Foundation Church

Even the most faithful and eloquent preaching from God’s own anointed messenger can fall on hard hearts. With all the depth and power of Isaiah’s words, and the stark reminder of what has happened to the hard-hearted, his listeners remain unmoved. What must we look to in our own hearts as we study this challenging sermon? Discipleship Questions: 1. What stands out to you in Isaiah 28:1-13? 2. Why do you think this sermon of Isaiah was recorded in his book? 3. What is the importance of the authority of scripture in the life of a Christian? 4. Where might your heart be hard to God’s Word? 5. What does ‘Keeping the Faith’ look like for you?

Continuing on with his survey of God’s coming judgment and victory Isaiah reflects on a period of time that isn’t filled with victory but is filled with the expansion of God’s Kingdom. Living in light of the victory of God leads the people of God to be employed on Kingdom expansion business and in confidence because of the confidence we have in the biblical story. Discipleship Questions: 1. What stands out to you in this passage? 2. How in your understanding of history have you seen the kingdom of God expand? 3. Why does Satan continue to oppose the expansion of God’s kingdom? 4. Why is it significant that on the final day of victory God’s people are gathered in from the surrounding nations? 5. Are you living in obedience to the great commission (Matt 28:18-20)? Why or why not?

In this passage, Paul longed to get face to face with the Christians in Rome. He knew of them and had correspondence with them but hadn’t yet been able to see them in person. This cry drove Paul to pray that God would make a way for the visit. For Foundation Church, we too have a deep longing to visit Christians and churches on the mission field. The church supports 5 church planters and their families in Ethiopia. Our conviction is that face to face relationship is critical in this Kingdom partnership. Like Paul, we desired mutual encouragement from the trip. We prayed for the opportunity. God was gracious and faithful to provide that and to set our hearts towards further expansion of His Kingdom, for His glory. Discipleship Questions: 1. What drove Paul’s longing for this face to face gathering with the Christians in Rome? 2. Why is prayer vital in the life of the church? 3. After hearing stories of the Church Planters and their daily experience, how do you respond? How are you encouraged? How are you d

In a song of victory God’s Isaiah records the celebration of all that God has done for his people. Through this passage, we see for ourselves a blueprint of the essential elements found in the walk of all Christian’s Discipleship Questions: 1. What stands out to you in Isaiah 26? Why? 2. Why is song used a medium for recording stories in the Bible? 3. What element of the Christian Life as recorded in Isaiah 26 encourages you the most? Why? 4. What element of the Christian life as recorded in Isaiah 26 do you need to recommit to obedience in? Explain? 5. Using only Isaiah 26 can you present the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Following on from Chapter 24 where Isaiah describes the day of God’s coming judgement we see the victory parade, feast, and response from God’s people. How can we begin to prepare ourselves for this coming day and what impact does it have on our lives in the here and now? Discipleship Questions: 1. What stands out to you in this passage? Why? 2. Why is it important to understand how this passage was interpreted by Isaiah’s original audience and people in Jesus’ day? 3. What will happen on the day of God’s victory? 4. How do we experience some of God’s victory in our own lives right now? 5. Why does hope in the Christian life look different from hope in the world around us?

Isaiah’s oracle against Jerusalem focuses on one man, Shebnah who is in every way self-made. He is fully reliant on the works of his hands to make a name for himself. God exposes his sin and shame to the people of Jerusalem. He exposes us as well. We too are guilty of relying on the works of our hands to achieve success. For both Jerusalem and for us, God’s shows hope and redemption through the person of Eliakim who is a foreshadow of the true and better Eliakim - Jesus Christ. If we are God-Made in Christ, the shame is removed and we are given a place of honor in the very household of God. Discipleship Questions: 1. Why does Isaiah continue to weep over Jerusalem? 2. How does Shebnah bring shame upon himself? 3. In what specific ways are you attempting to achieve success apart from God? 4. Describe what it’s like to be in the place of honor as God’s adopted child? 5. How will you live as a child who’s been set free from sin and shame?

Our text opens on to a city wide party, Jerusalem is celebrating their prowess and strength that they believe will protect them on the days that their enemies surround them. But there is one person who is not celebrating, Isaiah, he is weeping over the delusion of the city. Discipleship Questions: 1. Why does Isaiah weep over the city of Jerusalem? 2. What is so offensive about Jerusalem’s actions in fortifying their city? 3. Where, outside of God, do you place your hope and trust? 4. What does faithful living look like? 5. How does trusting in Jesus make us faithful?

