Verse 1: When was the last time you slept in a tent? What are the benefits of having a tent? What are the downsides of camping with a tent? How would life be different if you decided to permanently live in a tent and never moved into a house?

Verse 2-4: Refer to John 16:33 (“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”). Having trouble in this life is guaranteed. Do you think suffering is an important part of life? How do you view your sufferings in this life? Read Romans 5:3-5. How do we not become overwhelmed by suffering?

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:3-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Verse 5: Do you have anything in your home with a lifetime guarantee? Guarantees only have to be exercised when something bad happens. Sometimes we spend so much time praying for nothing bad to happen when we should be praying for God to reveal himself. The name Jesus means “to rescue”. Jesus’ attributes are more fully seen when he’s rescuing someone. What kind of guarantee do you look forward to seeing God fulfilling?

Verse 6-8: “It Is Well With My Soul” is a hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss. This hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his son at the age of two and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago that was extensively damaged by the great fire). His business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at which time he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre. In a late change of plan, he sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone …”. Shortly afterward, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.

In this hymn, Spafford wrote:

“But Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
A song in the night, oh my soul!”

Does facing death give you hope or fear?

Verse 9-10: Read Matthew 6:19-21. What do you think are treasures in heaven? What can we gain in heaven by what we do on earth?

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:19-21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Verse 11-12: In what ways are we tempted to boast about outward appearances instead of what’s in the heart? Do we have areas where we are evaluating leaders based on outward appearances instead of the heart like what Paul is pointing out? See Samuel 16:7.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16:7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Verse 13-15: What does it mean to die to oneself in Christianity? Do you have to die to yourself to live for Christ?

Verse 16: Why are we enamoured by star athletes? What do we look for in our heroes and why?

Verse 17: How can we be a new creation in Christ? What becomes new? Read Galatians 2:20. Have you ever bought something new only to have it become ruined or dirty? Do you think God feels that way when we return to our sin? Read James 1:22-25.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:22-25‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Verse 18-19: Reconciliation is an accounting process that uses two sets of records to ensure figures are correct and in agreement. It confirms whether the money leaving an account matches the amount that’s been spent, and ensures the two are balanced at the end of the recording period. When we sin against God, we accrue a debt. Jesus pays that debt, and reconciles the account with God. Do you think we can earn anything with God once our sins are forgiven?

Verse 20-21: From Oct 17 edition of the Wall Street Journal: “Chris­tians make up 65% of the U.S. adult pop­u­la­tion, ac­cord­ing the 2018-2019 study, down from 77% in 2009. At the same time, those who don’t iden­tify with any re­li­gion—of­ten known as “nones”—now make up more than a quar­ter of the pop­u­la­tion, com­pared with 17% a decade ago. Only 45% of adults said they at­tended church at least once a month, down from 52% in 2009.

Less than half of mil­len­ni­als, the youngest de­mo­graphic group in the study, iden­tify as Chris­t­ian; 40% of them are un­af­fil­i­ated. The old­est de­mo­graphic group, born be­tween 1928 and 1945 and known as the Silent Gen­er­a­tion, is 84% Chris­t­ian and 10% un­af­fil­i­ated.”

How does this make you feel? How can we better represent Christ in America today?