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Home Group Notes - Studies on
the theme of 'Faith'
In Praise of Faith - 25th April
What do you think it means to live by faith?
Read Hebrews 11:1-19
Looking at the actions of the people mentioned in this passage, what does
their behaviour have in common?
Why do the ancients (v2) deserve honour?
How would you describe their faith?
How is faith demonstrated by the three examples from Abraham’s life
(v8-12,17-19)?
What obstacles had to be overcome? What changed for him?
In what ways did the faith of these people remain unfulfilled (v13-16)?
How did they see themselves in relation to this world?
How does our faith in God affect our attitude to the world?
What is the connection between faith and hope?
How would you define faith?
Do we need to feel full of faith before we can obey God? Give some
examples.
How does Hebrews 11 encourage our faith in God?
Notes
‘I’ve prayed for this one thing for years, and it hasn’t happened.
The Bible says all things are possible for the one who believes. What’s
wrong with my faith?’
‘Some days it’s easy for me to trust the Lord. Other days, no matter
how hard I try, I don’t feel confident that God cares or will help me. Or I
forget God, go my own way and try to run my own life. How can my faith be more
consistent?’
‘All the indicators say that I don’t have a chance at getting this job.
But I’m still praying that I get it. Won’t the Lord honour my faith?’
‘I’m in a very unpleasant situation. Should I boldly pray that it
changes? Or should I stick it our and trust God to bring good out of it? Which
one is faith?’
‘Our church stepped out in faith and started a building programme, and
now we’re sunk in debt. Were we wrong to commit ourselves to the programme?
Or did it fail because our faith faltered?’
If you ever struggle with these or similar uncertainties about faith,
you’ll find good company in the pages of the Bible… Because faith
presupposes an unseen world where unpredictable things happen, it always has
an element of the mystical. But no longer is faith a…word tied to
religious…doctrine. Even the secular world tells us that if we have faith in
ourselves, we can accomplish anything… So does it matter what we believe, so
long as we believe in something?
Scripture says yes, it matters a great deal what or who we choose to
believe. Biblical faith is not a free-floating positive feeling within myself.
It is trust in a person outside of, other than and infinitely greater than
myself. (Faith Depending on God p5,6)
‘Faith’ here is not a general religious attitude to life. It’s not
simply believing difficult or impossible things for the sake of it, as though
simple credulity was itself a virtue. The faith in question, as becomes
increasingly clear throughout the chapter, is the faith which hears and
believes the promise of God, the assured word from the world’s creator that
he is also the world’s redeemer and that through the strange fortunes of
Abraham’s family he is working to build… the city which is to come. (Letter
to the Hebrews Tom Wright p133)
‘To the writer to the Hebrews faith is a hope that is absolutely certain
that what it believes is true, and that what it expects will come. It is not
the hope which looks forward with wistful longing; it is the hope which looks
forward with utter certainty.’
(Letter to the Hebrews, William Barclay, p.144)
v10 The city mentioned here would seem to be Jerusalem, the holy, heavenly
Jerusalem which God will establish, as described in Revelation 21 and 22.
Faith Without Fireworks - 9th May
When was a time you got lost?
Read 2 Kings 5:1-27
If you were Naaman, at which point in the story would you be most tempted
to give up?
What would keep you going?
Is it surprising that the king of Aram would send his top soldier to Israel
on such an unlikely mission?
Why did Naaman take so much money with him?
What does the reaction of the king of Israel tell us about his faith?
Why does Naaman become angry?
When have you wished that God would do something dramatic in response to
your faith?
How did Naaman’s servants show wisdom?
Has anyone given you similar advice?
Naaman was healed physically. What spiritual change took place in him?
Why does he ask for the earth?
Does Elisha approve of his request to continue with pagan worship? How do
we feel about this apparent compromise?
Do we sometimes think that the promises of God are too easy?
In what areas of your life do you think God waits for you take a small step
of obedience, so he can show you that he is truly God?
