July 24 | Discovery

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR GROUPS

By Micah Odor

1. Have you ever had to judge a contest, referee a sport, or sit on a jury? What was it like? 

2. Do you tend to focus more on your successes or your failures?  

• Do you tend to focus on the success of others or their failures? 

3. Last week, we talked about encouragement. Who did you encourage over the past week? 

Ask two people to read aloud 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions. Then, as a group, quickly restate the passage in your own words. 

4. Reread verses 3 and 4. If Paul were writing about you, what one thing in your spiritual life would he boast about? 

5. We tend to think that being judged is a bad thing, but Paul wrote about a coming judgment in an encouraging way. Why would judgment be encouraging for the church in Thessalonica?  

• In what areas of life might a coming judgment be encouraging for you? 

6. Verses 6-10 contain a significant warning that we shouldn’t gloss over. What emotions do you feel as you read these words?  

• What do those verses make you want to do? 

7. Verse 11 contains a beautiful prayer by Paul for his friends. If you knew Paul was praying that God would “bring to fruition your every desire for goodness,” what good thing would you desire? What “deed prompted by faith?” 

8. What can we learn about God from this week’s passage? 

9. What can we learn about ourselves? 

10. With the warnings of verses 5-10 in mind, for whom do you need to be praying this week and how could you invite them to take a step closer to Jesus? 

11. Based on our study and discussion, complete this sentence: “This week, I will . . .” 

For Next Week: Read and reflect on 2 Thessalonians 3:1-15. You can also read next week’s supplemental texts as well as the Study and Application sections as part of your personal study.