When Everything You Love Is Taken From You

Congregation: Short North
Series: Fear
Speaker: Joe Byler
Scripture Text: Ruth 1

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Discussion Questions
  1. This sermon series on fear and anxiety has often brought us back to the ideas of God’s goodness and love, as well as God’s sovereignty, control, and power. When things get difficult in your life, or it seems like sin is winning, which is first to go in your mind, the belief in God’s goodness or in God’s sovereignty? Describe why you think that is, or how that gets displayed in your life during those hard times.
  2. Naomi judges God because of her circumstances, experiences, and expectations. How are we prone to do the same at times? … What are some expectations have we put on God for our lives? Where did we come up with those expectations?
  3. Naomi’s honesty with God is refreshing in some ways… How do we feel about being honest with God? Why are we timid about this?
  4. Our weakness and lack of control reveal our humanness, our finiteness. How does the truth of the gospel bring hope into the most fearful and anxious situations?
  5. How can we as a community grow in encouraging each other to the hope of the gospel in the midst of chaos and confusion? What are some things that have been helpful to you in your pursuit of God in the midst of pain, suffering, hurt, and frustration?