- Your facial structure
- Your accent
- Your natural body odor
- Your voice
- Your parents’ educational background and career
- Your height
- Your birth order
- The month you were born
Do you think there’s any merit to these claims? Do you think there are attributes that we use to judge people that are poor indicators of actual performance?
What are some things that people say/do/wear that some believe might bring them into a right relationship with God? What do we need to do in order to have confidence in our relationship with God? How can we have confidence in our relationship with God?
Verse 7-9: If your house was on fire, what are three things you’d get from the house before it went up in flames?
Why would Paul count everything as loss in order to gain Christ? Do you think he meant everything? What about your family? Or the right to have your way? Or your health? What is the hardest thing for you to give up for the sake of Christ? What do you think God actually wants us to give up?
Verse 10-11: Do you think God requires us to suffer for His sake?
Why would Paul want to share in Jesus’ sufferings?
Verse 12-16: What are the key things from your past that have left the deepest scars? What things in your past threaten to unravel your future?
What is the goal we should be pressing toward? If we’re saved, haven’t we already achieved the goal? What more could there be?
Verse 17-19: Social media was supposed to usher in an era of deeper connections, breaking down social and physical barriers, increasing the free flow of knowledge, and increasing the size of all of our communities. Why then haven’t we seen a flourishing worldwide community, reduced anxiety, increased sense of well-being, and an explosion in learning and understanding?
In what ways are people drawn to destruction? What kind of destruction is Paul talking about?
Verse 20-21: What does it mean to have citizenship in heaven?
What do you look forward to in the next life?