the hardest word in the bible to say bibles... · you regret it deeply. what temptation do you have...

THE HARDEST WORD IN THE BIBLE TO SAY Genesis 39:1-12

Compass of Salinas/Marina Life Group Discussions

November #1 1. Please read Genesis 39:1-12 several times. Describe in a few sentences the ACTION and the main

characters.

• Read between the lines. What did Joseph say to shapely Mrs. Potiphar that was a hard word to say?

2. Consider the following:

Happiness depends on saying this word. If you have regrets, it is almost certainly because you did not say this word. It is this word – more than any other – that protects a marriage.

What would you guess this word is? It is the word “No”. “No! No! No!” It is the hardest word to say in any language…..but the most useful. First, it’s a hard word to say to an appealing temptation! Billy Graham was asked when he thought he would no longer have temptations. He said, “After

I’ve been dead at least 3 days.” Everyone has temptations. Even Jesus. Hebrews 4 verse 15 says that Jesus was tempted in every way any of us are. None of us has ever had a temptation that Jesus did not have. But He kept saying ‘no’ and did not sin.

What temptations in your past do you regret you did not say “no” to? You said “yes” and now you regret it deeply.

What temptation do you have now? Maybe you are one of those who takes temptation lightly. Enjoy life! Temptation always promises pleasure, so why not enjoy it?

You don’t realize that temptation is the devil’s bait. He has bait all around you…and inside the bait is a hook.

Joseph is the Bible’s example of how hard it is to say “no” to the pleasures of temptation. Joseph came from a dysfunctional family. His brothers sold him as a slave to Egypt. Potiphar, the head of Pharaoh’s bodyguards, bought him. He put Joseph in charge of running his mansion.

Genesis chapter 39 verse 6 describes Joseph this way: “Joseph was well-built and handsome.” He was a hunk. A combination of Brad Pit and Schwarzenegger. He had Brad’s looks and

Schwarzenegger’s 6 pack abs and biceps. And Potiphar’s wife noticed and said, “Come to bed with me.” (Genesis 39:7)

Historians tell us that this was normal in Egypt. Everyone was sleeping around. Adultery, cheating, pickups, one night stands….were normal. Mrs. Potiphar was doing what most women were doing. Her thinking was – “If most everyone is doing it, it can’t be wrong.”

Her morality was by the numbers. If a lot of people were doing it, it must be okay. Gallup poll morality. A lot of people make their moral decisions by the numbers. • What is the most important sentence in your opinion for the world we live in today and say

WHY?

• “Temptation is the devil’s BAIT”. WHY do I describe temptation as bait?

• What do you think is the hardest temptation for men to resist? Say why? Then say why resist; why not indulge?

• What do you think is the hardest temptation for women to resist? Say why? Then say why resist; why not enjoy?

3. Consider this quote from the message:

Failing to say no to temptation always has consequences. They may take a while to come, but consequences always come.

A young boy had done a very bad thing and got caught. He begged for forgiveness. His father said, ‘Of course, we forgive you”. But come into the garage and let me show you something. He took a hammer and nail and drove it into the wall. He said that nail is sin. Now son, take the hammer and pull it out. He did. “Son , that is forgiveness. We throw the nail away and it is forgotten.

But what is left in the wall? A hole. That’s the consequences. What we do wounds people, it wounds us, it leaves a hole. We can be forgiven but the consequences still are there.”

Why say no to temptation. Because there are always consequences hidden in the bait. Because once we give in, we can never take back the damage done.

It’s hard to say “No” when people around you want you to say yes to temptation. Surely someone here is in that situation. You know it is wrong in God’s eyes but the pressure is on. Just remember: “No” is a complete sentence.

You don’t have to defend it, explain it or apologize. If you do any of that you make matters worse. They will pick apart whatever you say. They will find flaws. Just say “No”. “No” is a complete sentence.

General Petreaus wishes now he had said “No” to temptation he might have been president one day but “No” was too hard a word for him to say to his temptation and what might have been was ruined.

Pete Rose wishes that he had said “No” to his temptation to gamble. He would be in the Hall of Fame today but he did not say “No”. It’s a very hard word to say…but it is a word that saves your future.

Temptation is like a credit card. Enjoy now and pay later. • Underline the most challenging or important sentence and say why?

• In a few sentences explain what the illustration of hammering a nail in the wall means. (Personal and private, so be honest with yourself. Think about your life.) Where in your life have you taken the ‘bait’? You did not say ‘no’ and it left a mark on the wall in your life, and now you are living with the consequences. You have been forgiven but still had to live the consequences. What comes to mind? Let that BECOME strength against temptation the next time the Enemy baits you.

• Without naming that temptation you fell to in the previous question, write a couple of sentences about WHY you fell? Was it because of crowd pressure, or was it you thought it was harmless, or ???????

As a group discuss your various answers and draw some conclusions or ‘learnings’.

4. Please read James 1:14-15.

Summarize the action in your own words

• What does James mean when he says “sin when it is FULLY GROWN produces death”? Fully Grown? Produces death?

• Maybe you have seen this happen with a parent or siblings, or with a friend. Maybe it is happening right now. Sin unrepented is PROGRESSIVE. It takes us places we never intended to go. So with whom (no names) have you seen sin become fully grown?

5. Consider the following quote:

The Book of James has some of the best insights about sin. He says Satan is like a fisherman who carefully baits his hook so as to hide it. He uses the bait that he knows appeals to his target - - which is us. And if we take the bait, if we don’t say “No” and run for the door like Joseph did,

“It gives birth to death (Thanatos).” Deformity. There are no neutral choices. We become our choices. A person who is tempted to be judgmental and doesn’t say “No”, and then a few days later

doesn’t say “No” and a few days later is judgmental again…is deforming themselves. They are becoming less and less a lovely person, more and more a critical person, less and less pleasant to be around. They are now deformed from the person God meant them to be.

They have become a judgmental negative person. It breaks my heart because so many people will not say “No” themself and the pain comes. I

think of a woman, when I was a pastor in Denver, who had many good things about her. She married a good guy. Not perfect but a good guy who loved her. The only problem was she had a temper and she could be very negative and judgmental. She found fault with so many things that he did. She produced this negative atmosphere in the home.

One day he left. He told her he’d had enough. He was tired of her temper and her mouth and he left and he never came back.

She blamed him for the divorce. I knew the inside story. I know it was because she did not say “No” to the ugly parts of her personality. I had preached sermons on these things. She had heard them. She was even a Bible study leader. But she would not say “No” to some of the ugly parts of herself. In fact, she defended these parts. She said she only got angry to shape him up. It was for his own good.

It’s hard to say “No” to yourself when you won’t call a behavior or attitude ugly. Do you do much self-examination? I mean, do you ever stop and think about what came out of

your mouth yesterday or this past week or how you treated people. Do you ever examine your behavior and think - - “You know, that was not very Christlike what I said and how I behaved. That was not my best self. I can be better.”

Do you ever do any self-examination? My gosh, pro football teams watch film of last Sunday’s game in order to see what they need to do better.

Saying “no” can preserve your dignity. • In your own words summarize the point of that quote. What does it encourage us to do and why?

• She had heard many sermons on saying ‘no’ to ourselves and not blaming others for our choices. But nothing she heard in preaching or teaching mattered in how she was behaving. She behaved as if she had never ‘heard’. And the misery came.

Why do you think she COULD NOT SEE his departure coming? There were conflicts. He spoke up. But she would not say ‘no’ to her temper, and then when he left her, she blamed him. It was his fault. Why do you think she could not see her sin?

• Self-examination. She never did that, even after he left. Why? Why is self-examination so rare? Give at least 2 reasons and be ready to defend them.

• Does the refusal to do self-examination have anything to do with why sin, why ugly behavior and attitudes, are PROGRESSIVE until, as James says, it deforms us? What is the connection?

6. In a couple of sentences say what the big ‘learning’ or big idea in this sermon is for you. Pray Memory: “Desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death (deformity)” (James 1:15)

THE BIBLE’S WORD FOR THE MOST USELESS THING WE DO! Mark 4:35-41


November #2 1. Please read Mark 4:35-41 several times. This is one of the most famous nights in Jesus’ life. They

are on the Sea of Galilee. In a few sentences describe the action. What is happening?

• Describe the emotions of Jesus’ disciples. Remember that they had seen a lot of miracles in the last few days.

No matter. How would you describe their emotions? 2. Worry is fear. They were afraid, meaning they were very, very worried. About what happening? 3. Think about this: In a few sentences explain why worry is a form of fear. 4. Consider this quote from the message:

Be honest! What have you been worrying about lately? My guess is that many of us this morning, before we finished dressing, started worrying about something. What worry thoughts have you had this morning?

There are plenty of things to worry about, aren’t there? We worry about our children or grandchildren. Some of us worry about money. Others worry about keeping our job. Someone here this morning is worried about your marriage – it is struggling and you are worried. Someone here is worried about their health. I am not minimizing this morning our problems. Some of us face scary things.

I am not being theoretical in this message. For several months I’ve been battling a very big worry that wakes me up at 3 or 4 in the morning. I have some excellent excuses for worrying about what has been waking me up.

We always have excellent excuses, don’t we? Worrying always seems like the right thing to do, doesn’t it. It shows we care! If you don’t worry, that means you don’t care! At least that’s our excuse. Worrying always seems like the normal thing to do.

I have some excellent excuses to worry but……I refuse to use them. Why? Because the Greek word for worry literally means: To strangle or to choke.

And that’s EXACTLY what worry does. It strangles our joy. It is impossible to be worrying and be joyful at the same time. Worrying steals my joy. So I fight it. I will not lay down and let it take over my mind. I am determined to fight it.

