1. What is Complacency?

2. The Answer to Israel’s Complacency

3. How Faith in God’s Love Conquers Complacency

For Further Thought and Discussion
Getting Started
1. What was helpful to you in this week’s sermon? What didn’t you understand?
2. Can you think of a time when complacency got you into trouble?

Going Deeper
3. God sent the prophet Malachi to confront Israel’s spiritual complacency. Even though they had returned from exile in Babylon a century before and now worshiped in a rebuilt temple and city, the Jews were far more concerned about their own interests than about God’s interests; and are just going through the motions in their spiritual life. Can you think of any parallels between Malachi’s audience and Christians in the US today?

4. Please read Malachi 1:1-5. Why do you think the first issue God raises with complacent Israel is His great love for them? What do you notice about their response? Why would they respond this way? How does God show them His love for them?

5. Please read Romans 9:10-13. What does the story of Jacob and Esau reveal about God and His love? How does Paul’s commentary in Romans help you to understand Malachi 1?

6. God proves His love for Israel by what He has done for them in the past. How does God’s promise for the future prove His love for them? (Mal. 1:3-5)

7. How does God show us His love by what He has done for us in the past? How does God show us His love by what He has promised us in the future?


8. How would your life change if you believed that God loved you as much as the Bible says He loves you? How does faith in His love conquer spiritual complacency?

Application
What is one thing you can do this week to apply this passage?