If you missed the sermon on this passage you can pick it up here.
What are your first thoughts on reading this account?
Does your family background have a lasting effect on your approach to life?
As a group: list all the positive reasons why you think God chose Jephthah and then all of the negative reasons that might have put you off from choosing him to lead?
Talk through Jephthah’s vow. From the point of him making it, was that good or bad? Also what was the outcome?
Where are the main areas of application for us in this passage?
The way that traditional values have been slowly eroded over past decades and are now increasingly and aggressively derided and forced out of our society cannot have escaped any Christian, and so it is more and more important that in following Christ’s reminder in Matthew 5:13-16 to be ‘Salt & Light’, that we ensure we’re equipped.
As a Church New Connexions does everything we can to help you with that equipping: in our preaching, teaching, studying together, prayer, fellowship and care for one another we seek The Lord’s leading and to be obedient to Him. We also ensure that current issues which require our attention are posted on our Twitter Page, but we are also thankful to the Lord for the many people and organisations who are involved in ministries sharing and caring for Christians in this land. In particular this post is indebted to Roger Kiska and the team at Christian Concern for providing the short video below. Please do watch it and also share it as widely as you possibly can.
This is one of many, many areas where our society is under attack (for others see our Twitter Page), please keep informed, keep lobbying and keep sharing. Also please keep praying, stay strong in the battle, and praise God for His goodness!
As a group try and describe God as completely as you can.
Read through the text from each translation that is represented in your group.
What caused Paul to write these verses?
When you read and hear about God’s incredible attributes and His salvation plan, what is your reaction?
In the sermon we picked up on at least five areas of application. As a group consider the key areas of application and discuss how you will help each other in applying this passage in your daily lives.
We are starting a Connexional Sunday School training today. Trainees(50-60) are of various backgrounds and different educational levels, some not literate at all. They will spend 49 hrs in 8 weekends. Pray for patience in bother facilitators and trainees and wisdom; & resources to handle this successfully.
We have been having, for quite a while now, a serious back and forth with the government on boundaries at Jui land. We are now close to a compromised solution. Pray for sincerity in the hearts of government officials.
The cost of living has considerably increased in the past months. Many people (over 85%) are really poor and things are difficult. Inflation and lack of employment are among some of the reasons. Pray that God will endow the government with wisdom to tackle the root cause of this trend.
As Pastors in the Connexion, we have been praying and planning for our usual annual rretreat.Over 80% of our Ministers depend on stipend from the SLM grant. Paying the cost of the retreat by themselves is not feasible. Pray for God’s provision as we plan for this event which is so important for Ministers.
The Connexional youth have also planned to meet for their camp this year after a lapse. Pray for their planning team for wisdom and provision.
The chaplaincy ministry in our schools is up and running as of September. Pray for God to help us sustain it and use it to bless the teachers and children.
A gentleman called Gabriel Madieh, who is head of The Shepherds Hospice in Sierra Leone, was leasing one of our facilities at Jui. This was where the heads of the Connexion should reside, but he has been working frantically to connive with government so that he can take the facility away from us and own it personally. He has refused to pay the agreed lease since 2003 and forcefully continues to stay in the house. We cannot take legal action against him as yet until we have all the papers from government. Many people in the Connexion are very furious with his disrespectful attitude to the Connexion. Please pray that God will touch his heart and the Church will have the upper hand.