Our feelings don’t drop out of the sky. Our thinking produces our feelings and emotions. That’s why: It is impossible to be happier than what your thought-life is like! • (Private so be honest). What have you worried about in the last few months? When you worry,

what is your biggest worry?

• What does this quote say worry does? It sure does not control anything. So what does worry do?

• Do you agree or disagree and say why. • “Our thinking produces our feelings. Feelings don’t just happen. Our thoughts produce

our feelings. When you don’t like emotions you are experiencing, ask what you are thinking when you have these emotions. If it is timidity in a situation, what are you thinking? If it is embarrassment, what are you thinking? Anger? Change your thoughts and you change your emotions.”

Is that true? Give an example of how this might be true.

• If it is true, what might be the application to living victoriously and abundantly, as well as refusing to be led around by your emotions, to instead take control of your emotions?

• Write what the Bible says in Ephesians 4:26. What is it saying to do with anger that relates to

‘not being led by our emotions’. 5. Consider the following:

After a long day of ministry, Jesus and the 12 disciples set sail across the Sea of Galilee in a small boat. The lake is famous for horrible storms. Horrible storms that come up suddenly because the lake is 700 feet below sea level and sits right up against the Golan Heights. So winds dropping down on the lake pick up velocity and produce horrible storms.

And this is one of them. The Greek word Mark uses for storm in this passage is Seismos. It is as if Mark pulled off the shelf a Greek dictionary and hunted for a descriptive term that

would capture how bad the storm was. He bypassed words like cloudburst and downpour. His finger followed the column of synonyms down the dictionary until he landed on the word

that described the worst storm these fishermen had ever experienced. Seismos - - a earthquake on the water!

Guess what English words comes from that word? That’s right - - seismic. This is a seismic, scary storm. It’s an earthquake kind of storm.

Try to imagine huge waves coming out of the night darkness, and breaking into the boat. It’s beginning to sink. The disciples are bailing water as fast as they can. But it is no use. They are sinking.

And what is Jesus doing? He’s sleeping on a pillow. Mark writes: “The disciples woke Him and said, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38)

They are screaming; Jesus is dreaming. The wind roars; Jesus snores. The disciples are horriblizing; Jesus is not. Horribilzing - - it’s imagining the worst happening, the most horrible scenario.

Worry is misusing our imagination to horribilize the worst happening. • Underline the most important sentence and say why.

• How would you define ‘horribilizing”? What does that mean to do with your imagination?

• (Private and personal, so be honest). What have you horribilized about this last year? Did it help? What did it do to you emotionally?

• So what is your best advice to a horribilizer about how to conquer it?

• What does the Bible say to do in 1 Peter 1:13. How does that apply to horribilizing? How can you actually do….that verse?


Worry is BETTING AGAINST Jesus! That’s what Jesus is telling the disciples when He says “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have

no faith in Me?” Jesus was saying -- You’ve seen Me heal dozens of people, you’ve seen Me do the impossible

over and over, and still you think you are going to drown with Me in the boat. What’s it going to take for you to believe I am God and I am God of the impossible? Why are you betting against Me in this storm?

Jesus stands up and commands the wind to be muzzled and instantly the storm is gone and the water is like glass. Why? It’s easy to miss this. Why does the seismic storm stop?

Because Jesus is in the boat with them! Talk to yourself when you start to worry. Say “Wait! Jesus is in the boat with me.” You may be going through a horrible time at work. It’s hard. It may be unfair. But Jesus is in the

boat with you. It may be your finances or a disease you’re battling. Jesus is in the boat with you! Why are you betting against Jesus?

Jesus is in the boat! Jesus is in the boat! Whatever storm you are in, no matter how high the waves, even if it looks like your little boat is

sinking - - Jesus is in your boat! Jesus looks at the disciples hugging the floor of the boat and asks, “Why are you afraid?” “Silly

question. We are afraid because this storm is the worst we’ve ever seen. “But I’m in the boat.” “We are worried we are going to drown.” “But I’m in the boat.” “But we are sinking. We’re never going to make it to the shore.” “But I’m in the boat! I’m in the

boat…I’m in the boat” Why are you betting against Me?

• Summarize in your own words the point or learning of that quote.

• So what is so hard about reminding ourselves that Jesus is in the boat with us? Why do ‘storms’ and worries erase all we have heard about ‘Jesus is in the boat”? In other words, we know all these good things but we still worry and horribilize. Why? What is so attractive and satisfying about worry?

7. Summarize in a few sentences the best thing you have learned from this study and EXACTLY

WHAT WILL YOU DO TO IMPLEMENT IT. Pray

THE MOST HEALING WORD IN THE BIBLE Matthew 5:1-11


November #3 1. Please read Matthew 5:1-11 several times. What does it say is the benefit of forgiving even the

unforgivable? What does that mean?

2. Consider this quote:

“What would you guess is the most unpopular, unwanted word in the Bible, and yet it is the most healing word? Without any doubt, this is the most annoying word Jesus ever said—yes annoying.

This word is unnatural for human beings. Most people consider this word to be abnormal behavior. Nietzsche said it is a word only weak people like. What would you guess this word is?

Most people on Facebook this week guessed the word love….but that is wrong. Love does not come close to the healing power of the word I am speaking about.

The word I’m speaking about is the most healing word in the Bible, even more than love. And yet it is probably the most disobeyed word in the Bible. Jesus actually warns us that when we reject this word, we are locking ourselves into what Jesus called the prison of self-torture… and we are forever unhealed.

What would you guess this word is? It is the word Forgive. C. S. Lewis was a brilliant Oxford professor who became a Christian. He said: “Everyone

says forgiveness is a lovely idea…..until there is someone to forgive.” Is he right? Whose name could I say and your teeth would clench and your stomach

tighten? It could be a coach you once had, or people who once were your friends but they did you dirty, or someone at work, or maybe someone you loved but betrayed you, or a doctor who misdiagnosed your disease. Whose name comes to mind from the past, who, if we were honest, is still unforgiven?

We live in an unforgiving world. Far more common are grudges, getting even, resentment, bitterness.

Forgiving is almost abnormal behavior in our world. Why forgive? Hardly anybody else does!” • Underline the most challenging or important sentence and say why.

• Is C.S. Lewis right? Say why you agree or disagree with him.

• (Personal and private unless you want to talk about it). Who in your past is still unforgiven by you? What did they do?

• We know we have forgiven if their name comes to mind and we do not roll the anger tapes. We know we have forgiven if we can be glad when good things happen to them. We have forgiven when we drop all thoughts about what we will say if we get the chance.

Do you think those are good indicators? Why or why not? And what would you add to that list?


“I did not invent Christianity, and there, right in the middle of it Jesus commands us to forgive. No exceptions. No excuses. He commands it, which means that to refuse to forgive actually is a sin against Jesus.

But part of me – my old pre-Christian self – pushes back. It argues, and I think pretty powerfully…..that forgiving is a massive gyp. It is unjust. It’s unfair because they go scot-free even though they have damaged me badly.

That seems like such a powerful argument for getting even. But it is wrong. Forgiving is actually the fairest thing I can do for myself because…..Forgiving is the only healing choice. Every other choice keeps me stuck in anger and pain.

We need to be utterly clear about this! Forgiving is something we do for ourself! It is the fairest thing to do for ourself because….it heals us and opens the door of the emotional prison of torture we have locked ourself in!

One of my favorite places to take people when we go to the Holy Land is The Church of the Beatitudes. It sits in a natural geographical amphitheater that is perfect for projecting a person’s voice to a very large crowd.

I love this church because it is here that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. In that sermon Jesus said: “Blessed are the merciful. Happy are those who forgive.”

We have a choice: Do I want to hurt them back or be happy? I know what you are thinking – I will be happy when I hurt them back for what they did! I

will be very very happy when I get even! No you won’t. You will still have an open would. You will still be mad. And worse, you can never get even. The math never adds up.

Even if you pull off the greatest ‘Get even’ attack in history, it will never be enough. You will never feel that you are now even! You will always want to do more damage to them. The math never adds up. It will never make you happy or heal you. It will only nurture your anger.” • Underline the most important or challenging sentence and say why?

• What do you think? Will getting even get rid of our anger and give us peace? Why or why not? Defend your answer.

• If getting even does not get rid of anger and bitterness, why don’t we all forgive immediately? What are the hindrances? What are the best arguments we use against forgiving?

• Jesus says “Happy are the merciful”. Is that true? Why does forgiving release us to be happy again?


“Why forgive, because ‘The angry heart eats its owner!’ Dante, in his epic poem The Inferno, wrote something I remind myself of often. It’s this:

“People who insist on living in the past create their own hell.” Is that true? Charles Dickens, in his novel Great Expectations, gave an iconic picture of resentment and

frozen anger.

Mrs. Havisham is dressed in her expensive wedding gown waiting to walk the aisle and marry the man of her dreams. But 10 minutes before the Wedding March, a message arrived that her man has run off with another woman.

Humiliated, betrayed…..bitter is too weak a word to describe her feelings. That day she stopped every clock in her house. Every clock was set permanently at 10

minutes till noon. She stayed stuck at that moment in her life when she was betrayed. She rehearsed it over and over and stayed stuck.

Many of us have done this. We are stuck in the past with the bad things done to us. I can only say this: You can’t forget what you will not forgive! And you can’t be healed of what you will not forget!

Isn’t that true? That’s why I fight myself to come to the place of forgiving. An angry heart eats its owner.

But here is the problem. Many of us grew up in a family that nursed grudges. A family that hugged anger and kept it alive for even years.