Notes
I have included the whole chapter in this study, for the sake of completing
the story, but you could just read to the first half of verse 19 if you
prefer.
When Naaman asked Elisha for help, he expected a show, and at first he was
disappointed by Elisha’s understated response.
At the time of this story Israel (here meaning the northern kingdom,
Ephraim, as opposed to Judah in the south) and Aram or Syria to the north are
officially at peace, though border skirmishes were not uncommon, hence the
paranoid reaction of Joram, king of Israel.
While leprosy, or other skin diseases, led to uncleanness and isolation in
Israel, it seems there was no particular stigma attached to it in Syria. But
presumably Naaman was unable physically to perform his duties as a commander
of the army.
Why was Naaman so angry? Perhaps he does not want to appear credulous or naïve
in front of his men; perhaps he feels insulted by Elisha’s offhand behaviour;
he may not wish to cooperate or do something apparently undignified in order
to be healed; or he may have wanted a big spectacular healing event.
‘Obedience to God begins with humility. We must believe his way is better
than our own. We may not always understand his ways of working , but by humbly
obeying, we will receive his blessings’ (Life Application Bible).
Righteousness by Faith - 23rd May
How close have you come to getting in trouble with the law? How did you
feel?
Read Romans 3:19-26
What relationship do you see here between law, faith and righteousness?
What are some of the ways we try, or are tempted to try, to earn God’s
approval?
If obedience to the law cannot make us righteous before God, what is the
value of God’s law?
How would the average Middlesbrough resident react to the statement, ‘all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (v23)?
What is the ‘righteousness from God’? How does being ‘righteous’ in
God’s sight differ from being a ‘good person’ (v21-24)?
What is God’s part in our being justified before him (v24-26)?
What is our part in being justified before God (v22, 25-26)?
Many people believe that because God is loving, he will overlook sin. What
light does this passage shed on that idea?
How can we be sure, or help others to be sure, that God has forgiven our
sins?
What difference does the message of God’s grace make to your life?
Notes :
This is by no means an easy passage, but it is obviously vital to the
subject of faith. It is also difficult just taking a single passage from a
letter which is one long complicated argument. But at the heart of this
passage is the wonderful message that God has saved us through the death of
Christ, something that we were unable to do for ourselves. It may be helpful
(ignore this if it isn’t) to remember that the words for ‘righteousness’
and ‘justified’ in Greek come from the same root. If there was a word
‘righteousify’ in English, it might be helpful to use it instead of
‘justify’. Also, in verse 25 the NIV uses the word ‘justice’, the AV
uses ‘righteousness’. Both use ‘just’ in verse 26, where
‘righteous’ could equally have been used. Thinking about both these words
may help in the unravelling of this passage. It was the understanding of this
word that so troubled Martin Luther in his reading of Romans. He came to see
that God’s righteousness does not make God condemn us (as we deserve), but
is the very thing that causes him to take action himself to save us through
the cross and count us as righteous when we have faith in Jesus.
‘I had certainly been seized with a wondrous eagerness to understand Paul
in the epistle to the Romans, but hitherto I had been held up…by one word
only, in chapter 1: ‘The righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel’.
For I hated the word ‘righteousness of God’, which…I had been taught to
understand as…the active righteousness whereby God is just and punishes
unjust sinners… At last, as I meditated day and night, God showed mercy
and…there I began to understand the righteousness of God is the
righteousness by which a just man lives by the gift of God, in other words by
faith, and what Paul means is this: the righteousness of God revealed in the
Gospel is…that by which the merciful God justifies us through faith… At
this I felt myself straightway born afresh and to have entered through the
open gates into paradise itself.’
Martin Luther
‘In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate
Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.
About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God
works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.
I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and assurance was
given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me
from the law of sin and death.’
John Wesley’s Journal Sunday 21st May 1738
‘The problem, therefore, is not just one of God’s justice. It is
about God’s covenant justice.
