Welcome From Pastor Justin Greene

Welcome From Pastor Justin Greene!

Welcome to the Fade Blog. I pray that that you are reading this as result of making a personal one year commitment to FADE. It is my hope that you will find the devotions and materials suggested here helpful to you as you pursue a deeper walk with Christ and the life change that will accompany it.

The commitment card you were asked to sign in the third message was a slightly modified version of the one found at the end of the book Radical by David Platt and many of the devotions and application questions that will be posted will be coming from the church at Brook Hills where he is the pastor. Other books that were inspirational to me as these messages were brewing in my mind will also be noted, along with a link to purchase them on Amazon.

It is my greatest desire that each one of you would see the Lord stoke the fire of your first love. I pray that your passion for Christ and the lost would be unquenchable, and that your commitment to the local body of believers will stretch your heart, mind and resources. The goal? That you would agree with John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”(John 3:30), and Paul,

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. . . Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”( Phil. 3:7,8,13,14)

They are calling us to FADE.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Week 4 (October 24-30) Discussion and Application Questions

Introduction

In week four we will be reading through Job chapters 1-24.

Suffering is Often Unexplainable

• Job followed God’s commands faithfully.
• Job’s attention came from his integrity.
• Job was unaware of spiritual conflict.

Discussion

• Read Job 1:1-12.
• Describe Job’s service to God. How did God describe Job?
• Why did Satan notice Job? Why was God pointing him out to Satan?
• Was Job ever made aware of the spiritual conflict that arose in heaven?

Application

• What is our first reaction to seeing that God pointed Job out to Satan? What does our answer indicate about our belief in God’s sovereignty and goodness?

• Why does our culture often feel that believers who are faithful do not deserve to suffer? Is that a biblical perspective?

• What is the point in serving God faithfully if we may encounter the same, if not greater, hardships as everyone else?

• Would suffering actually be easier if we understood the reason? Why does it matter?

God is Always Worthy of Worship

• God remains in control of all situations.
• God’s worth is not dependent on circumstances.

Discussion

• Read Job 1:13-2:13.
• List the categories of loss that Job experienced.
• Looking at Job 2:3, 5-6, who was actually in control of Job’s suffering?
• In Job 2:3 God asserts responsibility for Job’s first round of sufferings. What does this indicate about God’s supreme control in the world?
• In Job 1:12 and 2:5-6, Satan basically asks God for permission to cause harm to Job. What does this indicate about God’s control over Satan?
• How did Job respond to these disasters?
• Why did Job praise God?

Application

• Why can it make us feel uneasy to know that God gave permission to harm Job?

• What kind of God would He be if He were not in control? Would we rather He be helpless to Satan’s desires or in control of His plan? Why?

• How is there comfort in knowing that He is control in the midst of our suffering?

• Why is it often difficult to praise God in our suffering?

• What are we saying about God if we believe that His worth is determined by our circumstances? Would He truly be God if He were dependent upon our lives?

Suffering is Not Partial

• Job’s suffering was not a product of discipline, sin, or disbelief.
• Followers of God are not immune to suffering.

Discussion

• Read Job 5:17-18. What did Job’s friends assert about Job?
• What did their assertion assume about God?
• Read Job 42:7. Why did God rebuke Job’s friends? What did God’s rebuke of the friends indicate about their beliefs?

Application

• How can we be true friends to those who are suffering?

• Why do we often say things contrary to God’s word in an effort to comfort or give advice? Why is this so dangerous?

• Why does it scare us to think that believers should be immune from suffering?

• How can suffering in the life of a believer bring glory to God? God Often Reveals Himself during Suffering

• God remains supreme at all times.

• True understanding of God demands submission.

Discussion

• Read Job 38-39.
• How did God respond to Job’s request for vindication from God?
• Describe the picture that God painted of Himself to Job.
• Read Job 42:1-6.
• How did Job respond to God’s conversation?
• What does Job admit about his knowledge of God’s ways?
• How did Job indicate that he had grown in his knowledge of God?
• What role did Job’s suffering play in revealing God more deeply to Job more than prosperity could have?

Application

• How can it be comforting to rest in the truth that we do not understand God’s ways? How can it be scary or unsettling? Why?

• Why should we trust and take comfort in the God who is supreme in all matters?

• Why does suffering often help us to know God more deeply than during times of no suffering?

• What are questions that we often ask during times of suffering? What are questions that we should ask during times of suffering?
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