Maybe one of your parents refused to forgive their parents and taught you that was normal. You have memories of their rants against someone, a relative or a parent or someone at work, and so you grew up thinking this is normal.

Or maybe it was a brother or sister your parent held a grudge against, and maybe they buried the relationship as dead.

Or maybe you saw one parent punishing the other for doing things they did not like. It was normal in the family you grew up in.

And now you are 35 or 50 and all those years you’ve done what you saw modeled in your family. You’ve got the same attitudes as one of your parents. You don’t forgive. You punish because that attitude is a family chain.

You have never seen the benefits of forgiving.” • Underline the most important sentence and say why.

• An angry heart eats its owner. What does that mean? Is it true or no?

• What is a ‘family chain’. Describe what it is.

• Think a few minutes: What are your family chains? If you were honest, where are you just like mom or dad even though you know it is against God’s will. You know that, but you automatically do what your mom or dad would do in this situation instead of what Jesus would do. A family chain. So what are yours that need to be broken?


“One of the best-known episodes in Jesus’ life is when a woman was caught in the act of adultery and thrown half-naked at the feet of Jesus. The Pharisees formed a circle around Jesus and the woman. They had rocks in their hands. They fully intended to stone her to death for what they thought was an inexcusable sin against her husband and family. Inexcusable. Unforgiveable.

They asked Jesus what He thought. Jesus bent down and, with His finger, wrote in the dirt. The Bible does not tell us what He wrote in the dirt. But most scholars think Jesus wrote the

secret sins of those with rocks in their hands. The sins that they thought no one else knew. But Jesus knew.

Then Jesus said, “Let him who is without any sin throw the first stone.” And it was dead quiet. Then comes one of the most important verses in the Bible. It says: “They dropped their rocks and left.” (John 8:17)

It is hypocritical not to forgive when we need forgiveness!” • Summarize in a few sentences what is the point of this encounter between Jesus and the rock

people.

• Why is it hypocritical not to forgive? (Personal and private). Honestly, who are you struggling to forgive and why? Or maybe, you flat out refuse to forgive them. You don’t yell at them or throw rocks, but you keep a careful list of grievances and things that they have done wrong. Who is that in your life? Is it time to at least be WILLING to forgive and ask for Jesus’ power to shut down the merry-go-round of memories that play in your head. Blessed are the merciful. Is it time to be blessed? Will you at least begin to pray good things to come their way. Will you start to block angry thoughts and replace them with ‘By faith I forgive them. Help me Jesus.” 6. In a few sentences what is the best thing you have learned from this study? Pray for each other Memory: “Blessed are the merciful”. ( Matthew 5:7)

THE WORD GOD NEVER WANTED IN THE BIBLE John 3:13-21


November #4 1. Please read several times John 3:13-21. It is a familiar passage, so please read it several times for

new insights. The context is vital. A Pharisee, one who is highly honored for his spirituality, comes to Jesus at night. He wants to keep this meeting secret. Jesus is not popular with Nicodemus’ pals. He wants to ask Jesus a question: How do I get to heaven? Jesus turns his world upside down. How does Jesus say you get to heaven?

2. If believing in Jesus is how one goes to heaven, and if not everyone believes in Jesus, and if many

aggressively REJECT Jesus – for example, Satan – where does one go after death if not to heaven? And the devil? He does not spend eternity in heaven. Where does Satan go?

3. People say they don’t believe hell exists. But that is illogical, and at the very least denies freewill.

We have the terrible freedom to reject Jesus. Consider the following quote from the sermon: “There’s a word God never wanted in the Bible, and yet it is in the Bible a lot. What would

you guess that word is? This word is not found in the Old Testament. It is only in the New Testament. It is Jesus

who teaches us this word, which is surprising to most people. In fact, He talks about this word almost continuously in His ministry….even though people don’t want to hear about it. I wish this word was not in the Bible. God never wanted it in the Bible, so….what would you guess this word is?

The word is…Hell We need to be crystal clear on this: In the Book of Genesis when God creates the universe,

at the end of each day, God says “And it was very good.” In other words, hell was not part of God’s original creation. God never wanted hell to exist.

There is nothing more I wish I did not have to speak about than this word, but how can I not speak about it when Jesus talks about hell more than even heaven. A lot of people don’t know that. The fact is that people who deny hell exists have not read much of what Jesus teaches, have they?

And that is the first reason I know without a doubt that hell exists because Jesus teaches us Hell is real. Was Jesus bluffing?

Was Jesus wrong? The latest survey of church attending Christians found that 58% believe Jesus is wrong. They do not believe hell exists. They think Jesus is wrong. They believe in Jesus. They simply don’t believe what Jesus teaches.

But if Jesus is wrong about hell, what else is He wrong about? What else did He teach that we should not believe?

And if we do not believe what Jesus taught about hell, to whom else will we go for more reliable information? Our friends? A New York Times best-selling author? A pastor who says Jesus is wrong?

We cannot afford to get this wrong. Think with me on this: If Jesus is wrong about hell, then He is not God! Why do I say that? Because God is never wrong, so if Jesus is wrong about hell, then He is not God…..and Christianity collapses.”

• Underline the most important sentence and say why?

• In your own words sum up the point of this quote and how you might explain that God never wanted it to exist.

4. Please read the story Jesus told in Luke 16:19-31.

• Summarize in a few sentence this story. Who is about? What is the action?

• What point is Jesus making? It is NOT that he was rich and did nothing for the poor. No. It is a much bigger point. What?

5. Consider the following quote from the sermon:

“In Luke 16 Jesus tells a story about a rich man who ignored what happens after death. He enjoyed all the pleasures his money could buy. He lived as if he would never die…just like some of us live. He never thought about what happens when we die.

Jesus says the man ends up in Hell where he suffers, while Lazarus, a person who was a nobody, ends up in heaven. He asks if Lazarus can bring some water from heaven to him but Jesus says “Between us and you is a great chasm that has been fixed (cast in concrete), so that those who want to go from here (Hell) to there (Heaven) cannot.” (Luke 16:26)

The word “fixed” that Jesus uses literally means “set in cement”. There is no exit door. On earth the door to Heaven is wide open. At death the door closes.

Jesus teaches that the door is wide open now but one day the door will close. Jesus in this story clearly teaches there is no second chance once we die. There is an impassable gulf between heaven and hell. Jesus is emphasizing that making a decision for Him now on earth is crucial. Don’t delay. Don’t think it can wait. The door closes.

In John 3 verse 16 Jesus says “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish (Hell) but have eternal life (Heaven).” (John 3:16)

Jesus clearly and plainly says heaven is not the only place after death. There is another place you don’t want to be.

The famous words of Jesus in verse 16 compel us to ask questions like: If hell does not exist, then what did Jesus save us from on the cross? The very name Jesus means “God saves,” so what did He save us from if hell is not real?

Or this question: If everyone goes to heaven…..even if they deny Jesus is God, even if they deny they need forgiveness, even if they refuse to surrender their will to the Lord, even if they live in rebellion to Jesus’ teaching and act as if they are God who can invent their own morality, even if they say they do not need Jesus dying for their sins, isn’t that a sneaky way to say Jesus doesn’t matter, that Jesus is not God, that the cross is unnecessary? Isn’t that a sneaky way to deny Jesus is Savior and God?

The answer is ‘yes’. It uses the love of God to deny the work of Jesus saving us from hell. But isn’t insisting God is love and therefore hell must not exist - - isn’t that a sneaky way to

say Jesus dying on the Cross was unnecessary. Isn’t it using the love of God to deny we need a Savior?

Yes, that is exactly what is happening. Jesus is dumped into the category of the unimportant because if there is nothing to be saved from, we don’t need Jesus as Savior.

Each of us has to make up our own mind: is hell real or was Jesus wrong and unnecessary.” • Chasm? What does that mean? The word ‘fixed’ is a clue. What is Jesus teaching about 2nd

chances after death?

• Underline the sentence that had the most impact on you. Write a few sentences on why.

• What was my point when I spoke about ‘a sneaky way’? What is a sneaky way of denying Jesus is relevant or that we need the cross?

• Now summarize in a few sentences what you would say to a person who claims they don’t need Jesus, that they are a pretty good person, good enough to get into heaven!


“Now right about now some of us are thinking: ‘I don’t want to hear about hell. It’s such a negative idea. It’s such bad news and I don’t come to church to hear bad news.’

If you have been in worship the last year at Compass, you’ve heard message after message on hope and overcoming worry and fear and bitterness and other things. All good news messages. I’m a good news preacher.

But let me ask us: Would it be more loving and positive if Jesus never warned about hell. Would it be better if He didn’t tell us reality. Would it be more loving if I never talked about what Jesus talked about?

What if for 20 years your doc tells you “Wow, your health is perfect. Eat a little less ice cream but keep up the good work.” But this year you go for a physical and your doc says, “Uh oh, your wife is not your only problem. You’ve got another problem. Your test shows that you have cancer.”

What do you say: “Doc, I don’t come here for bad news. If you’re going to be negative, I’m gonna find another doc who’s more positive.” No. you want the truth about reality so you can make choices to live.

But remember what Jesus said: Whoever believes in Me shall not perish but have eternal life. Eternal life in heaven depends on what you believe about Jesus – was He wrong about hell, or is He the only door to heaven?

