COMPANION RESOURCES
Lesson for Nov. 1, 2020: God Is Faithful (2 Timothy 2:11-13; 4:6-8, 16-18)
“Trimming Around the Edges” by David Faust (Lesson Application)
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Study Questions for Groups
By Michael C. Mack
1. What big challenge did you face last week?
2. With whom did you share your faith in and love for Christ since we last met?
Ask three people—two readers and one reteller—to help. Ask the readers to read 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 4:6-8, 16-18 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions.
Ask the third person to summarize the main themes and subject matters from these passages.
3. What would you add to how the passages were summarized?
• How would you characterize Paul’s objective for writing this?
4. Let’s dig more deeply into this passage.
• How would you characterize the conditional (if-then) statements in 2 Timothy 2:11-13?
• What were Paul’s life circumstances before and as he wrote this letter?
• What was Paul’s mind-set in this stage of his life?
• What did Paul believe about God?
• How would you describe Paul’s faithfulness to and trust in God?
5. What does this passage teach you about humanity . . . with God as opposed to separated from him?
6. What do you learn about God from these passages?
7. What does it look like in practice for you (or how would you like for it to look) to keep the faith each day for the rest of your life?
8. One external function of Paul’s faith was that he proclaimed God’s message of good news, especially to the Gentiles, as God gave him strength and protected him. This week, how will you live by that same faith, so that through you “the message might be fully proclaimed”?
9. Based on our study and discussion, complete this sentence: “This week, I will . . .”
10. What new challenge will you face this week?
For Next Week: Over the next week, read and reflect on Titus 1 as we begin a new unit on “church life.” You might also read next week’s supplemental texts as well as the Study and Application sections as part of your personal study.
Author: Michael C. Mack
Michael C. Mack is editor of Christian Standard. He has served in churches in Ohio, Indiana, Idaho, and Kentucky. He has written more than 25 books and discussion guides as well as hundreds of magazine, newspaper, and web-based articles.
I am very snoopy but I would like these questions to have places readers could write their answers out and then the whole questioner could be “sent in”(submitted). I would like to see what others were concerned about (if anything) and how the questions could be improved on or in some manner be more stimulating for each reader’s personal use. Do you have some readers personally selected to turn in their answers from time to time to see how effective these questions become to them?