JUDGES 2-4; 6-8 and 13-16

Quote: God is in the business of bringing sinful people back into relationship with him; sometimes to accomplish this goal, he calls on surprising and unexpected people to help in the process.

Reflection Questions:
1. If you could talk with an angel and have one “why” question answered, what would you ask?

2. Contrast how God saw Gideon with how Gideon saw himself (Judges 6:11-16)  How does this breathe hope into our hearts in the moments we feel God could never do great things through us?

3. In the continual cycle that occurs in the time of the Judges, God’s people kept embracing the sins, religion, and behavior of those who lived in the land before they conquered it.  In what ways do Christians today embrace the sin, practices, and culture of our day and end up sinning and feeling distant from God?

4. One of the recurring themes is that a new generation would rise up that did not know God and what he had done for his people in the past.  When they forgot, they wandered.  This same tragic thing can happen in our generation.  What practical things can we do in our homes and in the church to help the next generation know and remember what God has done in the past so they will hold on to him in the future?

5. There seems to be consequences when we refuse to follow God’s way.  Why do you think we continue to repeat the same sin patterns even though we know the outcome will not be good?

6. Where would you be today if God had never allowed his discipline to wake you up to the reality of sin and drive you into his arms?

7. How did God strengthen Gideon and help him press through his fear as he faced the mighty armies of Midian?  How does God do this same thing today when we feel inadequate and fearful?

8. Have you faced a situation when the odds were against you, and others said, “no way!” but you held God’s hand and pressed on?  How did the situation turn out and how was God glorified?

Personal Reflections:
Are there any patterns of rebellion and struggle in your life?  What does your personal life pattern look like when it comes to sin and wandering from God?  What is one step you can take to begin to break that pattern.?

JOSHUA 1-2; 6; 8; 10-11; 23-24

Reflection Questions:
1. Can you think of a time in your life when you were faced with an overwhelming challenge that you needed to confront? What was it and how did you respond?

2. What did God call his people to do as they got ready to enter the Promised Land ?(Joshua 1:1-11)

3. Just like the people of Israel, we sometimes are fearful of challenges and don’t want to deal with them. What challenges in your life have you put on the back burner, but you know it is time to face it and deal with it? How can your group members pray for you, cheer you on, and keep you accountable in this process?

4. How does consistent and faith filled reading of the Bible help us remain strong and courageous as we swim upstream against the currents of this world?

5. What are your personal habits and commitments when it comes to Bible Study? How can your group members encourage you to grow in your love for God’s Word?

6. Joshua read the words of God’s story to all the people: children, teens, and the adults. What are ways we can help the children and young people in our lives grow in their knowledge of and love for the Bible? How can this be done in both our homes and churches?

7. This story teaches us that we should always talk with God to make sure he is going before us and that we are not heading off on our own. Why is it so important to pray, listen to God, and follow his leading when we make life decisions? What are some of the possible consequences if we forget to do this? What area of your life do you need to commit to more prayer and listening?

8. When Christians live in a world that flows so strongly against the desires and heart of God, we often are identified as believers simply by the way we live. Name some actions and attitudes that show the world we are followers of Jesus.

Personal Reflections
1. How can I go deeper into God’s Word and follow it with greater passion in my daily life?

2. What steps can I take to make more space for conversation with God in my normal day, especially when I am facing battles?

3. When people look at me, in a normal day, do they see that I am a follower of Jesus? What can I do to live and think in ways that will identify me more closely with the Savior?

NUBMERS 10-14; 20-21; 25; 27

DEUTERONOMY 1-2; 4; 6; 8-9; 29-32 and 34

1. Describe some of the ways that God might help us recalculate our life direction and get back on track when we are wandering.

2. In today’s Scripture, we see God’s discipline of his people to get them back on track. What are the values of being disciplined by one who loves us and wants the best for us?

3. Why is it dangerous to fall prey to complaining, grumbling, and rebelling against God’s leading and his plan? Can you give an example of how you can fall into this pattern if you are not careful?

4. Ten of the men who spied out the land let their minds and eyes focus on the obstacles. What are ways we can be frozen by fear and fixate on the obstacles rather than the God who can help us overcome them?

5. How have you seen the sins of one generation poison and damage those who came after them? And conversely, how have you seen good choices and spiritual maturity be passed on as a blessing to the next generation?

6. What is one way you are seeking to pass on a healthy and positive legacy to the next generation? How can your group members pray as you seek to be a blessing to children, grandchildren, or the young people you influence?

7. What kinds of things can get in the way of us responding to God’s clear direction?

8. What will help us hear and respond more quickly when the Lord is seeking to lead us? What is one area of your life where you would like to be more responsive to God’s leading and how can your ask others to support this?

Personal Reflections
1. Thank God for his loving discipline and invite him to help you stay on his course for your life.

2. Confess where you have wandered from God’s plan for your life and ask him to help you recalculate.

3. Pray for a mature heart and spirit that does not complain, grumble, and whine when things do not go your way.

EXODUS 19-20; 24-25; 32-34; 40

1. If we see God as a cosmic killjoy just waiting for people to do something wrong so He can catch and punish them, how will this impact our relationship with Him?