We really cannot afford to get this wrong!” • Summarize what you might say to a person who feels Hell is such a negative subject and they

don’t want to hear negativity. 7. Consider this:

“The statement of why Compass exists is 4 words: To save the unsaved. That’s the purpose of this church, and it’s because we believe what Jesus teaches about

hell. Did you know that less than 1% of churches in America have as the #1 priority to save

people by introducing them to Jesus as Savior. That is stunning to me. If Jesus is the only way

to heaven, because only He died for our sins on the cross, can someone explain to me why bringing people to Jesus is not the #1 priority of every church?

My question is this - - what difference does it make if we do all sorts of good things but not winning our friends and this city to Jesus? What difference does it make if we have the best Bible studies in the world, the best CR program, the best music in worship, but people all around us are not walking through the only door to heaven – Jesus?

When I was a pastor in Denver I had a small group Bible study of people who are still close friends today. In any event, we were studying a passage about hell and perishing, and a person in the Bible study, a terrific person, said “I don’t care if other people are going to heaven. My wife and I are going to heaven and that’s all I care about.”

I was stunned. How can we claim to be a loving person if we do not care whether people are in heaven with us or not? We can’t.

There are people all around you who are not saved. They have a nice car and house and a good family, and they may look like they don’t have any problems. But they have a very big problem when they die: They have ignored Jesus as unimportant, which means they are not going to be in heaven with you….unless you start sharing a few things about the difference Jesus has made in your life and invite them to worship where they can make up their own mind.

You may be the only person they know who actually knows Jesus and whose life has been changed by Him. God has always used ordinary Christians like us to save others.” • Underline the most important sentence and say why. And also how do you react to my friend

who really doesn’t care what happens to people in eternity. He and his family are going to heaven and that is all he cares about.

8. In 10 sentences write out the difference Jesus has made in your life. What has He done in your life?

Changed you? Solved problems? 9. That is your story of faith. Why not share that with unbelievers and invite them to Compass? Why

don’t we talk more about Jesus and the church that we love and has blessed us? Seriously, write out the best reasons to keep quiet about Jesus and Compass.

10. Seriously consider this logic:

“The second reason hell must exist is because of God’s gift of freewill. We are not robots or animals governed by instincts. God has given us the gift of freewill.

We can make choices. We are not programed like a robot. We can choose to love or not to love, to be faithful or unfaithful, to lie or tell the truth.

Love is a meaningless word if we do not have freedom to not love. A guy after a few dates tells a woman he wants to get married. “I love you”. But she says “No. I don’t want to marry you”. But he says, “You must marry me. I love you. You can’t refuse.” What does she say?………..

Jesus allows us to reject Him. He does not force us to love Him. He does not force us to be in heaven where He sits on the throne. You see, the existence of Hell is God’s greatest affirmation of our freedom to choose.

God does not force Himself upon us. He makes Himself rejectable. Do we realize the massive implication of that? If we remember nothing else today, I hope it

is this: To believe everyone goes to Heaven because God is love…is obviously wrong because it denies people the freedom to reject Jesus.

The door to heaven is wide open today for us, but no one will force you to walk through it. Just remember: One day the door will close. If you were to die this week, which side of the door would you be on?

Jesus says in verse 16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. That whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“Whoever” -- the door is wide open but it requires repentance to walk through it. I am not asking if you believe in Jesus. Satan believes in Jesus but he refuses to surrender his will to Jesus and stop being a rebel. He will not walk thru the door. Will you?

The door is wide open this morning. But there will come a day when it will close. There will come a day when it will close for your friends, people in your family, brothers and sisters. You never know when that day will come. Now is the time to make your choice about Jesus.” • Sum up in a few sentences the basic logic in that quote for the existence of hell. • Underline the most important sentence for you and say why. What is the implication for you? • So……can you make a list of 5 people you are not certain love Jesus and are saved and now you

want to pray for an opening to share the difference He has made in your life and invite them to Compass with you. Five people you want to be in heaven with you and pray for the opportunity to share your ‘story’ – not to argue with them but to simply tell your story! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

11. Summarize in a couple of sentences the impact of this study on you. What will you do about all this? Pray. Memory: “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.” (Luke 16:26)

“CAN YOU GUESS THE BIBLE’S MOST DANGEROUS WORD?” James 4:13-17


October #1

1. Read James 4:3-17 carefully several times.

• Summarize in a sentence what James warns us not to do.

• From this passage, what would you guess is the Bible’s most dangerous word and say why. 2. Consider this quote from the message:

Tomorrow is the most dangerous word because “tomorrow” may not come. James wrote in chapter 4, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into

such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:13-14)

These people are under the illusion that they are in control of their life, that if they eat right, are careful in what they do, tomorrow will come. They cannot imagine tomorrow not coming for them.

Today in America tomorrow will not come for on average 67,750 people. They will die for various reasons. They thought that they were in control of their life. They could not imagine tomorrow not coming…but it did not come.

You are only 30, and a careful driver and you expect many tomorrows to come…but a car runs a red light and 3 days later there is a funeral for you. Tomorrow did not come.

Like James says “You do not know what will happen tomorrow.” I read this last week that the leading cause of death in our homes is falling off a ladder.

More than 1,000 people a year die from falling off a ladder. Tomorrow did not come. James says: “You are a mist that appears a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)

The Psalms describe our life as morning dew on the grass that soon is gone, or a flower that is beautiful but it soon withers and dies.

Don’t put off till tomorrow what you need to do today. Maybe you need to confront someone and say “Stop it,” but you are afraid of their reaction, so you delay. Or maybe you need to apologize to someone but that’s hard for you to do and so you procrastinate. If there is a hill to climb, it will not be smaller tomorrow.

Procrastination keeps us stuck - - stuck in a relationship we know is a mistake but we keep putting off ending it and we waste more days of our life or even years in a relationship that is not good.

Or we stay stuck in a job we don’t like because we keep delaying hunting for another one. Procrastination keeps us stuck and our days pass by.

On the screen you see an hourglass with grains of sand slipping through it. That is our life. Our days are slipping by. Life slips by. It was just yesterday we were in high school and now we are 50. James says: Your life has no rewind button. • Underline the most important sentence in your opinion and say why.

• The Bible says our life is like a mist: We soon disappear from the earth. What might be one implication of that? Well, consider this quote:

Mozart, Beethoven and Bach were highly critical of musicians in their day for playing music too fast. They were hurrying the tempo. They needed to slow down so that the music could blossom.

The answer to the brevity of life is NOT TO SPEED UP BUT TO SLOW DOWN AND Carpe Diem.

Horace, the Latin poet, coined that phrase. You often hear it translated as “seize the day”……but that is a wrong translation and I’m so glad that it is wrong.

Let me explain. Last summer on my sabbatical at Oxford University in England the prof of the seminar I was taking put me on to a book about the life of Horace and the Latin roots of his famous saying.

It’s important to know that Horace was a lover of wine. That factors in to the meaning of his phrase. In fact most of his poetry was about the pleasures of wine, poems like A Song to Wine.

So it is no surprise that the word CARPE is a word describing how to harvest grapes. You do not SEIZE THE GRAPES on the vine. You don’t GRAB AND YANK. That would bruise them.

No. You curl your fingers around the grapes gently, you encircle the grapes with your hand. CARPE is actually a sensuous word describing feeling the grapes, not grapping them. DIEM means “day” in Latin, so Horace, as a wine lover meant by Carpe Diem - - Taste the Day. Sip the day like wine. Not gulp the day in a hurry.

“Taste” your children today. Be fully present to them. Enjoy them like sipping top shelf wine. Take time to listen. At night don’t hurry up their prayers or hurry up reading to them so you can do other things. Slow down and sip your children. Sip your marriage. Sip your friends. “Taste the day”.

Tomorrow is a dangerous word because your life has no rewind button. Sip today……. Taste it.......Carpe Diem.

This last week as I thought about our Scripture and the hourglass, I remembered when my family use to be a 4 potato family. We needed 4 baked potatoes for dinner.

Then our son Jon died and we became a 3 potato family. Then Jenny left for college and then eventually married and is now raising her family in Colorado. Now Susie and I are a 2 potato family.

And the sand continues to fall through the hourglass for us and there will come the day we both dread - - the day one of us will need only 1 potato for dinner because there has been a funeral.

Your life has no rewind button, so Carpe Diem. • What sentence stands out to you and say why. What is the implication for living?

• I said that Susie and I are a 2 potato family right now but one day we will be a 1 potato family, and there is no rewind button. Name at least 2 implications of that. For example, how about apologizing sometimes or cherishing each other rather than taking our marriage for granted? Tomorrow is a dangerous word because there is no guarantee it will come. So name at least 2 ways this should affect how we live TODAY.

• (PERSONAL AND PRIVATE SO BE HONEST). If tomorrow is a dangerous word, and there is no rewind button on today, what one thing does the Holy Spirit bring to mind that you need to do

and change today? Don’t rush this. Take some time to be quiet and let the Lord speak to you. He will….if you are still and wait.

3. What does Romans 14:12 say never put off till tomorrow? Why?

• How about 2 Corinthians 5:9-10? What does it imply is a very big mistake? 4. Consider this quote:

Jesus was famous for asking probing questions like “Why do you call Me Lord but do not do as I say?” To another person He asked “Do you want to be healed?”

Jesus never assumed that a person wanted to be healed or helped. Legions of people do not really want to change. They have sick attitudes or behaviors and really don’t want Jesus to heal them because there are payoffs for those attitudes.

A person has a temper and they use it to intimate and control others. A person is self- centered - - it’s me me me. Well they may not want Jesus to heal that. They like having their way. But behavior we repeat is the kind of person we eventually become.

Over and over in different ways Jesus called us to repentance before it is too late. People don’t much use that word anymore but it’s a beautiful word in the Bible because

repentance means imagining yourself getting better as a person. Improving. Because what we do not fix we repeat.

