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Sermon Discussion

Below you'll find the pastor's presentations associated with each sermon along with discussion questions for your Life Group to use in response to each week's sermon.

10/18/26

Genesis 15
"Origins, pt. 34: How We Win Against Fear"

Pastor Tom Gray

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  • What are you currently afraid of or worried about right now?

  • Why is fear such a crippling emotion for us, even those of us who are Christians that are told “not to fear"?

  • Why do you think we so often try to solve our problems or fears instead of taking them straight to God?

  • Read Philippians 4:6-7. What are some other verses or promises in Scripture that bring your comfort and peace during these difficult times?

  • Abraham’s faith that is credited to him as righteousness is a massive part of “salvation” from the Old Testament perspective. Why is it so important?

  • Read Luke 11:9-13 and Luke 18:1-7. What do we learn about God’s openness to our continual requests from these verses? How does this apply to what Tom talked about today in regards to fear and trusting God?

  • What is so significant about God making this covenant with Abraham? How does this covenant point forward to Jesus?

10/11/26

John 3:16
"God is Love"

Pastor Jim Burt

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  • Finding beauty in the simple or ordinary is a good skill to have. What are some simple things in your life that you find beautiful or meaningful?

  • Now let’s apply that way of thinking to our verse today: John 3:16. What beautiful or meaningful things can you pull out of this well-known verse?

  • Gods love is the central element of this verse. It is the driving force for both the sending and the sacrifice of the Son. What stands out to you about Gods love both in this passage and the rest of Scripture?

  • How would you describe “Agape” love? What are some ways we should demonstrate this type of love?

  • How was Christs suffering and sacrifice such a powerful demonstration of Gods love?

9/27/26

Genesis 14:1-16
"Origins, pt. 32: Preparation and Courage"

Pastor Tom Gray

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  • By human terms, Abraham was facing an impossible situation and yet God delivered him. What other examples in Scripture do we see God delivering his people from impossible situations? What does this teach us about God?

  • Where has God shown up for you in “impossible situations?"

  • How do we imitate Abram by being both peace-makers but also being wise and prepared to fight the “wars” in our culture today?

  • How does living faithfully in the day to day enable us to honor God in the day of trouble?

  • Out of all the areas that Tom walked through, which one do you feel “least prepared” in? What can you do to be more prepared? (The list: Spiritually, Relationally, Physically, Financially, Professionally, Eternally)

9/20/26

Genesis 13:5-18
"Origins, pt. 31: The Life of Faith"

Pastor Tom Gray

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  • Why do you think being a peace-maker is such a vital element of a life of faith? Where have you had to step in somewhere as a peace-maker?

  • What comes to your mind when you hear the word “righteousness?” Tom defined it as aligning to Gods heart, designs and ways. Discuss this definition as a group

  • How do we balance being a peace-maker with confronting conflict and sin and evil?

  • Peace-making has a large element of humility and deferring to others within it. Read Philippians 2:1-4

  • How does we see this in Genesis 13? How have you seen humility be a blessing within relationships?

  • How does having an eternal perspective help us be peace-makers?

9/13/26

Genesis 12:10-13:4
"Origins, pt. 30: Real Faith Walking"

Pastor Tom Gray

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  • What stands out to you about this story of Abram and Sarai going to Egypt?

  • This narrative stars with a trial (famine - v.10) that prompts Abram to step out in faith. What are some of those trials in your own life that caused you to move forward in faith?

  • Why are we so tempted to try to solve our problems in our own way instead of trusting God in difficult times?

  • How have you recently experienced the faithfulness and goodness of God in difficult times?

  • What does it look like for us to “call upon the name of the Lord?”

9/6/26

Genesis 12:1-9
"Origins, pt. 29: Blessed to be a Blessing"

Pastor Matt Russell

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  • Abram's call meant giving up land, clan, and inheritance, the very things that gave him security and identity. What is the modern equivalent for you?  What is the thing that feels foundational to your sense of safety or identity to ever surrender to God?

  •  Hebrews 11:8 says Abram "went out without understanding where he was going." The sermon contrasts his immediate obedience with our tendency to demand clarity, bargain, or add conditions before we obey. Where in your life right now are you waiting for more information or certainty before you'll follow what you already sense God is asking of you?

  •  When Abram arrived in Canaan, the land was already occupied, likely the opposite of what he might have expected from God's promise. Describe a time you faced resistance or hardship after stepping out in faith. Did it make you question whether you'd heard God correctly, and how did you work through that?

