Devastation at the hand of God

Here's the link to the Sermon: God disciplines... 

 

Reading: Joel 1

1. Verse 1. What do we know about Joel? e.g. where did he live, who did he minister to, what did his and his father’s name mean? Does any of this matter?
2. Verse 2, why do you think Joel started off addressing the elders?
3. What do you make of a God who would deliberately bring such unpleasantness and damage to people?
4. Discuss how Deuteronomy 28 fits in with this?
5. How had these people messed up? What was their sin? (verse 12 gives a clue)
6. What is an idol?
7. How does all of this apply to us today?

Getting to grips with: Being a Giving Church

If you missed it, here's a link to some notes: Getting to grips with: Being a Giving Church

 

Reading: Malachi 3: 8-12

 

1. How would you describe a giving church?
2. How might we rob God?
3. Why do we struggle to give back to God? Discuss what our use of time, money, experiences shows of our commitment to God.
4. Verse 9: does God curse us if we don't tithe?
5. What has giving got to do with worship?
6. Verse 10 includes the phrase "I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!." Discuss