When Jesus called us to repentance He was asking - - Can you imagine yourself becoming better? Better attitudes. Better behavior.

Repentance is a beautiful word because old ways of behaving will not open new doors. Old ways produce the same old problems. • What does it say is the definition of repentance?

• Do you agree or not, and say why?

• Do you have much imagination about how you could be a better person? Stop and spend some time imagining just one area you could become a better person. Describe what that would mean and the benefit to you and those you love if you started imagining you a better person.

5. Consider carefully this quote:

Last week I referred to Jim Collin’s book Good To Great. It is about why some companies in America are good but never become great. He says it is because they decide being a good company is good enough. And marriages and people don’t improve, they don’t go to the next level, because they decided good is good enough. They settle for being good. Collins writes “Good is the enemy of great.”

Do you think your marriage is good enough? If you do, you will never have a great marriage. Do you think you are a good enough person? Then you’ll never conquer behaviors and attitudes that are still sin in God’s eyes.

Stagnation. Plateauing. People and companies get stuck when they think they are good enough.

If you can’t imagine becoming better, then it won’t happen. There is only one problem with lack of imagination - - Nothing improves.

That’s why so many marriages repeat the same pain over and over. It is why relationships don’t improve. Someone is unwilling to imagine that they can change. They are unwilling to repent.

It is why many Christians do not experience the joy of the Holy Spirit - - un-Jesus like attitudes they refuse to repent of are blocking the Holy Spirit’s joy. Tomorrow may be too late.

I know what some of you are thinking. You are thinking that you always apologize. Isn’t that enough?

No. The answer is no. You may be married to what I call a professional apologizer. They think an apology is enough. No change is required. Just keep apologizing for the same bad behavior or attitude.

I was thinking as I wrote this message that……the best apology is changed behavior! • What do you think it means “Good is the enemy of great”? Explain that in your own words and

maybe an example.

• What do you think about what I said that more is needed than an apology. The best behavior is changed behavior! Is that true? Some people are professional apologizers; they apologize but do not change and then do the same thing again thinking “you have to forgive me and accept my apology.”

Ever known a professional apologizer? What’s the problem with it? 6. What is the takeaway point of this quote?

There is something else in this Scripture that a preacher may be tempted to ignore because it challenges spiritually lazy Christians.

James is writing to Christians whose life is all about them and their families. It’s people who have lots of plans for me me me. But when James says our life is short and uncertain, the next event he implies of course is standing before Jesus in eternity and our life being judged.

Many Christians think that because they have been saved by grace it means that how they live and what they do no longer matters, that there is no judgment of their behavior in eternity, they’ve been saved by grace so how they behave on earth does not matter.

It is a convenient belief, isn’t it? But it is a lie straight from the devil. Jesus says the Christian life is following in His footsteps. It is becoming more and more like

Him. And that is not just becoming more forgiving. It is serving the agendas of God the Father like He did. Jesus said “I have come not to be served but to serve.”

So He healed people and ultimately died on the cross. The cross is Jesus serving us. And above all, it is serving God the Father’s biggest agenda which is to save us.

And so following in Jesus’ footsteps includes serving God. Serving is the normal Christian life. Jesus in the parable of talents said clearly we will be judged by the use of the talents God has given to us.

And remember His story about the successful person who built bigger and bigger barns and retired. That successful person said “Take life easy. Eat drink and be merry.” But the Lord said “You fool” and that night he died. (Luke 12:20)

He retired. But it was all about his pleasures. Me me me. But that night he died and he faced judgment of his life. What was stored up for him in heaven from his life on earth? Zero. Nothing.

That’s why Jesus talked about hearing in heaven Him saying to us “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Servant…there it is again. We are meant to serve Christ. So James in this passage is asking……are you serving Him? Or are you like the Barn Man living for himself?

Repentance. At the Lord’s Supper that includes moral repentance from moral sin and un-Jesus like attitudes, but it also may include for some of us repentance of not serving Jesus, of only serving ourself and our family. • The takeaway point in your own words?

• Volunteering has become rarer in churches. Jesus defines following Him as serving His ministries, ministries in the name of Jesus. But the stats across America say that 20% of us do 80% of the work of the church. Most Christians are consumers. What can you do for me when Jesus is asking what will you do for ME.

Give 2 really common excuses people have for not serving. Now for each of those what would you imagine Jesus would say? Pray for each other Memory: “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)

“THE WORD IN THE BIBLE NO OTHER RELIGION HAS” Matthew 6:9-13


October #2

1. What word in the Bible would you guess no other religion has!!? Take a guess.

2. For a hint, read carefully what Jesus says to pray in Mathew 6:9-13. What word does He use that no other religion uses?

The word is Father. The Koran has 99 names for God but father is not 1 of them. It would be inconceivable to

Islam to call Allah father. Why? Because Allah is remote. Allah is distant and unemotional. There is virtually no warmth, no compassion, no tenderness in Allah in the Koran.

The same with Buddhism and Hinduism. It is a radical prayer. In fact on my sabbatical at Hebrew University one summer I took a

seminar on Judaism from an Orthodox rabbi, and he said that The Lord’s Prayer is heresy. He said that to call God “our father:” is disrespectful and blasphemous. He said that no

one in the history of Israel ever called God their father. Abraham was called their father, the father of all Jews, but never was God called father. He said with some emotion that the Lord’s Prayer offended him because of that


If we believe that God is our Father in heaven, it makes a huge difference because it means God is on your side.

You can count on that....because the word Jesus uses for father is an Aramaic word .....ABBA....and it means daddy. Abba = daddy

It is the diminutive form of the word for father. This is the word a child would use. It is full of love and trust. It means “daddy or papa”.

Teagan is 5 and Juliette is 2, and when they were visiting a couple of weeks ago I loved hearing them call their father “daddy”. They packed that word to the brim with love and affection and utter trust in him.

“Daddy”…it is such a sweet word coming from a child’s lips….“Daddy”……and that’s what Jesus teaches us in The Lord’s Prayer that God is.

So with the very first words of the prayer Jesus teaches that we are God’s children and we have His full attention when we pray.

Our daddy in heaven”......that’s literally how Jesus opens The Lord’s Prayer. And when I pray that, it stabilizes me in knee-knocking situations. It gives me hope.

Courage. Confidence…because I know I am not alone. My Father is with me in every situation I face.

Surely someone here feels alone. Someone here is facing a scary situation. Maybe it’s health problems, or finances or your marriage, or maybe it’s your business that is sliding downhill. Will your business make it or fold? Will your marriage ever improve, ever recover from what happened and what was said?

Surely someone here is afraid of what the future will bring and you shake just a little as you imagine would could happen? Pray The Lord’s Prayer. “Our Daddy who is in heaven…”

I saw a bumper sticker that said “If you don’t believe heroes exist, you haven't meet my dad!”

I love that! Children think their daddy can do anything. Jesus is saying you actually have a Father in heaven who can do anything! That means there is always hope. Nothing is impossible for our heavenly Father.

And Jesus says that our heavenly Father has put Himself under the influence of His children’s prayers. Our prayers affect what our heavenly Father does. That means there is always hope because our heavenly Father can do the impossible.

I saw a cartoon last week in which a balding man in his 50’s was kneeling beside his bed. In the cartoon he began his prayer this way: “You probably don’t remember me.”

Few people who believe in Jesus actually pray very much. They believe in prayer but they don’t actually spend much time in prayer. Don’t you think that is ironic?

Neglecting to pray is a form of self-abuse. We are depriving ourselves of His strength, His confidence, His patience, His self-control .

If we want what Jesus had we must pray like Jesus did. • Underline the most important sentence and say why.

• Why is prayer such a struggle for most of us? Oh, we might shoot a few up as we drive, but spending time on our knees, well that is another matter. Why?

4. Summarize what each of these Scriptures say to us:

• James 4:2

• John 15:7. (we must abide in Him. What does that mean?) 5. The following verses explain WHY prayers are not answered yes. Please do your best to summarize

each reason according to the verse. a. James 4:3

b. Psalm 66:18

c. Matthew 5:23-4

6. This quote applies to both men and women.

Albert Einstein said, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it’s the only thing….”

We cannot expect children to behave in ways we are not willing to behave. It is unavoidable: Fathers are either an example or an excuse.

I love this picture of a cowboy and his son. Do you see the caption? “People who don’t

believe in heroes haven’t met my dad.”

His boy wants to be just like him. He wants dress like dad and be like dad in every way because his daddy is his hero.

This is the power of a dad’s example. It’s a serious responsibility. I was thinking last week: Any man can be a father but a dad is someone who works at

wearing shoes that someday he wants his children to fill. You see it on the screen. You see daddy’s shoes with 2 little feet inside his shoe. His son is

hoping to fill his daddy’s shoes someday. And in the picture to the side you see his son saying he wants to be just like dad.

I read about an 8 year old this last week who wondered why he had to go to Sunday School every week when his dad did not go to church. Finally Arthur asked, “Dad, did you go to Sunday School every week when you were a boy?” His dad, “Yes I did. Every Sunday I was in Sunday School.”…Arthur was silent and then he said “Well I bet it won’t do me any good either.”

I read about 4 pastors who were talking one day about different translations of the Bible. One said he liked the King James best because of the beauty of the language. Another said he liked the Revised Standard version because it was closest to the Greek. Another said he liked the New International version because it’s in contemporary language. The 4th pastor thought a moment and then he said, “Of all the translations of the Bible there are, I think I like my father’s best.”

