2nd Peter 3:9 | The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
What promise is 2nd Peter 3:9 referring to, that God is waiting to give His followers?
Why is God waiting?
Who do you know that God is waiting for?
Why doesn’t God want anyone to be destroyed?
Teens/Adults: If God doesn’t want anyone to die apart from Him, why does it still happen?
John 3:16-17 | “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.’
1 John 2:2 | He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
Who did God send Jesus to save? Why did God the Father do this?
Whose sin did Jesus pay for? Did He leave anyone out? Why?
If Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world, who does God want to repent (or to give their life to Him)?
Last week, we saw a discouraged Moses try repeatedly to obey God’s plan. While Moses did what God said, the Israelites remained slaves in Egypt. Pharoah simply would not let God’s people go! But we learned that we should never give up on God’s plan – God surely hadn’t. He isn’t done with Pharaoh yet! He tells Moses what to do next-
Exodus 7:14-15 | Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, and he still refuses to let the people go. So go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes down to the river. Stand on the bank of the Nile and meet him there. Be sure to take along the staff that turned into a snake.”
Read More1st Chronicles 16:11 | Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.
Why is strength important when you are trying to live out God’s plan for you but you’re experiencing struggles or roadblocks like Moses did?
When you feel like giving up on God’s plan, where does 1st Chronicles 16:11 tell us to find strength?
Where should you look?
Who should you ask?
What does it look like to “continually seek” God?
Are you doing this? In what ways or why not?
How does seeking God give you strength?
1st Corinthians 9:24-26 | Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
What eternal prize does today’s reading refer to? How is it related to not giving up on God’s plan for you (which is our focus for this week)?
What does it mean to “run to win?”
According to today’s reading, how does a person ‘run to win?’
What does this look like in the life of a Christian?
Think about God’s plan for you right now. How can you ‘run with purpose in every step’ towards living out/completing that plan?
What are you already doing?
What do you need to start doing?
Hebrews 12:1 | Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
What ‘race’ has God set before you? What does your race, or God’s plan for you, include?
What are some weights that slow us down as we follow God and ‘run our race?’
What do you personally need to “throw off” (Heb. 12:1) or “forget” (yesterday’s reading- Phil. 3:13) so that you can stay focused on God’s plan/race for you?
How will you actually throw off or forget these things?
Philippians 3:12-14 | I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
What ‘race’ is Philippians 3 referring to? What is part of your race, or what has God called you to?
What roadblocks do followers of God encounter as they run their race? What advice does Philippians 3 give to them?
What does “pressing on” look like when roadblocks arise?
Why is “pressing on” and not giving up on God’s plan worth it? How do you know?
Galatians 6:9 | So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
What good things has God instructed you to do?
Have you ever gotten tired in your ‘well-doing’ or trying to follow God’s plan for you? When? Why?
What promise does Galatians 6:9 make for those who don’t give up on God’s plan?
Have you ever seen this promise at work in your life? What ‘harvest of blessing’ have you received when you’ve seen God’s instructions through to completion, even when it was hard? [Think about times you’ve shared the Gospel with someone, invited people to church, shared your testimony or lived it out boldly in the face of persecution, served when uncomfortable or unsure, etc.]
What can you do when you feel like giving up so that you can stay strong and keep going instead? Who can help?