  •  Abram pitched his tent between "the house of God" and "a heap of ruins," never seeing the promise fully realized in his lifetime.  In what ways do you feel that same tension?  How do you deal with the reality of being caught between God's promises and the brokenness of the world?  How do you maintain hope and a Godward focus?

  •  Like Abram, we too have been blessed by God in multiple ways.  And like Abram, we have been blessed to be a blessing to others in our sphere of influence.  What does it mean to “bless” others?   How specifically can you be a blessing to others in your sphere of influence?    

8/23/26

Genesis 11:10-32, Luke 3:34-36
"Origins, pt. 27: The Faith"

Pastor Tom Gray

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  • Based on your knowledge of him, how would you define Abraham? What about Sarah?

  • How does 2 Chronicles 16:9 tie into Abraham’s story? How does it tie into our lives today?

  • Scripture calls Abraham a “friend of God.” What does that mean? How can we be a “friend of God”?

  • Why is the object of our faith more important than the size of our faith? What does Scripture say about this?

  • Tom ended by talking about how our faith grows as it is tested. How has your faith been tested recently? How have you grown from it?

8/16/26

Genesis 11:1-9, John 17, Acts 2
"Origins, pt. 26: The Tower of Babel"

Pastor Tom Gray

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  • Why is unity such an important ingredient in growth?

  • Why is language such a barrier AND a unifying thing?

  • God not only confuses languages, but forcibly scatters the people. Think about what the commission given to humanity was (“fill the earth”). How was Babel a rebellion to this?

  • How was God accomplishing His plan through the judgement handed out here?

  • Have you noticed a theme in Genesis? Rebellion, Judgment, new location. We see it with Adam / Eve, Cain, the Flood and now Babel. 

  • What do you think God is trying to communicate to us with these patterns?

  • Read Deuteronomy 32:7-9. What does this teach us about God's judgment in Genesis 11? 

  • How does verse 9 set us up for Abraham / Israel’s story that we are about to dive into?

8/9/26

Genesis 10
"Origins, pt. 25: From the Table of Nations to the Banquet Table of the Lamb"

Pastor Matt Russell

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  • Genesis 10 is a list of names most of us would skip over. What does the fact that God included it in Scripture — cataloguing seventy specific peoples by name — tell us about how God sees the "ordinary" details of a nation, a family, or a person? Is there a "list" in your own life (an overlooked relationship, a season, a group of people) that you've been tempted to skim past that God may actually be paying close attention to?

  • The chapter repeats itself four times: by their clans, by their tongues, by their lands, by their nations. Why would the author go out of his way to keep naming the differences between peoples, rather than just saying "they all came from Noah" once and moving on? What does it look like, practically, to hold both truths at once? We are one human family, and our differences (ethnicity, language, culture) are God-designed?

  • In many ways our culture has elevated ethnicity other differences leading to what has leading to tribalism and identity politics.  Why is this view of ethnicity unbiblical and how should the disciple of Jesus think about the concept of ethnic differences and identity?

  • Nimrod took the vision of "fill the earth" and turned it into "build my own name." Can you relate at all to the impulse we see in Nimrod to control outcomes rather than trust and obey God?  Where in your life (ambition, work, even ministry) are you tempted to build something for your own name than to trust God's design for how things should unfold? What would it look like this week to hand that back to him?

  • Revelation 7:9 pictures the same categories from Genesis 10 (tribe, tongue, people, nation) but this time no one can count them, and "land" is gone. That gathered, uncountable multitude is where Yahweh is directing history.  What's one concrete way your life, your relationships, or your church could reflect that reality now?  

8/2/26

Genesis 9:18-29
"Origins, pt. 24: Foolishness, Wickedness, Love"

Pastor Tom Gray

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  • We started with Noah’s foolishness. What other biblical examples can you think of heroes acting foolishly?

  • How does it make you feel to know that heroes of the Bible make foolish mistakes?

  • What contrast is there from Ephesians 5:18, of being drunk on (fill in the blank) and being filled with the Spirit?

  • What are those controlling areas you have to watch out for? (Screens, alcohol, relationships, calendar, money, etc.)

  • Why does wickedness follow so closely on the heels of foolishness? (Genesis 8:21)

  • Wickedness is either celebrated (Ham) or covered (Shem / Japheth). What is the outcome in this story of these two options?

  • How does the loving action of the two righteous brothers point us to Jesus and what he has done for us?

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