Discussion Questions

• Where are you waiting on the Lord’s comfort and deliverance in your life? Why is waiting so difficult?
• What does it look like to live faithfully during a time of waiting?
• Which promises of God do you most cling to and how do they give you hope to press on?
• Is there an area of your life that you have not fully surrendered to the Lord?

Discussion Questions

• What has God been teaching you through a season of silence, waiting, or limitation, even if nothing has changed yet?
• When prayers are answered or blessings arrive, what helps you remain oriented toward God rather than becoming preoccupied with the gift itself?
• Where do you currently need hope, clarity, or peace, and how does seeing Jesus as the Sunrise from on high reshape the way you wait, suffer well, or repent?

Discussion Questions

• What are a few things that bring you joy?
• How does your joy in God compare with other joys?
• In what ways can you foster more joy in God?

Discussion Questions

• Can you name a time when God’s plan did not make sense in the moment, but later you could see his goodness?
• Mary said yes to God, knowing it would cost her. Where has God called you in the past, or where is he calling you now, to an obedience that may come with a cost?
• What would it look like, practically, to say, “Let it be to me according to your word,” in a specific area of your life this week?

This Advent, we turn from David, the shepherd-king who stumbled, to Jesus, the Shepherd-King who stood faithful. We look at Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon, and their responses of faith, trust, and joy. Through the songs and announcements in Luke’s Gospel, we see how God fulfills his promises to David by sending his Son, the true King. In him we find hope, peace, joy, and love.

Discussion Questions:

• Based on our study of David’s life so far, how would you explain what it means to be “After God’s Heart?”
• What does this passage show you about God’s grace? Does his grace move you as it did David (2 Sam 7:18-22)? Why or why not?
• Do you ever feel like a failure because you’re not “doing enough for God?” How does this passage speak to this fear?
• Create a list of all the promises that God has made to you through Christ in the New Covenant. Which ones encourage your heart the most today?

Discussion Questions

• What part of this story surprised or challenged you the most, and why?
• What helps you move toward God again after a moment of fear, failure, or conviction?
• David danced before the Lord with freedom, while Michal stayed trapped in dignity and resentment. Which one do you resonate with more, and why?

Discussion Questions

• Why is the human default to try to live independent of God? Where do you see that in your own life?
• When trials come in your life, what do you most often “strengthen yourself” in? How do you strengthen yourself in the Lord?
• When do you most often “inquire of the Lord?” When are you most tempted to lean on your own understanding?

Bill Krewson

1 Samuel 27:1-12