Hope Fellowship Church
Welcome!
See notes and discussion questions below to follow along with us this morning and in your Hope Small Group later on during the week.
Hope Small Groups Sermon Notes | Jan. 15, 2017
Pearl Culture | James 1:1-4 | #GospelOnTheGround
Big Idea: Do we consider our trials to be irritation? Or do we consider them to be spiritual formation?
I. The certainty and kind of trials.
II. The counting and evaluating of trials.
“In this lies our misery or comfort; things are as you consider them” | Thomas Manton #gospelontheground
1. Do not consider or judge your trials by your senses only.
2. Judge by supernatural light through God’s sight.
3. Judge your trials on supernatural grounds.
III. The purpose of trials.
"A true Pearl is therefore simply a victory over irritation. Every irritation that gets into our lives today is an opportunity for pearl culture." | Dick Seume #gospelontheground
James 1:2-4 ESV
Hebrews 12:11 ESV
Hope Small Group Sermon Discussion Questions
1. What insight, principle, or observation from this weekend’s message did you find to be most helpful or eye-opening? Explain. (Also, take a minute and review some key points of the message)
2. From the opening series introduction message 2 weeks ago. Discuss with one another what the James series theme means. Think about the contrast “the gospel on the ground and the gospel in the air and zoom in and zoom out.
3. Someone read aloud Romans 8:28. Why is it important how we define what “good” really is.
4. Read James 1:2-4 in your regular Bible version and then read this paraphrase version and compare/contrast them by discussing what the following version clarifies and what it may leave out?
(MSG James 1:2-4) “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”
5. What does Thomas Manton mean when he says, “In this lies our misery or comfort; things are as you consider them”? Give a real-life example of applying this quote to our lives.
6. Compare Job 23:10, Zech. 13:9, and I Pet. 1:6-7. How do these verses help us consider our trials?