Doubting God: When You’re Done being a Christian
Selected Scripture
Connect:
Share how you have seen God in the Highs and Lows of your week.
Prayer:
Pray that God would lead your discussion time and bring fresh insight, conviction, and hope through your time together.
Review:
This series, Doubting God, looks at the many questions that we all have about God and His ways. This week we looked at the chapter of our walk of faith that many of us have faced when the storm gets so severe around us that we start doubting what we have always believed… and why we believe it.
The Grand Tour of the message: Thinking back on what you heard this Sunday…
o What did you learn about God?
o What did you learn about people?
o What did you learn about yourself?
o What do you want to commit to putting into practice?
Reflection:
Personal Experience:
Some things we believe because we have just never thought to ask, “Is that true?” Things we believe about ourselves, about others, even about God. The same applies for other’s thoughts about us! Share a time when you discovered something about another person that changed the way you saw and related to them. Maybe it was learning something about their story, or maybe just realizing that they are as human as you are… what happened, and what was it’s effect on your relationship?
Group Discussion:
(Note: We’re going to try a slightly different format this week to process key points from the message. Let’s give it a try…)
Who is this?
Jesus was surrounded by people who were processing, “Who is He?” throughout His life and ministry, let’s take a look at a few of these passages. For each one, discuss why and how Jesus responded as He did in each situation:
Matthew 14: 22-33
John 20:24-29
Mark 9:17-27
Why do we doubt?
Jesus asked Peter, “Why do you doubt?” Maybe that was not a rhetorical question. Looking at the passages above, discuss:
What was the root cause of doubt in each of these situations.
Can anyone relate to any of these root causes of doubt?
What can we do about that?
There is a distinction between “deconstructing a lie about God” (by holding it up to the truth of Scripture), and “deconstructing God’s Self-Revelation” (by demanding that faith prove itself to reason). There are lies about God that need to be challenged, so let’s discuss this together:
What are lies you believed about God that Scripture has corrected? Share the Scripture(s) that made the issue clear for you.
Read the following passages and discuss how each passage informs our process of testing whether something is true of God:
Acts 17:10-17
Romans 12:2
Matthew 16:21-25
1 Corinthians 2:6-14
John 15:1-8
What concrete practices—listening posture, terminology, questions to ask—can help our group embody the grace Jesus showed Peter in his moment of doubt? (James 1:19, Romans 15:1, Galatians 6:2)
Application:
Ultimately, only God can reveal God. Doubt is the pain we feel at the entry point to a deeper faith, and it represents a choice to reach back out to Jesus Who is already reaching out to us. What would hold us back from that today, and what are we going to do about that?
Prayer:
Spend some time thanking God that He still pursues us even as we struggle with doubt in the midst of our questions, distractions and challenges. He is faithful, and this is the core of our faith!
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