The word normally translated ‘righteousness’ at this point carries all
these overtones and more besides. It speaks of the way in which God must be,
and will be, true to the covenant, and of the way in which this covenant
itself was there to put the world, and human beings, to rights.’ God’s
plan to save the world is put into operation, not by scrapping the plan to
save the world through Israel and starting from scratch, but through the
coming of a faithful Israelite, who obeys God perfectly in the way Israel
should have done, Jesus the Messiah. In the death of Jesus, God has shown
himself to be in the right in dealing properly and impartially with sin, to be
faithful to the covenant, and to be committed to saving those who call out in
helpless faith. Tom Wright: Paul for Everyone Romans Part 1 p57-59
‘No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ, my own.
Charles Wesley
Faith without Action - 6th June
Are you more likely to act without thinking or think without acting?
Read James 2:14-26
According to James, what is the connection between faith and actions?
In what sense is faith without deeds lifeless (v14-17)?
When have you seen a gap between your own faith and your deeds?
How can we bring the two together?
How do the lives of Abraham and Rahab show genuine faith in God (v20-25)?
In verse 23, James quotes Genesis 15:6 concerning Abraham’s faith. Paul
quotes exactly the same in Romans 4:3 to show we are saved by faith, not
works. How can we reconcile these two ideas: that we are saved by faith and
not by deeds and that faith without deeds is dead?
When has your faith been put to the test?
In what ways should a Christian’s lifestyle show the truth of their
faith?
To think about:
James is challenging believers to grow in their faith. What are some areas
where we need to grow and deepen our faith?
Notes
Words! They’re cheap. It is far easier to talk than to come up with
actions to equal our words. James warned early Christian believers to match
their words with action.
James seems to contradict Paul and the Romans passage we looked at in the
last study. However, while it is true that good deeds cannot earn us
salvation, true faith always results in a changed life and good deeds. Paul
speaks against those who try to be saved by deeds instead of true faith. James
speaks against those who confuse mere intellectual assent with true faith.
After all, even demons know who Jesus is, but they don’t obey him. True
faith involves a commitment of your whole self to God. (Life Application
Bible)
The Focus of Faith 20th June
When have you failed at a task because you were distracted?
Read Hebrews 12:1-11
What attitude does the writer encourage us to have towards sin?
In what way does the Christian life resemble a race?
Why does keeping our eyes on Jesus help us to run with perseverance (v1-3)?
How is Jesus the perfect example of how we ought to run our own race of
faith?
How does God’s discipline show his love (v6-9)?
How does God’s discipline differ from human discipline? What benefits
does discipline bring?
What comfort do you get from knowing that a cloud of witnesses is watching
you run the Christian race?
What are two obstacles that hinder and entangle you in your race?
What have you discovered that helps you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus?
To think about:
What is the hardest thing you are going through in your life at the moment?
How is God using this in your life?
Notes
This passage follows the first study in the series, so the ‘Therefore’
refers to the faith of the Old Testament saints in chapter 11.
In Jesus’ Name – Faith that asks - 4th July
Who was the best advisor you ever had? Why was this person so special?
Read John 16:16-28
Why were the disciples confused (v16-18)?
How did Jesus respond to their fears (v19-24)?
How does the image of childbirth help the disciples to understand what they
are going through (v20-22)?
When have you experienced the Lord’s absence?
What experiences in your past give you confidence to pray with faith?
What does it mean to ask for something ‘in Jesus’ name’?
What are the implications of verses 23-28 for a Christian’s prayer life?
How can we avoid misusing the privilege of asking in Jesus’ name?
From your experience, how could you comfort someone going through change?
To think about:
What are some things you believe Jesus would have you ask for in the coming
week?
Notes
This passage reminds us that when we pray with faith in the name of Jesus,
the authority rests not in us, but in the one who is in charge. Jesus and the
disciples are sharing in the Last Supper and Jesus encourages the disciples
with several promises. However, the disciples struggle to understand that
Jesus will be leaving them.
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