us.