SOAR Discussion Questions  |  17 February 2019

The Hard Heart
The key focus in this series is on GROWING.  In the area of spiritual growth, it is foundational that we understand that God is the key player.  He is the divine initiator.  If we removed God from the passages of the Bible we would have very little of the Bible left.  That is because He is the key player.  Yet, we live our own personal lives forgetting that God is the key player in our life.  May the Spirit open our eyes to recognise in a greater way how God can be the Lord of our lives.

In the Bible, discipleship is more endangered by lack of faith and hardness of heart than by external dangers.  More than Bible Study, prayer, sharing our faith, and circumstances, God often addresses the hard heartedness of His people as the key reason why God could not move in their lives.  A hard heart is a heart that stops us from seeing and allowing God to be the key player in our life of discipleship.  Let us work with God to soften our hearts so that we can allow Him to become the key player in our discipleship.

Discuss one or more of the following questions.

1. What things irritate you about the Sunday service at Clayton?  Is the music too loud or too soft?  When are we going to have more Hymns or more Shakers? Is the preaching not relevant enough? Is the style of preaching irritating you?  What about those really bad jokes that Pastor Greg says?  Is that Pastor Chee on his hobbyhorse again?  Go ahead; have a bit of a whinge amongst yourselves.  It is ok once in awhile.  The fact is there will always be something that you do not like. A more important thing to think about, however, is – did you hear and receive what Jesus wanted you to hear on that Sunday?  Have you begun to act upon it?  In what ways do you prepare your heart before coming on Sunday so that your heart is soft and open to what Jesus wants to do in you during that time?  What is one thing you could do differently that could help in this area?

2. Our discipleship journey is not just about Sunday.  It is to have an impact on the totality of our lives – to our everyone, everywhere with everything.  How do you keep journeying with Jesus throughout the week?  Are their new things you could try to help you in this area?

3. Much has been written and discussed about the significance of the two miracles of the feeding of the 5000 and 4000 and the number of baskets left over.  Was the number 12 symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel and the miracle performed in the Jewish region?  Was the number 7 signifying completion and performed in a mainly Gentile area?  Is it about Jesus supplying all our needs? Whilst a lot of this discussion is interesting, sometimes we can get so caught up in discussing the peripheral issues that we lose sight of the main point.  The main point is that Jesus is the bread, He is the I Am, He is the new Moses, He is the Messiah.  We totally missed Jesus!  Share a time when you totally missed Jesus in a significant event of your life.  This event might have been something pleasant (such as a miracle) or something unpleasant (a significant loss).  In both cases the question is the same – did we miss Jesus in this event?

4. Sometimes we miss Jesus because we are ignorant of who He is and how He does things.  Whether we are a young Christian or have been walking with Him for a long time, we never stop learning about Jesus. When was the last time that we checked our understanding of Jesus against the Bible? What is your next step in finding out more about who He actually is and how He does things?

5. We are often good at questioning others or questioning God but when was the last time you allowed God to question you? When was the last time you read the Bible with a reflective, open heart?  When was the last time that you held the Bible up to your self like a mirror and allowed the Holy Spirit to speak to you about your true self?  It is only with a soft, open and transparent heart that the Holy Spirit is able to mould and change us into the likeness of Jesus Christ.  What do you need to change in your life to allow you to do this?

6. What does it mean to let God be God? Is it some sort of fatalistic attitude or something else? In what areas of your life do you find the most difficult to let God be God?  What is your next step in moving forward in this attitude in life to let God be God?

• Is there a truth that God wants you to obey?  
• What will you do to obey this? I will…