Pastor Ralph

Q2. (1 Samuel 17:34-37) What does David’s explanation to Saul of his combat experience say about David’s faith? How lethal is David as a warrior? Why do you think Saul allows him to go out to battle Goliath? Does Saul have faith? If so, what is the source of it?

Q1. (1 Samuel 17:26-30) Why is David so upset about Goliath’s taunt? Why is Eliab, David’s brother, so upset with David? What does this teach us about David’s faith? What does it teach us about Eliab’s character?

Q3. (1 Samuel 1:13) What is the significance of Samuel anointing David? What is the significance of the Holy Spirit coming upon David? How does this explain his success? How is the Holy Spirit upon us vital for our own success as disciples?

Q2. (1 Samuel 16:3-12) How does this story teach us the importance of listening carefully to God’s voice? What is our instinctive way of discerning? How is God teaching us to discern? How do we learn to listen to the Spirit?

Q1. (1 Samuel 15:22-23). What is rebellion? In what way is rebellion as bad as witchcraft or occult practices? What does rebellion have to do with arrogance? What can we do when we find rebellion against God in our hearts? What happens if we do nothing?

Q5. (Galatians 6:16) Who comprises “the Israel of God” today? Who is excluded from this group? How is Romans 11:17-25 designed to temper Gentile pride?

Q4. (Galatians 6:15) What characterizes this “new creation” that Paul talks about? What does the “old creation” look like in contrast? What does the old creation lack that the new creation possesses? How does Jesus’ saying, “You must be born again” (John 3:3-8) relate to this concept of the new creation?

Q3. (Galatians 6:9-10) Why do we tend to become weary living out our faith? What promise does Paul give us in 6:9 to forestall this weariness? Why should our “doing good” begin with our spiritual family, not with the non-Christians?

Q2. (Galatians 6:7-8) What does it mean to “sow to the flesh”? What does this look like? What synonyms does Paul use for “sow to the Spirit” in Galatians? (Hint: see 5:16, 18, 25). What does sowing to the Spirit look like in a congregation? What are the results in a congregation of sowing to the flesh?

Q1. (Galatians 6:1-5) What does Paul mean, “caught in a sin”? What would restoration of a such brother or sister look like in his or her life? Who should restore this person? In what spirit should it be done? What is the result of trying to restore a person without humility?

Q4. (Galatians 5:24-25) What does it mean to “crucify the flesh with its passions and desires”? Can a person be a Christian without “crucifying the flesh”? How have we produced such a crop of lukewarm Christians?

Q3. (Galatians 5:22-23) How does the Holy Spirit produce this fruit in our lives? What theological term would you use to identify this process? How can it be that a person who has been a “Christian” for years displays few or none of these fruits? Are they saved, but just immature? What does James 2:17-19 say about this? Is that too harsh?

Q2. (Galatians 5:22) The fruit of patience should be understood as forbearance, that is, putting up with people around us without exploding. Why is this patient forbearance such an important personal character element? Why is it so important for peace in the family and in the Christian community?

Q1. (Galatians 5:22a) Love is the first and primary fruit of the Holy Spirit, but joy and peace are inseparable from love. Why can’t joy and peace exist apart from love – love for God and love for our neighbors?

Q4. (5:21) Why do some Christians resist accepting Paul’s warning in 5:21 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11? What statement might these Christians desire to substitute for Paul’s warning if they could reword the Scripture?

Q3. (Galatians 5:19-21) If you were to divide the works of the flesh into several groups, what would those groups be?

Q2. (Galatians 5:16-18) We are told that it’s impossible for a Christian to live a sinless life. What do these verses teach about that? In what way does yielding to the Spirit suppress the power of the old nature (the flesh)? If Spirit-led living is possible, why do people claim that it’s impossible not to sin?

Q1. (Galatians 5:13-15) Have you ever seen Christians act as if they were lawless? How do Spirit-led Christians fulfill the spirit of the law? What does backbiting and rudeness in a congregation say about the spiritual climate of that congregation (5:15)?

Q5. (Galatians 5:11) What is “the offense of the cross” that offended the Jews? How does the cross offend people in our day? Have you noticed Christians softening their proclamation of the cross? Does this help them communicate more clearly to our age or does it compromise the true message?

Q4. (Galatians 5:5-6) Circumcision had been the primary “mark of identity” for a believer in God. In what way has the Spirit become the new “mark of identity” for the believer? What is the evidence of the Spirit’s presence in a believer’s life according to verse 6?

Q3. (Galatians 5:4) Exactly what does Paul mean by “fall from grace” here? What has occurred that has caused this fall? How can present-day Christian legalism cause such a “fall from grace”?

Q2. (Galatians 4:19-20) How is Paul’s grief over his spiritual children like that of a parent seeing children stray? What does it look like when Christ is formed in a person? What is the process involved in this spiritual formation?

Q1. (Galatians 4:10-11) Is celebrating different special worship days essentially wrong? Why did Paul grieve over the Galatians’ observances? What significance did these have in terms of their movement towards Judaism? How can we be blessed by observing special days in our era? How can observance of special days become legalistic for Christian believers?

Q4. (Galatians 4:6-7) How does the Spirit’s filling demonstrate we are full sons? What is the special sense in which the Aramaic word abba is used to speak to one’s father? What is the significance of being heirs of God? Are we sons in the same sense that Jesus was God’s Son?

Q3. (Galatians 4:3-5) In what sense were both the Gentiles and the Jews enslaved? What does “redeem” mean in verse 5? What are the implications of adoption regarding a person’s legal and spiritual rights?