2. The Ten Commandments are the basic “rules of the road” for how people are to relate to God and to each other. How would our lives and faith improve if we followed these commands (in action and spirit)? What can we do to embrace and follow these commands more fully?

3. In our story, God is seeking to come down and connect with his people…with us! He said that three things need to happen for God to draw near to us and to experience His presence. Why is each of these so important?

a. There must be rules to guide how people relate to God and to each other
b. God will need a place to stay
c. Sin must be atoned for

4. God no longer dwells in tents or temples; He lives in us (Acts 7:48-50 and 1 Corinthians 6:19) How does recognizing that God dwells in us help connect us to His story on a daily basis?

5. God showed His love for people and His desire to connect by moving into their neighborhood. He settled in, right in their midst. God is still seeking to connect with us on a deeply personal level. What are ways you experience the presence and care of God breaking into your daily life?

6. God promised that His presence would be with the people and they would stand out in the world because of it. This is still true today. What are some ways Christians should stand out in our world? Name one area of your life in which you sense God is calling you to look different to the world because He is with you.

Personal Reflections
1. Am I seeking to do my part to ensure my relationship with God is as close as possible?

2. Am I following his commands and direction?

3. Am I seeking healthy relationships, loving others the way they would want to be loved?

4. Do I invite God to dwell fully in my heart and life?

5. How might I celebrate his presence in me and communicate with him more freely and more often?

6. Do I live with an absolute, rock-solid confidence that all of my sins have been atoned for through Jesus’ death on the cross and glorious resurrection?

EXODUS 1-7; 10-17

1. Tell about a time you were minding your own business, going through your normal life, and God showed up, revealed himself, or spoke to you in some surprising way.

2. God is dramatically active in his people’s deliverance- he is engaged, he cares. Looking specifically at verses 7-10, what do you learn about God in the following areas:
i. What did God see, hear, and feel?
ii. What did God say he would do?
iii. What did God call Moses to do?

3. How did Moses see himself and his abilities and how did God see him? Tell about a conversation you had with God that may have sounded something like the one Moses had in this passage.

4. While God saw Moses as the perfect person to face Pharaoh and speak the word of the Lord to the leader of Egypt, Moses saw himself as a political fugitive and a poor communicator who had no business facing the king. Give examples of how God can see us one way and we can see ourselves very differently. What can we do to increase our ability to se ourselves from God’s perspective?

5. Really, the best thing you can do is to say yes to God, even when we do not feel adequate for the ask ahead. Tell about a time when you dared to say yes and followed God, even when you were afraid. How did God show up and lead you?

6. God always was, is, and will be; he calls himself “I AM” the self-existent one. How can embracing the reality that the God we worship is the eternal “I AM” help you face the challenging moment of a normal day?

7. What is one area of your life where you tend to focus more on your limitations than God’s ability to work through you? How can others pray for you and encourage you as you seek God’s leading in this area?

Prayer: As you take time to pray, here are some ideas to get you started:
a. Thank God that he uses limited, ordinary, and even broken people to accomplish his purposes in this world.

b. Ask God to help you see yourself through his eyes more than through your own eyes.

c. Confess where you have refused to follow God out of fear and pray for greater courage in the future.

GENESIS 37; 39; 41-48; 50

1. From a human standpoint, Joseph was in the worst place: abandoned by family, sold into slavery, cast into prison (Genesis 39:20-23) From a divine perspective, he was in the best place. How do you see God working in Joseph and showing blessing, even in the pain of these moments of his life?

2. In the darkest times of Joseph’s life, we read that “The LORD was with Joseph.” How have you experienced the Lord being with you in the hard times of life? What are some of the signs that God is with us, even in the dark places.

3. Joseph waited two years in prison for someone to remember him and send help. Tell about a time you waited for months or years on an answer from the Lord. How did you make it through this long season of waiting?

4. God has an amazing ability to bring good out of life’s bad situations. Tell about a time when something hard and painful happened in your life, but later you saw God accomplish something wonderful in his story of his will.

5. At the end of chapter 3, Joseph was reunited with his brothers twenty-two years after they sold him off as a slave. What strikes you about Joseph’s attitude toward his brothers and the way he treats them? What does this teach us about the condition of his heart and the depth of his faith?

6. Joseph could have retaliated and gotten revenge on his brothers for all the wrong they had done to him. Instead, he provided for them and extended forgiveness. What makes it hard to forgive people who have intentionally wronged us? What can we do to forgive, even when it is difficult.

GENESIS 12-13; 15-17; 21-22; 32-33;35
ROMANS 4
HEBREWS 11

1. Is there something in your life you feel hesitant to release?

2. How might letting it go bring you closer to God or align you with His purpose?

3. How can you trust that God’s replacement will be far more valuable?

4. Are you open to receiving God’s rewards, even if they look different from what you expect?

GENESIS 1-4, 6-9

1. In what ways was life in the original creation different from life as we know it today?

2. Why did God create humans in his own image? What does this mean?

3. What was the root cause of Adam and Eve’s sin against God?

4. Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden?

5. Why did God bring the flood upon the earth?

6. What does this act of judgment tell you about God?