Downtown Church sermon from January 17, 2010 by Ken Neller. This is part of our new series called Our Radical Response to God.
Small Group Discussion Questions
Pendulum Swings
As you begin your Small Group this week … “Name your favorite … ?”
1. … holiday lawn ornament?
2. … Bible name that you had the most trouble pronouncing?
3. … Biblical promise?
1. LEARN TOGETHER: Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
2. How would you define “covenant”? (Try to include in your discussion the three elements that went into the making of a covenant, mentioned in today’s sermon.)
3. READ: Matthew 26:28. In the Old Testament, what was the significance of the animal sacrifice when making a covenant? How does that relate to what Jesus says in this passage?
4. “In the church today, we believe it is imperative that God keep his promises to us, but it is not as critical that we keep our promises to God.” In what ways is this statement accurate? … inaccurate?
5. Are we as Christians in covenant with God today? How would you describe this covenant? (How was it made? What are its conditions and obligations? What are its “blessings” and “curses”?)
6. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, how important is it to God that we Christians keep our part of the covenant? What happens if/when Christians do NOT keep the covenant? In what ways does God’s grace come into play in such a case?
7. READ: Hebrews 8. In what ways is the new covenant better than the old? (If you have time, you could extend this question to Hebrews 9 and 10.)
8. In what ways does the Lord’s Supper relates to the church’s covenant with God?
9. CLOSE by continuing to work together on memorizing Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
Downtown Church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas 