Sermon-Based Group Discussion Guide

From Good to Broken

Part 1 of teaching series “A Matter of Death and Life”by Pastor Shawn Thornton

Discussion Guide by David Smith

March 15, 2015

In December, NBC listed the top 10 news stories of 2014: the Ebola outbreak, the Malaysia Airline disaster, race tensions in Ferguson and New York City; the rise of ISIS; the conflict in Ukraine; Robin Williams’ suicide; domestic violence in the NFL; Bill Cosby rape allegations; US-Cuba relations thawing; and, finally, the first landing on the surface of a comet. The first nine stories are clearly reflective of living in a broken world.

In the first two chapters of Genesis, we read a wonderfulaccountof a world that God created and declared good. Everything existed in harmony, all was beautiful, and man enjoyed true intimacy with God. But all that came crashing down as Adam and Even chose a different path, and we are left with a broken world. In this broken world we live with sin, pain, guilt, sorrow, and ultimately, death. The good news is that Jesus Christ pierces the darkness and brings the hope of redemption to all of creation.

Opening Question: What is your least favorite chore around the house?

I. From Good

Take turns reading Genesis chapters 1 and 2.

Psalm 19:1 (NIV):“The heavens declare the glory of God;the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

Acts 17:24-25, 28 (NLT): “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples,and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. ...For in him we live and move and exist. As some of yourown poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”

Psalm 8:6-8 (NIV): “You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”

  1. Think of a time in your life when you felt a sense of harmony with God, a close intimacy with Him. What do you think contributed to that experience? How did it come about?
  1. What is your favorite part of God’s creation? How can reflecting on God’s creation draw us closer to Him?
  1. Pastor Shawn describes this good world as a world focused on others. Describe a time when you witnessed a completely selfless act and the impactit made on you.

II. To Broken

Take turns reading Genesis chapter 3.

Romans 5:12 (NIV): “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”

Romans 8:22-23 (NLT): “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.”

Psalm 56:8 (NLT):“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”

Romans 5:18-19 (NLT): “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”

  1. Situations in our lives can often reflect the brokenness of this world that only God can address:
  2. Have you experienced God turn brokenness in your past into healing and redemption? Share with the group.
  3. Where are you currently seeing the result of a broken world in your life right now?
  4. Is there something God may be doing through that difficult circumstance? What might be a pathway to redemption in that situation?
  5. In the ancient world when people mourned, they regarded those tears as especially precious. They would keep the tears in alabaster bottles, collected as a way of remembering. The psalmist says God has a bottle, He remember our tears. How does the knowledge of God’s concern for us in a broken world transform our perspective in difficult times?
  1. Mother Theresa is attributed with the following quote: “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” What is one small thing—with great love-- you can do this week to reflect Christ’s love in a broken world?