IBC Richmond

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. Do you give money privately? What does it mean to give in secret? How do you personally apply the principle to financial giving in the church? 2, How did Jesus teach the disciples to pray? List 2-3 points helpful to your prayer life. 3. What is the spiritual principle supporting hiddenness/secrecy? 4. As a Christian, how do you “seek first the kingdom of God and his right...

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. Jesus called his disciples “the salt of the earth” (Mt 5:13) and “the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). What does Jesus mean by these metaphors? How can Christians live as salt and light in today’s world? 2. What are good works? What is the role of good works in the Christian life? How much emphasis should churches and small groups put on practicing good works? 3. Is there a...

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. What does it mean to be blessed by God? How does Jesus’ eight “blessed” statements reshape your view of being glad in God? 2. Of the four “blessed” statements directed towards God (Mt 5:3-6), which one is most unnatural to you? How might you cultivate it as a spiritual discipline? 3. Of the four “blessed” statements directed towards man (Mt 5:7-11), which one is most unna...

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. What did Jesus mean by “I will make you fishers of men”? Is this a responsibility for all Christian or a unique calling for the 12 Disciples? How might this calling be fulfilled today? 2. What did Peter and Andrew, James and John leave to follow Jesus? Is sacrifice required of Christian disciples? If so, how is sacrifice evident in your life? 3. Jesus taught, proclaimed,...

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. How was Jesus able to be tempted while being the Son of God? Does his temptation in the wilderness fulfill Hebrews 4:15, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”? 2. What are you tempted to do? When and how is temptation presented? How have you resisted? Ho...

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. What does it mean to be righteous? How did Jesus “fulfill all righteousness”? 2. If John’s baptism was a sign of repentance, why was Jesus baptized? What is (was) your purpose for being baptized? 3. What makes you feel spiritually unworthy as John expresses, “whose sandals I am not worthy to carry” (vs. 11)? What makes inferiority helpful or unhelpful? 4. Is God well plea...

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. Describe John the Baptist. What sermon was he preaching? What relationship did John have with Jesus? Why did Jesus need a forerunner? 2. What does it mean to repent? How does one “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (vs. 8)? Be specific and personal. 3. Have you been baptized? What does baptism symbolize? Why should a Christian be baptized? 4. What does the Bible say a...

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. Worship is a major theme of Matthew 2. Who worships Jesus in the chapter? How many different ways is worship expressed? How can your personal worship be expressed? 2. Is Jesus king of the world or king of the Jews? How can this be debated in Matthew 2? 3. Joseph moves the family from Nazareth to Egypt and from Egypt back to Nazareth. What blessings and challenges have loc...

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. What is the Virgin Birth? What significance does this doctrine have in Christianity? 2. Since the birth of Jesus is told from Joseph’s perspective, what dilemma did Joseph uniquely face and how did he respond? How difficult is it for you to make right decisions when the decision will likely be misunderstood? 3. "They shall call his name Immanuel" (Mt 1:23), but the New Te...

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. What does the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham tell about the theme of Matthew’s Gospel? How will this help you understand the narratives, discourses, miracles, and parables of the book? 2. Who is noteworthy in the genealogy? Why are they significant? What can be learned about God’s salvation plan from the names listed in Matthew 1:1-17? 3....

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. Reflect on the specificity of the Tabernacle’s design. What worship principles do you observe? Should your worship of God be more stoic or more casual? 2. What similarities and differences exist between Israel’s worship of God in the Tabernacle and the believers’ worship of God in the church? 3. Read about Moses’ work ethic in Exodus 40:16, 33. How can you improve in hono...

Abraham - Faith Has No Shortcut

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: 1. Which of the 10 Commandments did Israel break by worshiping a golden calf? What does this event teach about idolatry? 2. Would God have been justified to destroy Israel (Ex 32:10)? Why did God relent from his anger? 3. Reflect on the description of God’s character in Exodus 34:6-7. In what way has God responded to you personally in one of these attributes? 4. Is the renew...

1. What did Moses do for 40 days and nights in God’s presence? Is 40 days symbolically significant? 2. What can be learned from the detailed orders for the Tabernacle, its dimensions, metals, and fabrics, and the priestly service of the Tabernacle? 3. The first person in the Bible described as being “filled with the Spirit of God” is Bezalel (Ex 31:2-3; 35:30-31). Who was Bezalel? What was his occ...