Redefining Strength

  • David Fuquay
  • Jun 7, 2009
  • Series: Redefining Life

Redefining Strength

 Reflecting the Glory  (4:1-6)

Living the Life (4:7-12)

The Grace that is reaching more and more people leads to thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. (4:13-15)

Sermon Questions for 2 Corinthians 4:1-15

IF YOU PLAN ON USING THESE QUESTIONS in June, July or August, whether for personal study or group study, please email me at . 

Also, I am always looking for suggestions on how to improve these questions. A recent suggestion (by Louise D) was to place the answers as a footnote instead of in parenthesis.  So, we are trying that for a couple of weeks. Let me know what you think.

SPECIFIC PRAYER  (suggestions)

            Please pray for Norma Jean Gustavsen and the Bertsch family.  Norma Jean’s brother passed away suddenly in a car wreck.  Pray for the family as they minister and heal from this tragedy.  Also, please continue to pray for the upcoming Rwanda trip and preparations.

SCRIPTURE AND SHARING

Crawl:

What role does the Bible play in your day to day life?

Walk:

What happens when your desires or thoughts conflict with the Bible?  In other words, are you allowing God’s Word to Redefine your Life? What is hard or easy about this?

As a group, read 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

2 Cor. 4:1-15 says “Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry”  Which ministry is that?[1]

Why is it so easy for ministers (servants of the Lord, which includes you), to become discouraged and lose heart in what they are called to do?

Paul was being attacked in Corinth by false prophets, compare and contrast the two methods between Paul and his critics (see 2 Cor 11, especially 13-14).

David Fuquay made the point that the cultural craze around the “secret” Gospels or whatever else is not true Christianity.  Do buy that? Are there things that are hidden and secret?  Are there things in the Bible that need t o be decoded?

Who is the god of this age?  Look at these references and discuss the significance of each name (Revelation 9:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Matthew 12:24; Ephesians 2:2; John 14:30; Ephesians 6:12; John 14:30).  How do you see this working out practically today?

Does it seem unfair to you that the Lord would allow Satan to blind people to His grace?  What would make this “fair?” (Rom 10:13)

Read through Paul’s conversion in Acts 9. What strikes you? How is this like or completely unlike your own conversion?

As a group, read 2 Corinthians 4:7-15

What is ironic about v7?  (as a side note, whenever you look at a diamond in the store, they always place it against a black cloth.  Why?)

How is God’s glory manifested through Jesus in us?

How would Paul have defined living the Christian life? Describe that kind of life.

What enabled Paul to live this type of strength, this type of life? 

Run:

John 14:9 He who has seen me has seen the Father- If they see you do they see Jesus?  Is your mirror dirty?  What ways do you need to be a better reflection of Jesus?

Has Jesus ever knocked you off your horse?

What will it take in your life in order for you to give up your own strength and live out of the Lord’s strength?

Name the different reasons Paul would have chosen an everyday object like a clay jar in order to illustrate his point.

Key Words and Further Study:

A French philosopher Pascal said, “A drop of water can a breath of air can kill man.”  Discuss the truth of this statement

SERVICE (fodder for ideas)

Don’t forget, we now have a blog dedicate to service opportunities at Jacksonville Chapel.  Visit it at http://www.jacksonvillechapel.org/serving-opportunities

The chapel is a host congregation for the Interfaith Council for Homeless Families of Morris County. The shelter provides assistance to homeless families and single women in the form of education, counseling, parenting skills, etc.  It also provides a temporary place for the guests to live while seeking permanent homes. The families in the program stay in different churches for a week at a time.  The chapel participates in this program by hosting the guests at the Crossroads campus for a week at a time four times a year. They arrive on Sunday afternoons and leave on the following Sunday morning. There is a volunteer with them at all times while they are with us, including overnight.

 What we need specifically is a person or persons to stay overnight on the Sunday when they arrive. This entails arriving around dinner time and staying until the following morning. The guests leave at 6:30 in the morning, the volunteers may leave anytime after that. It can be more than one person to stay over on a particular night, sometimes couples stay together, sometimes an adult will bring their child.

 While the volunteers are there, their level of interaction with the guests is largely up to them. Some people share their faith.  Sometimes the volunteers play with any children are staying there, this depends largely on the volunteer and the particular families staying at that time.

 The dates over the next 18 months are: 8/30/09; 12/13/09; 3/7/10; 5/30/10; 8/8/10; and 12/12/10

[1] To reflect the glory of the Lord (2 Cor 3:18)