The other pastors asked, “You mean your father translated the Bible?” The pastor said “Oh yes. Every day he translated the Bible for me in his life of forgiveness,

sacrificing for others, of giving back instead of always taking, of his humility instead of a big ego. He translated the Bible everyday as I watched how he lived. It’s because of his translation of the Bible that I became a Christian.”

It’s been said “A man never really knows himself until he reappears in his children.” I was thinking last week how so much in the news about Hollywood stars and athletes is

about their crude tongue and crude lives. They are the heroes of so many children. One of the best things I read last week was this: The hardest job kids face today is learning

good manners and behavior without seeing any. • What do you think is the most important sentence and why?

• Now honestly: That quote challenges us to imagine ourselves improving. Of taking aim at this or that attitude, and changing. Very few people are trying to change an attitude or behavior. Most think “I’m good enough. I’m as good as most people.” So explain to us why many people never do any self-examination and start to aim at improvement.

(Personal and private). How about you? What are you aiming at improving? Or maybe the question is: What should you be improving? The fact is we won’t improve if we are not aiming at something.

“THE BIBLE’S WORD HAPPY PEOPLE TAKE SERIOUSLY” Matthew 7:13-14


October #3 1. You are never going to guess this word. It is a slider, a curve ball in the Bible. What would you

guess is the word in the Bible happy people take seriously? 2. Read Matthew 7:13-14 carefully for a hint. Summarizes what Jesus is saying to us. 3. Consider the following quote. It is packed with spirituality, so read it slowly and thoughtfully.

In our Scripture reading Jesus explained that happiness is the choice between 2 roads - - the wide road and the narrow road. He says in Matthew 7 verse 13 “Wide is the road that leads to destruction and many are on it. But narrow is the road that leads to abundant life (happiness).”

The Bible’s word for the wide road that leads to destruction and sorrow and ruin is “sin”. You don’t hear that word much anymore, even in churches. And yet it is a crucial word

that means our behavior or attitudes have us on the wrong road, the wide road that leads to destruction.

Happy people take “sin” very seriously because sin spoils and destroys. Meg Greenfield, the nationally syndicated columnist, wrote an article in Newsweek

magazine called Why Is Nothing Wrong Any More? In it she wondered why it is so hard for modern people to admit “what I did was wrong.” She wondered why we are so resistant to calling something sin in our life.

This may surprise us but deeply happy people are grateful for the word SIN because it is like a label that warns us that what is in the bottle is poison. It is God identifying a behavior or attitude as deadly, as destructive.

We need God labeling things as poisonous sin because Satan is so good at deceiving us, and usually there is short-term pleasure in sin, but not lasting happiness. Soon sin starts to corrode our heart and poison things in our life.

The Duke of Wellington famously advised: “Never confess; never apologize.” That is some of the worst advice ever given! Unless we admit that what we are doing is

wrong....we will keep doing it. No one changes what they will not admit is wrong. Refusing to repent keeps us on the wrong road.

Carl Jung, the great psychiatrist, got it right when he said “The chief obstacle to people’s happiness is themselves.” He meant that the refusal to admit what we are doing is wrong, that our attitudes are wrong, condemns us to re-runs of unhappy experiences because if we don’t improve, nothing improves.

The refusal to admit sin in our life condemns us to re-runs. Bruce Larson asks a penetrating question: Is it becoming easier to say “I was wrong”? Do you do much admitting or apologizing? This last week did you admit you were wrong in

how you behaved and apologized? Or were you perfect this last week and had no attitudes of behavior that were wrong in God’s eyes.

A happy marriage is between 2 people who are good at saying, “I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

• What is the most important sentence in your opinion and say why.

• What is the most challenging sentence, or unnatural sentence, for you and say why? Is it because of the family you grew up in? Or the fact that you are a new Christian and never heard these things before? Explain why it is a challenging sentence, and then HOW YOU PLAN TO JUST DO IT EVEN IF IT IS NOT EASY.

• On a scale of 1-10 how often do you say “I was wrong”? Why is that so hard for most human beings?

4. Consider the following quote.

Christian philosopher Cornelius Plantinga has written a powerful book entitled Not The Way It’s Supposed To Be. He says sin is a form of self-abuse.

I’ll bet not many of us think of sin that way. Most of us think of sin as breaking a law or a commandment. But listen to what he writes: “Sin is a form of self-abuse because it corrodes our personality. Our best self fades. Lying for example disqualifies us from friendship or a happy marriage. Our best self fades when we lie.”

Greed produces endless discontent and unhappiness. Being judgmental and critical of others produces a form of loneliness.

Our circle of friends becomes smaller and smaller because you can’t be a friend to someone you are judgmental of. Refusing to forgive condemns us to reliving our anger over and over. Re-runs. Sin makes us smaller and smaller. After all, a person who gossips about others is not a big person. And a person who is bitter is making themselves smaller and smaller every time they rehearse their anger.

That’s why the surprise of confession and repentance is the happiness it produces. Ask a person who is consumed with envy what it would be like if they woke up one day and

all their envy was gone. Or ask a person who is bitter what it would be like if one day they were not bitter anymore. Or a person who is negative what it would be like if one day they began to see the good in people and started counting their blessings instead of their complaints.

What would it be like? It would be an utter relief. An absolute utter relief. Repentance. It’s the choice to stop being THE OBSTACLE to our own happiness.

• In a couple of sentences say what you think he means that sin is a form of self-abuse. Give at least one example of a sin that is a form of self-abuse.

• Why does this quote say admitting we were wrong in what we did and repenting of it…..is actually a happiness skill. Explain that. Is that true?

• (Personal and private). Recently in your life what have you struggled to admit you were wrong. Maybe you still have not admitted it. Maybe it is at work, or in your marriage.

Or maybe it is with a child; you know your behavior was wrong but you have not admitted it to them. Spend a little time imagining what difference it would make if you had the courage and the humility to say “I was wrong. Please forgive me.”


The founder of Celestial Seasonings was asked why he put messages on his boxes of tea. He said “Well, I believe that one day I’ll stand before God and He will judge my life and I can imagine God pulling out the record book and asking me ‘Moe, what did you do with your life?’ What do I say to that? Am I going to say ‘Well I sold a lot of tea?’ God will say ‘But what did you do that made an eternal difference?’ And will I say ‘I cornered the tea market and made a ton of money?’ God will say ‘That’s good, but what did you do of eternal value with your life?’

I don’t want to say I did nothing for You of eternal value. I made money in business, enjoyed life, but lived mostly for myself and did nothing that matters in heaven. I don’t want to have to admit that.”

If our sins are forgiven and we are saved by grace, why then do we have to give an account of our life? First because God is just. He rewards those who lived for Him and served Him, but not those who lived for only themselves. And secondly, so that we will come to full repentance and all our sin CURED.

St Augustine wrote “My sin is incurable as long as I refuse to admit it is sin.” When we stand before the Judgement Seat of Jesus and look into His eyes and realize

nothing is hidden from Him, there are no secrets, we will admit sin we never before have been willing to admit is sin. There will be full repentance, and that means we are cleansed, sanctified, de-sinner.

If we have a secret life on our computer, it will be exposed. The things we have said behind closed doors will be known. Our checkbooks will be opened and we’ll have to give an account of our giving or lack of giving and how we spend our money.

Revelation 20 says every day of our life has been recorded. We’ll have to give an account of everything we have done except what we have confessed on earth.

Whatever we confess today at communion will be erased from the books. We are forgiven and it is erased. Only what we have refused to admit is sin like gossip, and dishonesty or creating division or whatever, it will still be on the books.

Why? Before we enter heaven why do we have to give an account of our life? The real question is this: What is Christianity supposed to do to a person?

The answer is to de-sin us and restore His image in us. It is to heal us as a human being of all the destructive attitudes and behavior we have developed.

And the reason is there can be no sin in heaven because then it would be a re-run of life on earth. In heaven there are no more tears and there’s no more pain. It is a place of uninterrupted joy because at the Bema Seat of Jesus we repented of every sin and were transformed. • What do you think of the Celestial Seasoning quote? Will we be judged not only morally, but

also did we do anything of eternal value?

• What does he mean by doing ‘something of eternal value’?

• What is the point of the St. Augustine quote? Does that help explain why some Christians are not improving? How so?

Pray.

“You’ll Never Guess God’s Favorite Word!” Mark 10:46-52


September #2 This is the beginning of the series The Bible’s Greatest Words. I hope you are being blessed by it because when you know these words it elevates your life! 1. Read carefully the Scripture for this message. Mark 10:46-52. The absolute best thing in studying a

passage is to read it out loud slowly. The helps comprehension. Try it! • Summarize in a sentence the point of it. In other words, why do you think God has this in the

Bible? • Who is Bartimaeus? What do you notice about him besides being blind?


I’m speaking today about God’s favorite word in the Bible. What would you guess it is? It is the word God spoke before Noah’s flood. It is the word that Jesus said to Levi that

turned him from being a cheating tax collector into a Christian and author of the first biography of Jesus in the Bible. This was the word Jesus said to little children. It was Jesus’ favorite word to say to people who needed help and He is still saying it to us today.

This word is written over the gate of heaven. It is God’s favorite word. What is that word? It is the word…“Come”.

It is an invitation from Jesus that is greater than any other invitation in the world because it offers to fix what we think is impossible to fix. “Come”. It is the greatest invitation in the world. What do you do when the life you planned is not happening? Maybe you are successful in business, but your marriage is NOT what you dreamed it would be. Or…you have not achieved what you thought you would by now. Or maybe it’s your health. Or maybe it’s your position in life. You have not reached the level you once dreamed you would reach. Life is what happens when we had other plans.

