Immanuel Church

1. What are some of the common ways people around you deal with being wronged or cheated? 2. If you are wronged, deprived, or cheated in some way what’s your first response? 3. What are some of the attitudes and motivations revealed in your own heart as you consider your first responses when wronged? 4. How does a recognition of your own sinfulness help you resolve conflict? How does an eternal pe...

1. Why is it important for Christians to judge each other? 2. How should Christians interact with sinners? 3. What reasons are there to treat sin with grave importance? 4. How should a Christian deal with a sinning Christian? 5. What steps should be taken? 6. Why is it important to have accountability in your life? Who keeps you accountable? 7. Have you ever had to correct a friend or Christian br...

1. Describe a time when someone lovingly corrected you. How did it help you repent of your sin? 2. What do you think about Bonhoeffer’s statement that ““Nothing can be crueler than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.”? 3. How does the practice of beli...

1. Why are arrogance and pride so detrimental to your personal life and to the life of the church? How does a proper understanding of God’s grace destroy pride and arrogance? 2. How does pride distort our view of self and others? 3. How does pride lead us to despise God’s grace and forgiveness in the lives of others but assume it for ourselves? 4. If grace leads to gratitude, what does a lack of g...

Read 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 1. Does the term “servant of Christ” apply only to vocational pastors or all Christians? 2. How does the pastor’s identity as a servant and as a steward shape how you view your pastors? 3. How should a pastor’s identity (servant and steward) shape their practice? How does this shape what is essential? 4. How does the phrase “It is the Lord who judges me” (v 4) stir inside...

1) What great privilege do we have? (being the children of God and the Temple of God.) What then is our great responsibility? 2) What does it mean to say that the church is the temple of God and that the Holy Spirit dwells in us? 3) What are some examples of how people might "defile" or “destroy” God's temple (the church) in Corinth? Today? 4) How does this passage challenge the divisions and fact...

Read I Corinthians 3:10-15 1. The assumption in this passage is that every believer is to help build the church. How have you been engaged in that process? Why do you think Paul commands believers to "take care" in this matter? 2. In verse 11 Paul declares that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church. What are some implications of this truth? Is a church really a church if it does not preach...

1. According to 3:1-3, what makes a believer a spiritual baby? What happens when the church begins to associate spiritual maturity with knowledge rather than godly character? 2. What has God given to the church so that believers can grow into maturity? 3. Is it surprising that Paul highlights envy and strife as signs of spiritual immaturity? Why are they so dangerous to us as individuals and to th...

1. What is the difference between the wisdom of the people and the wisdom of the Spirit (God)? 2. Can we know true wisdom on our own or does it need to be revealed? 3. What is the difference between the spiritual person and the natural person? 4. How essential is the Holy Spirit for salvation? What about Christian living? 5. How have you experienced the Holy Spirit’s activity in your life, even if...

1. Reflect on a time when you felt a clear leading or direction from the Holy Spirit in your own life. How did you discern it? How did you respond? What impact did it have on your faith journey? 2. Discuss the significance of sending and supporting missionaries to spread the gospel. Have you ever considered that God may be calling you to global missions? How can you practically participate (hold t...

1 What do you think about this idea that you are a preacher? And how does that reality change the way you engage with this text? 2 Since we are all preachers, what are some practical implications of the fact that the mighty message is carried through relational pursuit? (Consider - Who are you pursuing, and how are you pursuing them?) 3 How does the manner of Paul’s preaching differ to a TED talk...

1. What is the message of the cross? What happens to the Bible and Christianity without the cross? 2. In what ways have you witnessed the message of the cross perceived as “folly” or “foolishness” to the world around you? How can you respond with wisdom and grace? 3. How does one move from thinking that the message of the cross is foolishness to believing that it is the power of God? 4. If “true w...

1. In what ways does division in the church distort the gospel and ruin the church's reputation? How does unity promote the gospel to a lost world? 2. What does it mean to be of the "same understanding" and "same conviction"? 3. In what ways do Christians attempt to justify their divisive and quarrelsome attitudes? 4. What issues are Christians currently quarreling and dividing over? 5. Does the i...

Read 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 1. Why do you think Paul starts his letter off with such gratitude for God’s grace given to the Corinthians? How is God’s grace seen and confirmed in the lives of the church? (Salvation; alignment of Word and Action; Gifts) 2. What do you think it means to be ‘enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge’? (verse 5) 3. Have you ever considered what spiritual (grace) gif...

Read Proverbs 24:3-4 1. If you are married, what are practical steps that you can take to move toward one another in the areas of passion, intimacy, and life-giving speech? 2. As a husband, if you are called to cultivate or nurture your wife with trust and gratitude, what practically can you do to grow in these areas? 3. As parents, if you are called to create a refuge for your children, and this...

Read Proverbs 30:7-9 1. Are you more of a saver or a spender? Why do you think that is? What in your heart is the motivating force to either spend or save? 2. What are some key truths from Proverbs that God wants us to learn about our relationship to money? Concerning earning money? Concerning giving? Concerning spending? Concerning saving? 3. What are some of the inherent dangers of money that th...

Read Proverbs 19:23; 1 Corinthians 15; Philippians 4 1. Where in life do you most struggle to be content? Where is your heart most restless? 2. What do you believe is the primary desire of your heart that leads you to this life of discontentment? 3. What do you think of Jeremiah Burroughs definition of contentment: “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, whic...

1. What is a big decision that you recently had to make? How hard was it to make that decision? Did you follow some plan to assist in the process? What was the process or what were the steps that you walked through to make this decision? 2. Have you ever had trouble making a decision because you were waiting on the Lord to reveal you to you some part of His secret will? Do you think that this is n...

Read: Proverbs 4:1-27 1. Spend some time discussing the challenges of parenting. If you are not a parent, share some of the challenges you faced growing up. How does Solomon's instruction in Proverbs 4 encourage and help you? 2. Read Proverbs 4:10-13. What are the benefits of embracing wise parental instruction? What are some practical ways that you can share these benefits (and others like them)...

Read: Proverbs 4:1-19 1. What commands does the father give to his sons in this passage? (There are many) What do these commands imply about the sons? What do these commands imply about parenting? 2. Why do you think the father conveys his instruction in a personal way in verses 3-9? How would this personal approach help the children? Share some of the personal and meaningful wisdom that your pare...

Read Proverbs 6:6-11; 26:13-16; 24:30-34 1. How would you define a sluggard? 2. What are the character failures of a sluggard according to the above texts? 3. How prevalent is this within our society? Why? 4. When or where or how has this been a part of your life story? In the past? Currently? 5. Where are you complacent? Or idle? Or lazy? 6. What are you doing to fight this? 7. How do you balance...

1. What are the 5 primary things one must consider in Conflict Resolution? - Is this worth fighting over? Should I just cover it in love? - How can I set my heart on glorifying God? Is this about winning or honoring God? - How can I get the log out of my own eye? Take Responsibility for your sin - How can I gently restore this relationship? This is not about payback or revenge but restoration - Ho...