INTRODUCTION

God clearly has different criteria for selecting heroes than we do. In our current series we are exploring the details about some of the heroes found throughout the Bible. We are learning that they became heroes despite their weaknesses because they chose to trust in God. We have learned about a man who trusted God in a moment at the end of his life, about a man who faithfully trusted God over a significant amount of time, about a woman who courageously stood on her own, about a man who chose to go directly against the current of his wicked culture, and this week we learned about men who were submerged in the most wicked of cultures and a literal furnace of destruction, yet they thrived. There are both inspiration and lessons we can learn from all of these examples. The point of all this, however, is that we choose to allow their examples to lead us to a deeper level of faith in how we live our own lives.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Describe a time that you were in a totally unfamiliar and uncomfortable cultural context.
2. God has plans for you. Have his plans for you ever been confusing, challenging, or dangerous? How do you reconcile those plans with God being good, kind, and loving?
3. Can you describe a time you did things God‘s way and experience blessings in the form of health, finances, peace or other inexplicable goodness?
4. We live in a culture that is not centered on Jesus Christ. How do you make America better? How do you seek to improve the lives of those around you? How is your loyalty to God challenged by the culture around you?
5. “Even if He doesn’t.” How has your faith been affected when God did not do what you were convinced he would do?
6. Have you heard stories about God‘s faithfulness from others that have inspired you? Please share.
7. What stories of God‘s faithfulness in your life are you committed to make known to those in your sphere of influence?

MOVING FORWARD

As we look at the heroes of the faith in the Bible we will discover that God definitely did not use the same people that people would have chosen. God is the same today as He was back then. This series is all about us aligning with the perspective God has of people and how He wants to use us to accomplish His purpose. May we always be willing to expand our understanding of how God works in who He chooses to use and the counter intuitive circumstances He may allow us to experience. The Lord may also use the light of our lives in the most dark of environments. The message this week challenges us to consider a God who may deliver us from difficulties, but sometimes He chooses to deliver us through fiery challenges.