November 24, 2024
The Story | What Is The Worst Sin? | Chapter 12
Beginnings: How God Got Things Started, A Chosen People.
“David and Bathsheba” is synonymous with leadership failure. It’s heartbreaking to hear of a person who walks with God, “a man after God’s heart,” ruining lives through an impulsive act. The passage is clear that “God was not pleased with what David had done” and, amazingly, God didn’t throw the towel in on David. Even at his worst, perhaps especially at his worst, David experienced God’s redemption.
Songs for this week: Spotify
Chapter 12: 2 Samuel 11:1-18
- What’s your response when you hear that a Christian leader has failed? How do you process that?
- Scroll through the passage and note the various opportunities David had to change course. Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit trying to stop you when you’re accelerating headlong into sin?
- Sin is ugly and it hurts people. What offense(s) do you find most difficult to forgive?
- Explain how Jesus’ death on the cross can mean forgiveness for us.
- Rate yourself 0-10 on being able to forgive deeply from your heart. Rate yourself 0-10 on your willingness to repent when you’re wrong.
- Have you ever been part of a community that did grace and reconciliation really well? Tell that story.
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Recent Sermons
Acts 13:16-44 -Paul and Barnabas made their way through the known world, telling everyone they met about Jesus and the Resurrection. In one synagogue, Paul told the Jews their history, but he told it differently than they’d heard it before. He showed how God had often given Israel a second chance. He went on to explain that Jesus was their second, and final, chance. Some of their listeners believed; others hated the message. Nobody likes being told they’re wrong.
Acts 3:1-21 - Now what? The story of Acts is what happens after the death and resurrection of Jesus. God takes ordinary people, fills them with His Spirit, and sends them out into the world. It's a crazy idea! Peter and John transform an everyday visit to the Temple into a medical miracle and preach a compelling message to boot. Hundreds of people come to trust Jesus. Just another day of walking in the Spirit.
John 20:24-29 - All through his ministry, Jesus took time to speak with individuals. Even after the resurrection, he never changed course. John records an interaction with Thomas that speaks to doubt and the struggle it is for each of us to believe.
John 12:9-19 -When Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the shouts and cheers of the crowd, there was no mistaking what was happening: the King was back in his rightful place. There were several responses to this long-awaited event: some celebrated, some grumbled, and then… everyone went home. It may have looked anticlimactic, but Jesus wasn’t going anywhere. He had come to do what only the true King of Israel could do.
John 14:1-14 -John’s biography of Jesus slows as he chronicles the week leading up to Jesus’ death. Jesus has a long, careful conversation with the disciples, and today, we listen to the beginning of that conversation. He begins with a strong command: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He then reinforces it with three unshakable assurances: He is going ahead of them, He has cleared the way to the Father, and He will send supernatural power so they can continue His work.
John 8:48-59 -Jesus’ friend John was very careful to record the things that Jesus said about Himself. As an observant Jew, John knew that there is only one God. From time to time, God sent prophets, ordained priests, and crowned kings so that the people of God had someone to lead them to Him. Everyone knew that these leaders only ever pointed to God; they never claimed any status beyond being messengers. But when Jesus came, He was different. He claimed to be “the Light of the World,” “the Truth that sets you free,” and “the Resurrection and the Life”—all of them ridiculous claims for anyone but God to make. That was exactly His point.