So far in our story, God has relentlessly pursued his people so that he might dwell with them, after the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of God’s people we see that’s God’s chosen instrument to redeem his world is the Church. But what next? We’re left waiting for the fullness of God’s return but not without God’s clear promises for the future. Discipleship Questions: 1. Retell The True Story of the Entire World. 2. If this story is true what is God like? 3. If this story is true what does it mean for you? 4. If this story is true what does it mean for people who don’t believe in Jesus? 5. If this story is true then how should the church operate in our present day?

After the mighty and powerful work of Jesus to pay the price for sin on the cross the risen saviour ascended back into heaven leaving the disciples wondering what’s next? It is now that the power of God and his desire to free the world from sin and dwell with his people begins to expand to a magnitude that the disciples could never comprehend. Discipleship Questions: 1. Retell the story up to our current day 2. Why was it important for Jesus to leave and ascend back to heaven? 3. What does the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell within believer signify? 4. What is the purpose of the Spirit filled Church in the world? 5. Why do you think God is still waiting to return to his world?

The tension between the God’s people inability to clean themselves up and God’s continually veiled presence between his people and himself because of sin has built up to the point that everyone has begun to wonder if God’s promise to bring the one who will deal with sin will ever come to pass. Into this situation Jesus arrives and steps into human history as the one through whom all things will be made new again. Discipleship Questions: 1. Retell the story up to the end of the Gospel accounts. 2. What is the most significant thing you see in this Act of the story? 3. Why is Jesus’ humanity so important? 4. What does the temple curtain being torn from top to bottom signify? 5. Why is the resurrection of Jesus the key to understanding the good news?

As the effects of sin spread throughout God’s creation he sets out on his plan of redemption choosing a man through whose family would all nations be blessed. Over many generations, we see God’s plan of redemption for his people seemingly destroyed but God remains faithful by keeping his unbreakable promises and continually revealing himself to them for their good. Discipleship Questions: 1. Retell the story up to the end of the Old Testament. 2. Why do you think God makes unbreakable promises to man? 3. What is the point of God giving the Law? 4. What is the point of the sacrificial system? 5. Why can't God’s people get it right?

Our world is broken. There is generally going to be little argument against that fact. But how did it get this way? The Bible offers us a compelling reason for the brokenness of our world in its pages, one that is big enough to explain our own pain and suffering. Discipleship Questions: 1. What explanations for the brokenness of the world around us have you heard before? 2. What stands out to you in the story of ‘the fall’ recorded in Genesis 3? 3. Why does God curse not just Adam and Eve but the whole creation? 4. How do you see the realities of the fall in your own life? 5. Take some time to feel the weight of your own brokenness and sin. Grieve it.

We can all find our place within the biblical story, it is the deepest and widest story ever told encompassing all history past present and future. Why then are most of us so very unfamiliar with the fullness of the story? Discipleship Questions: 1. What do you expect will happen over the course of this series? 2. How has western thinking affected your ability to engage with the biblical narrative? 3. Within the creation narrative what stands out to you? 4. What is exciting to you about how God designed things to be? 5. What do you think it would it be like to dwell with God?

Power, for all of its attraction, has a way of revealing who we truly are. What is the true test of power and how can we know who has the greater might and power. These are really important questions to know the answer to especially as it relates to who we will give our allegiance to. There are two powers on display in the Advent story and only one will win out. Discipleship Questions: 1. How is this strange story actually a confrontation of two powerful beings? 2. Why is weakness such a big player in the way that God operates? 3. Where is God’s power most clearly on display? 4. How have you been seduced by the power structures of this world? 5. Where must you repent and commit your life to Jesus’ power through you?

Great questions about life and destiny have always been asked by all people, many religions, faiths and belief systems try to answer them usually with a very self-centric answer. The Bible gives us a different answer and a very different plan than we might expect. In the account of John the Baptist's birth, we can learn much about our own lives. Discipleship Questions: 1. Have you ever asked the question ‘What is God’s plan for me/my destiny?’ What answer did you get? 2. Why is John’s birth and his life so important? 3. How in light of who God is can we begin to understand who we are? 4. Why is Advent a time that shows us God’s love for us? 5. What does it mean to be redeemed by Jesus and how does this give us hope?