“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” C.S. Lewis

LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• Have you ever lost something—or missed out on something—because you got distracted at the wrong moment? What happened?

READ HEBREWS 12:3-17

Looking To The Suffering Son

• Hebrews tells us to “consider him” (Jesus) so that we don’t grow weary or lose heart. What are some ways you personally tend to “look at yourself” more than you “look at Christ” when life gets hard?

• The sermon suggests “taking five looks at Christ for every one look at ourselves.” What might that look like practically for you this week—in prayer, in Scripture, or in daily habits?

Embrace The Father’s Discipline

• When something painful happens, what is your default interpretation: God is absent? God is angry? God is testing me? Something else?

• Hebrews says that God’s discipline is proof of sonship, not rejection. How does that truth challenge the way you’ve viewed suffering in your own life? 

• Where might God be using difficulty in your life right now to train you for holiness? And/or how might God be prompting you to question your endurance due to the ease and comfort of your life?

Pursue Holiness Together

• Hebrews repeatedly says, “See to it that no one…” What does that tells us about how seriously God takes our responsibility for one another’s faith and holiness?

• Our culture says, “My life is my business.” Hebrews says otherwise. Why do you think shared holiness feels uncomfortable, or even threatening, to us?

• How can looking to Christ encourage/strengthen you to pursue holiness together?