I don’t know what it is, but who or what in your life do you need fixed? That is why I love this Scripture about blind Bartimaeus. His life is NOT what he dreamed

it would be. He is blind. He never wanted that. Blindness was very common in the Middle East in Jesus’ time. It most often was not congenital but spread by flies and aggravated by the desert sun and sand. Lots of people became blind because of the flies.

So here is this blindman sitting at the gate of Jericho begging for coins. Many other blind beggars were sitting around him.

There’s a huge crowd with him. Hundreds and hundreds of Jews are on their way to the Passover which can only be celebrated at the Temple in Jerusalem. After 3 years of doing many miracles, Jesus is like a rock star. He is famous. Everyone knows about Him and you either love Him or hate Him.

Bartimaeus – like everyone else -- has heard about Jesus’ miracles. In fact just a couple of weeks earlier Jesus had healed another blindman. And Bartimaeus thinks. “If Jesus healed him, then why not me?” And he starts yelling “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Bartimaeus is a nobody. He is a poor beggar.

I wonder does anyone here this morning feel like Bartimaeus? You think God is too busy to pay attention to the problems of someone so unimportant as you. You think no one else listens to your problems, so why should Jesus?

That is why this episode is soooo thrilling. When Jesus heard Bartimaeus’ call for help, the Bible says: “Jesus stopped there in the road.” (Mark 10:49) Jesus stood still! The parade halted. Jesus paid attention to a person no one else paid attention to. Then Jesus said His favorite word - - “Come”. Jesus turns to His disciples and says “Tell him to come to Me.” (Mark 10:49; The Living Bible) • Underline the most important or thrilling sentence for you and say why? • Who is Bartimaeus in the eyes of the world? What is his standing? • Who is he to Jesus? Jesus says “Come” to a guy no one would say ‘come’; everyone is saying

‘go away’. But not Jesus. He says ‘Come’. So, what is the application to your life?

• (Private so be honest and thoughtful) What or who in your life needs you to come to Jesus? How exactly can you come to Jesus about whatever it is?

3. Consider the following from the sermon: Blind Bartimaeus stood up and threw away his cloak. Why does Mark include that little

detail? In San Francisco beggars will throw their coat on the sidewalk to catch coins of people

passing by. Bartimaeus used his cloak in the same way. So when he threw it away it was because he was so sure Jesus would heal him and he wouldn’t be a beggar anymore. Such confidence that Jesus could fix his problem.

And then Mark says Bartimaeus went to Jesus. No one leads him. With arms outstretched, stumbling and tripping along, Bartimaeus, guided only by Jesus’ voice because he cannot see Him, staggers to Jesus. Get the picture! There are other beggars sitting with Bartimaeus at Jericho’s gate. They hear him call out to Jesus but none of them says “Wait, I’m going to Jesus with you.”

That is just stunning. They all know about the many people Jesus has healed. They have heard the same things as Bartimaeus, but they stay seated. They do not go to Jesus with Bartimaeus.

The same thing happens today, doesn’t it? We hear testimonies of how people are being healed and set free in Celebrate Recovery and Grief Share and others finding healing of the heart in Divorce Care after a breakup, but there are lots of Christians who somehow don’t think Jesus can do the same for them. They do not come to Jesus.

Others do and Jesus does amazing things for them but legions of people with problems stay seated. And of course, things are not fixed in their life. Their problems become their destiny because they stay seated.

Do you wonder why Jesus did not go to Bartimaeus? Why did Jesus say for Bartimaeus to come to Him? Why ask a blind man to come to you? He cannot see. So why didn’t Jesus go to him?

Because Jesus wanted to see how badly Bartimaeus wanted his problem fixed!

If we want Jesus to work in our life we cannot stay seated. We cannot do nothing. Jesus always asks us to cooperate with His miracles. He always asks us to start saying no to old attitudes and habits. If we aren’t willing to start saying no to things we have always done, Jesus cannot do a miracle. We can’t stay seated with the other blind beggars at the gate. • In your own words what does that quote teach us about Jesus doing miracles in our life? • Notice: There are lots of beggars around Bartimaeus. They all know about Jesus healing other

people. They all hear Bart call out to Jesus. They hear Jesus say “Come”. But they don’t jump up and start calling out “Me too Jesus”. They sit motionless, quiet, no plea to Jesus. They think, “Jesus does miracles in other people’s lives but not mine” or they are just plain lazy spiritually. So, what does this teach us about why many believe in Jesus but don’t have problems solved?

• So why does Jesus call a blind guy to get up and come to Him instead of going to

Bartimaeus? Imagine a blind guy stumbling along, arms outstretched. What does this tell us about him? (BTW, sometimes something being fixed in our life DEPENDS on how BADLY we want it fixed.)

4. Consider this from the sermon: Our life will only improve when we become more committed to our dreams than to our

comfort zone. I sometimes hear people say, “I’m not comfortable doing this or that.” It breaks my heart

because the life you want is always outside and beyond your comfort zone. Being blind wasn’t great but then it wasn’t so bad. You could sit all day. You didn’t have to work. Others fed you. It actually was a comfortable zone to be in.

The problem was not the lack of information about Jesus. The problem was motivation. It always is. The hardest bad habits to break are those you enjoy!

That explains a lot about why some businesses don’t solve problems and some marriages don’t improve. We will not conquer an attitude or habit we enjoy, even if it is causing heartache.

“Come”. It is Jesus’ favorite word. A chapter earlier He said to His disciples - - “Let the little children come to Me.” Children in the ancient world were considered insignificant just like Bartimaeus. But Jesus says “Let them come to Me.”

Jesus says in Matthew 11, verse 28, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”. What a fantastic invitation! Aren’t some of you carrying heavy burdens? Heavy worries about something or someone? Isn’t there someone here who is weary of what you have to endure in a relationship? Isn’t there someone at work who drains you, or maybe it is a parent who exhausts you emotionally?

Doesn’t anyone’s name come to mind? Come to Jesus all those who are weary and heavily burdened. Why do so many people stay seated? I don’t know. The greatest invitation in the world and so many do not open it....and their problems become their destiny. • Underline the most important sentence and say why. • What do you think about the line that our life will only change when we become more

committed to our dreams than our comfort zone? What does that mean?

• Can you think of a person you know who got out of their comfort zone and made a dream come

true? (Private, so be honest) How does that apply to you? What are your deep dreams? Do you need to do something uncomfortable, uncommon, unusual for you to get out of your comfort zone and go for it? Your answer could open doors for you…… 5. Bartimaeus teaches us something else that is HUGE. Consider the following:

Bartimaeus teaches us that things do not improve if you DO NOT have imagination! Bartimaeus was stone cold blind. No doctor could fix him. His friends could not fix him. He

could not fix himself. You could write across blind Bartimaeus the word “Impossible” and you’d have it right. All the blind people at the gate of Jericho thought blindness was an unfixable, impossible problem – except Bartimaeus--- because he knew the track record of Jesus. Bartimaeus refused to accept his problem as his destiny.

Bartimaeus could imagine himself not being blind, as being able to see color, and the blue sky and the faces of people. All solutions begin with imagination. If you cannot imagine it, you won’t come to Jesus and ask Him to do it. Without imagination you will not pray about it because no one prays for what they cannot imagine. If you can’t imagine it, you won’t try, you won’t work at it. You will accept your problem as your fate. You see. FAITH is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if you don’t open it to God’s possibilities.

The great Russian novelist and Christian, Dostoevsky said “A Christian who cannot imagine God doing the impossible, is not a realist.” I would say it this way. “If you believe in Jesus and His resurrection from the dead, then you can never be too sure what cannot happen.”

Surely some of you are discouraged and about to give up on something or someone. You need to read Ephesians 3 verse 20 every morning: “Now to Jesus who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or can imagine…”

The Bible is simply saying start living out of your Jesus inspired imagination. Nothing is impossible for Him. So start praying with imagination and living with imagination. Live out of your imagination, not your past history! • What do you think? Underline the most important or the most challenging sentence and say why. • Who is a realist according to that quote? Is that true? Are you a realist? • Living by Scripture infused, Resurrection marinated, God-colored imagination is what faith is

and praying by faith. It takes practice. But honestly, on a scale of 1-10 where are you in terms of living by godly imagination?

• If you could trust your group, what would you share that you want to increase your imagination

that God could do in your life? Think about this awhile. Don’t skim. Stop and meditate. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you imagine what God could do. Be still and see what God says to you. I

guarantee that if you will do this and wait awhile, you will hear God say, “Come to Me, I can do this in your life.” What is that?

6. Now comes what in my opinion is be most important part of the sermon. It’s a challenge.

One of the best books I’ve read in the last 10 years is by the business guru Jim Collins. It’s called Good To Great. In it he asks what is the difference between good companies and great companies? So, he did a study of some of America’s best companies.

He said he discovered that the reason some are not great is not the lack of talent or a business plan. The reason is “Good enough is the enemy of great.” Let me read the opening sentences of his book, “Good is the enemy of the great. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it’s just so easy to settle for a good life ”

“Do you think you have a good enough marriage? That will stop you from having a great marriage. Start using your imagination. Isn’t there something that could be even better? If you can’t imagine it, it will never happen and you will never have a great marriage.

Do you think you are a good enough Christian? Then you’ll never be a great Christian. Do you think you are a good enough person? Then you will never be a better person. Why? Because good enough is the enemy of great. • “Good enough is the enemy of the great.” Argue for or against that. Is it? Then why? If it isn’t,

then why not.

• What happens when you decide you are a good enough person, when you decide your marriage is good enough, when you decide you are a good enough golfer? Unpack that. What happens?

