November 8 & 9 - Judgement House: REVISED QUESTIONS!!!

We decided to revise the notes for the next couple of weeks and make the questions a little easier to ask... I will have print-outs available for you this weekend.

Core Scripture: Nahum 1:2-3

Memory Verse:
John 12:47 (NIV) "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it."

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your definition of "judgment"?
2. Who do you think "deserves" judgment?
3. Why do you think we look at judgment this way?
4. Do you think most people judge themselves or others more harshly? Why?
5. How do you think God wants us to view judgment? Is that easy or hard?
6. How can we help others see the kindness and sternness of God appropriately?

Bottom Line:

• Judgment is never God's heart; it is what God is forced to do when people refuse to live the way the Judge meant, or intended. He is good, and so at times He is driven to defend His goodness and defeat evil. This is Nahum's message.
• Nahum tells us two things. First, God is slow to anger. Second, God does not leave the guilty unpunished. This means that, as much as God hates judgment, He have evil more.
• Consider the kindness of God today. Life with God is about more than avoiding judgment. It is about learning to live in the way the Judge meant for us to live and to put Other First in our lives.
  
• The ball is in our court. How will we live? Will we see the world and life through prophets' eyes, or will we go on acting as if we had never heard Nahum? Judgment or what the Judge meant - the choice is left to us.