"Choosing Your Battles: What Hill To Die On" by Pastor Tony
Group Discussion Guide
Thriving in Babylon Sermon Series
“Choosing Your Battles: What Hill to Die On” by Pastor Tony
Leaders, please choose the best question(s) for your group
November 10, 2019
If you have questions, contact Pastor Ric,
Below are some discussion questions relating to a recent sermon. These are provided so that your Life Group can discuss what was shared. Previous Weeks’ Discussion Guides and Sermon Notes are available through the Sermons under the Resources menu. Click on the sermon series and then the sermon you are interested in. You will see a paper icon under the sermon title. Click the icon to open the sermon notes. To listen to the sermon, click on the speaker icon.
Summary and Context: Our series, Thriving in Babylon, is focused on how we can live for God, even when the culture around us denies him and belittles/persecutes those who follow him. Daniel, because of his service and confidence in a faithful God, had the privilege of impacting the lives of four different kings and their kingdoms! He thrived in his faith even in the midst of extreme cultural pressures because of his commitment to and open relationship with the living God. Last week, Pastor Tony encouraged us to resolve to be individuals who develop credibility by leading through Godly wisdom. This week, we learn how to discern the best conversation to have and how we can speak to hearts focusing on the gospel, instead of becoming bogged down in endless offensive, politically-charged debates.
Sermon Texts: Daniel 1:3-8; 5:11,12; 6:13,19-20; Mark 12:13-17
Tony’s Take Aways:
- Keep the good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel, as THE MAIN THING in your life and before others!
- Don’t let offense derail the message of the gospel in both your life and in your words.
- Let God fight the battles of offense as he does his work to promote his name. [Example: language and even events.]
Let Jesus’ name be the name that matters!
Discussion Questions:
Spend a few moments processing this teaching with your group. What things impressed or impacted you? How could this make a difference in your life?
- Talk about why the word “evangelical” conjures up negative emotions for some unbelievers.
- What practical steps can we take to avoid getting trapped (Mark 12) in “political” arguments that lose sight of the gospel?
- Is it possible to build trusting friendships with those who vehemently disagree with the political persuasion to which you may adhere? How?
- What is your plan to process/decide which cultural traditions are simply offensive v. those that defile you? Talk about some of the issues you have identified, both those that are offensive and also those that defile. Have you recently changed your mind about any of these?
Each one of us are surrounded by people in our relational world, our Oikos, who are watching our responses to situations every day.
- Talk about a time with your oikos that you made the mistake of choosing to go off on an offense and hinder a relationship/the gospel message. What did you learn from that experience, and how could you have steered the conversation to be more gospel-oriented?
Digging Deeper:
- Daniel’s Babylonian name Belteshazzar had significance to the culture into which he was thrown. What do we know about the name of Jesus Christ? When we explore the Greek and Hebrew origins of his name, what do we discover? How does this name reflect who he is and what he has done for his people? When considering these things, what scripture verses come to mind?