• I believe that thinking of “good enough” is the biggest reason people settle for “what is”, they

stop moving forward, and when we stop moving forward, we don’t stand still: We start slipping backward.

Good enough is poison thinking. For me, I want to be the best I can be….and I can always be a little better as a friend, a husband, a parent, a pastor. And I use my IMAGINATION to have a breakthrough on what that could look like. Honestly, about what would you like to be a little better? Imagine it; pray it. Begin. What is that for you?

Pray for each other. Memory: “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asking us in Mark 10:51

“The Word That Affects What God Does!” Matthew 7:7-11


September #3

Do you remember what word that is in the Bible? Tremendous promises travel with this word. What is it? 1. Please read Matthew 7:7-11 several times, at least once out loud. You will be amazed at how that

helps comprehension. • What does Jesus promise if we pray earnestly (the verbs here carry a sense of intensity, of

passion. These are not ‘arrow prayers’ that we shoot off in a few seconds but on the knees intensely pleading.)

• Jesus compares earthly fathers who love their children to our Heavenly Father who loves His children. What is the point of the comparison and how does than encourage you to pray?

2. Please write out James 4:2.

• How does that motivate us to spend time in prayer? 3. Consider the following from the message:

“You do not have because you do not ask God.” (James 4:2) Could the Bible be any clearer? There are things that do not happen because we do not

bother to pray. The Bible says “Prayer moves the hands of God.” Still there are many who are fatalistic. They have no confidence that prayer really matters.

But I’ll tell you in 3 words why I know prayer can change what happens. I’ll tell you in 3 words why I know beyond a doubt that prayer influences what God does.

3 words.…Because Jesus prayed. If it was a waste of time, Jesus would not have prayed. Why did Jesus go off alone so often

to pray? Why did He spend entire nights praying? Because He knew that prayer moves the hands of God.

The Bible says God has put Himself under the influence of prayer. Not under the control of our prayers but under the influence of our prayers…. Prayer is the most powerful word in the Bible.

There are examples of this in the Bible. In Isaiah 38 God told Hezekiah to get his affairs in order because he was about to die. Hezekiah though prayed that God would give him more years to live.

Does God say “No, I never change my mind. I’m going to do what I’m going to do regardless of what you pray?” Look at verse 6 of Isaiah 38. God says “I’ve heard your prayers. I will add 15 years to your life.”

Prayer did that. That would not have happened if Hezekiah had not prayed.

In Exodus 32 God’s people start worshipping the golden calf even though God has led them out of slavery and saved them. That’s the thanks God gets. In His anger God says to Moses that He will destroy them and start over with new, faithful people.

But Moses prays for God to be merciful. So what happens? Verse 14 says this: “So the Lord changed His mind and spared them.”

Prayer did that. That would not have happened if they had not prayed. Prayer is the most powerful word in the Bible because it can change what happens as we appeal to God’s character. And by that I mean to His mercifulness, to His omnipotence, to His wisdom and patience.

One of my favorite lines from C. S. Lewis is this: “Reality is what is…plus what could be if we prayed.” • Please underline the most important or challenging sentence and say why. • Surveys show that the average pastor prays less than 2 minutes a day if public prayers are

excluded. The average Christian devotes even less time. And of course the reason we give is that we are so BUSY. Too busy to pray. I understand completely. It is a struggle for me to pray: Overscheduled, too many people to see, an avalanche of emails, got to eat, exercise, wife needs time, and then…oh yes, I have work to do. So it is a fight every day with Satan who provides powerful excuses not to pray.

So, what are the top 2 excuses people (even you maybe) use for not praying much with intensity and focus on our knees?

• What is your best answer to “I’m too busy”. Honestly, what could we say to ourselves? • On a scale of 1-10 how much do you pray? And what might you actually do to elevate the score? • Do you pray mostly for yourself and family? Do you pray for your church, the staff, for people to

be saved? If not, why not?

• Do you pray for revival in America and the problems our country faces? Maybe once a week would be good. Christians should be praying for their church and country: if not, why would we expect good things to happen? (We do not have because we do not ask.)

4. A suggestion: If I do not organize this, plan it, it does not happen. So I have a small tablet that I

record who and what I am praying for and what day of the week. I cannot pray for everything and everyone every day, so I plan it. There are some I pray for every day. Susie, children, my work and behavior, vision at Compass, some very sick people who need answers, and I pray for Jesus to lead me as I prepare that week’s sermon. I pray for our country 2 days a week plus these people. I divide up the staff and pray for them on 3 days. And so on.

And I keep a brief record of what happens. This goes all the way back to my son’s mental illness. This is called a SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE. We need such disciplines to overcome our old self and the tendency to be lazy spiritually. At least, that is my experience. Maybe this will help you to pray with passion and move the ‘hands of God’ in your life!

• Please discuss this suggestion. And if you do other things that help you, share. 5. Consider the following quote:

Prayer can change us as we pray. A 6th grader took a geography test and then went home and prayed: “Dear Jesus. I know I

did not study for the test, but would you take mercy on me and make Detroit the capital of Arizona?”

Sometimes God does not say yes to a prayer in order that we might do the hard work of changing and trying to use prayer to avoid consequences of our choices.

Did you know the Bible says “We are God’s workmanship”. The word translated “workmanship” is “poiema” from which we get the word “poem”.

In other words you and I are literally “God’s art project”. He wants to chip away any ugly attitudes or behavior......and turn us into a beautiful person.

And who is God’s model that He is turning us into an imitation of? Jesus. God uses unanswered prayer to try to reshape us into the likeness of Jesus.

So if you notice, Jesus says forgive. How? As He has forgiven us. And He says love. How? Love one another as I have you. Jesus is the example of, the model for, beautiful behavior and attitudes.

So maybe someone prays for money to pay their rent. And maybe there is no surprise check.....and maybe the reason is God wants to talk about our credit cards and our car payment and the debt we have gotten ourself into.

Or someone prays for their husband to change. And maybe he doesn’t because not even God can force a man to repent and change. But maybe God wants to whisper to you a change in attitude or behavior that is actually blocking your husband’s responsiveness to you and to Jesus. • Underline the most important or challenging sentence and say why. • Discuss the idea that our attitudes and behavior could be BLOCKING answers to prayers we are

making for other people! This is a very important insight to think about. Is that possible? Is one possible reason for something not happening is that my behavior and attitudes are blocking God’s answer?

• Let’s think about someone at work or a spouse or child. Think of a way we might pray that they change: for example, that they listen to me rather than ignoring me. Or you think of a change you would like. Now, how could our behavior block our prayers? That is, make them unresponsive? So we want a child to be more responsive, but we are a very poor listener to them. We cut them off, interrupt. We show no real interest in what their life is like.

So….deep inside they are angry. And so a way to be passive aggressive and ‘get even’ is to be resistant to you or simply return the favor and not be much of a listener to you.

So think about a couple of examples that are real life, maybe even that are happening now to you.

6. A key element is missing from many prayers. Consider the following quote:

Powerful prayers always include confession of sin because sin can be a reason for unanswered prayer. The Bible says: “Your sins have separated you from God.”

David says in the Psalms “If I have cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not listen to my prayers.”

“Cherished sin” a sin I refuse to confess and repent of. It’s sin I want to keep doing. I cherish it. Sin separates us. Isaiah 59 verse 2 says this “Your sins have separated you from God.” (Isaiah 59:2)

And that’s why James 5, verse 16 says “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)

Whose prayer is powerful? A righteous man. That does not mean a perfect man. No one is perfect except Jesus. Righteousness means a right relationship with God and that is one that confesses sin and does not stubbornly cherish sin. So part of powerful prayers is self- examination and confession.

I’m afraid many Christians are a little fuzzy here. Many Christians think you can be rebellious and it doesn’t affect the power of your prayers.

But Jesus repeatedly warns that sin hinders our prayers. For example, He says an unforgiving attitude is the greatest cause of unanswered prayer. And in 1 Peter, the Bible says for husbands’ to treat their wives with respect and understanding “So that nothing will hinder your prayers!” And so the way we treat our wives can be a reason for unanswered prayer. • Underline the most important or challenging sentence and say why. • In a couple of sentences explain what a “cherished sin” is. • (Private so be honest)Take a few minutes to close your eyes, get on your knees, and ask the Lord

what are 2 cherished sins in your life. Serious. Everyone has things they have made excuses for and not repented of. Maybe it is your giving, maybe you are in Sunday worship irregularly because of well……, maybe your tongue bad mouths others, maybe you are judgmental, maybe your ego is the size of Texas and that is why it is hard for you to apologize or admit you are ever wrong. So….take a risk and do this and elevate spiritually. What 2 things does the Lord gently bring to mind? (If you don’t believe Jesus speaks to us if we will be still in prayer, take this risk and you will change your mind!)

• The Bible says unconfessed sin will HINDER OUR PRAYERS. Many Christians don’t believe this. They rebel against God’s Word morally and then when their prayers don’t move the hands of God, they blame God and say ‘prayer doesn’t work’! Christians are irregular in worship, rebel against giving to support His ministries, do immoral things in the sight of Jesus, and think that does not affect their relationship to the Lord. LaLa Land Christians!

So in a few sentences, as best you can, explain why it is logical that UNCONFESSED SIN HINDERS OUR PRAYERS?

• After all this discussion, what one thing do you believe Jesus most wants you to do in order to be in ALIGNMENT with the Lord’s will and heart?

Pray for each other……and the church! Memory: “Your sins have separated you from God.” (Isaiah 59:2)

the hardest word in the bible to say bibles... · you regret it deeply. what temptation do you have...

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