ERCC Sermons

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul says our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers. Who is someone you have been tempted to treat as the enemy, and how does verse 12 reframe that relationship? 3) Good things like money, causes, and even religious freedom can quietly become gods when we look to them...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) We tend to submit happily to God but resist submitting to imperfect people. Where in your life do you find it hardest to defer to someone who has not earned your trust? 3) Paul calls the husband to a sacrificial love that pictures Christ giving Himself for the church. What would it look like for yo...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul tells us to obey God as His beloved children, not in order to become His children. Where in your life do you most often slip back into trying to earn God's acceptance through your behavior rather than living from the acceptance He has already given you? 3) The love Paul describes is costly, th...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul says the old way of life is a settled habit of mind, not just a single bad choice. Where in your own life have you noticed an old pattern of thinking that quietly shapes how you act? 3) The sermon described wanting Christ as Master while still living wild and independent. In what area are you...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) We often want to be seen as a unique individual and also want to belong to a group, and those two desires can pull against each other. Where do you feel that tension most in your own life right now? 3) Scripture says our gifts are handed out after the battle is already won, not as weapons for a fig...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul could have opened the practical section of Ephesians with apostolic authority, but instead he introduced himself as a prisoner for the Lord. What circumstance in your life right now feels like a chain, and what would it change to see that chain as belonging to the Lord rather than to whatever...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul speaks of an inner person and an outer person at war in every believer. Where do you notice the flesh speaking the loudest in your own life right now, and what is the inner person trying to say back? 3) The sermon described a heart with a hierarchy, where things like family, career, or comfort...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) God's plan was always to bless all nations through Abraham, but the Israelites kept narrowing that promise to themselves. In your own life, where do you notice yourself drawing a smaller circle than God draws? 3) Jonah knew God would forgive Nineveh and that was exactly why he refused to go. When h...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2 Paul commands the Gentiles to "remember" their former condition before Christ as a first and fundamental act. What is a specific area of your life where remembering where you came from has shaped how you treat others? 3) It's easy to believe intellectually that we were saved by grace while still fun...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul describes humanity as "dead" in trespasses rather than simply lost or struggling. What changes when you take the word "dead" seriously, and how does it affect the way you understand what God did for you? 3) The enemy's strategy isn't to make people obviously miserable but to keep them satisfie...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Paul prays that believers would know the hope of God's calling, a settled future that doesn't change based on circumstances. What is one area of your life where anxiety about the present tends to crowd out that longer horizon? 3) Most of us approach God with a list of things we need Him to do or fi...

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Many people today treat church attendance as optional, believing they can get the same content online. What keeps you showing up to gather with a local body, and has that reason shifted over time? 3) Praise is meant to be an action, expressed with voice, body, and life, not simply a feeling held qu...

Discussion Questions: 1. Defining Pride and Its Impact Proverbs 13:10, Proverbs 16:18, 1 Peter 5:5 - Where does pride tend to show up most subtly in your life? - Which of these impacts have you experienced or seen: division, resistance to correction, loss of trust, or isolation? - Why is pride so destructive to both individuals and community? 2. The Deception of Pride Jeremiah 17:9, James 1:22 - H...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Our circumstances don't have to change for our perspective to change. What is one situation in your life right now where you need a shift in perspective more than a change in circumstances? 3) Cynicism often develops gradually and feels like honesty rather than hopelessness. Where do you notice cyn...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) The way we interpret what is happening around us is often shaped by the circumstances we are already in. When has a difficult season in your life caused you to misread what God was actually doing? 3) The crowds who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem offered genuine worship, but their expectations of who...

Discussion Questions 1. The message was on 2Samuel 23:1 – 7. Those seven verses were labeled as the last words of David. Dean said that “being a man after God’s own heart” a standout quality of David. - What stands out to you about David and why? 2. In the 2Samuel 23:1 – 3, David repeats multiple times that what he is writing is coming from God. Dean used this as an example of David’s humility and...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Many of us are willing to follow God when it leads to success, comfort, or recognition, but we hesitate when it leads to personal loss. When has following God cost you something, and how did you respond? 3) Stephen prayed for the forgiveness of the people who were killing him, mirroring Jesus on th...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) The Old Testament laws were originally meant to express God's relationship with his people, not to burden them. In what areas of your life have you turned something God intended for relationship into a rigid set of rules? 3) The religious leaders centralized God's presence in the temple and made th...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) The early church faced a moment where people felt overlooked because the community was growing faster than its ability to care for everyone. Have you ever felt overlooked or neglected in a community, and how did that experience shape the way you treat others? 3) The apostles responded to complaints...

Discussion Questions: 1. The Heart Behind the Words Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45, Psalm 139:23-24 1a) Communication is not first a technique issue but a heart issue. 1b) When your speech wounds, exaggerates, manipulates, withdraws, or becomes defensive, what might that reveal about what is shaping your heart in that moment? 1c) What do you think tends to influence speech most strongly: pride, desire f...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) The apostles were told to go back to the exact place where they had been arrested and do the same thing that got them arrested. Is there an area of obedience in your life where God keeps calling you back even though it feels risky or uncomfortable? 3) Peter declared that obeying God comes before ob...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Ananias and Sapphira were not required to give anything, yet they felt pressure to perform generosity they did not genuinely feel. When have you done something for God out of obligation or comparison rather than a genuine response to his leading? 3) Scripture says the early church was both feared a...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) The early church prayed for boldness to keep sharing their faith rather than asking God to remove their opposition. When you face resistance or difficulty in living out your faith, what do you tend to pray for? 3) Sharing testimony isn't limited to dramatic conversion stories but includes rememberi...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) There's a difference between speaking about faith because you feel obligated and speaking because you genuinely can't help it. Which one describes your current experience with sharing your faith, and what do you think shapes that? 3) When facing opposition or uncomfortable situations, many people e...

Discussion Questions: 1) Was there anything from the sermon or the passage that stuck out to you? 2) Peter told the lame man, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you." When you encounter someone in need, do you tend to focus on what you lack or on what you actually have to offer? 3) The man at the Beautiful Gate expected money but received the ability to worship God. What...