Lifegroup Sermon Outline: Week of 9-27-2021

by | Sep 28, 2021 | adult ministry, Church Wide, LifeGroup Guide

LIFEGROUPS: SERMON OUTLINE

Week of September 27, 2021 

SERIES: Return Back to God – The Book of Joel

TITLE: Week 4 – “A Glorious Future”

Joel 3:17-21

MESSAGE PREVIEW: 

Pastor Brian concluded our sermon series in the book of Joel this weekend as we discussed “A Glorious Future.” Here is a preview of the message. 

INTRODUCTION

  1. Hope in difficult times comes in understanding a glorious future. 
  2. To conclude and summarize the book of Joel we need to zoom out and answer FOUR QUESTIONS. 

QUESTION #1: How is God Toward His Covenant People?

  1. LORD (YHWH) – the covenant name of God. 
  2. Covenant: Genesis 15:1-21. Let’s talk about cutting covenant. (Covenant Picture) 
    1. Genesis 15:17-21 ESV “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” 
    2. There is blood, smoke, and fire. 
    3. Redemptive Theophany – God passes through twice. Once for Him and once for Abraham. 
    4. God knew Abraham and his children couldn’t keep the covenant. It is on the cross where He takes the penalty of broken covenant. 
    5. God is like a father: He disciplines, defends, provides, protects, avenges, and covers with grace. 
    6. How can we expect this kind of treatment from God? Only in Christ. 

QUESTION #2: Who Are God’s Covenant People Today? 

  1. Jeremiah 31:31-33 ESV “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
  2. Hebrews 8:6-8 ESV “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.  For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…”
  3. Hebrews 8:13 ESV “13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
  4. Hebrews 9:15 ESV “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”
  5. Hebrews 12:24 ESV “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
  6. Romans 11:22-27 ESV “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. 25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” 

QUESTION #3: What Will Happen on the Great Day of the Lord? 

  1. The Lord will judge the nations (people groups) in the valley of decision.
    1. Joel 3:1-3 ESV “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.”
    2. Valley of Jehoshaphat – means YHWH judges, Valley of Jezreel, Valley of Armageddon – Revelation 16:6 (Picture of the Valley)  
  2. Final war. All this is because of sin and the wickedness of nations. 

QUESTION #4: What is the Glorious Future? 

  1. Joel 3:18-21 ESV ““And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim.19 “Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness,
    for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. 20 But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. 21 I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion.”
  1. A total restoration of the land. (vs.18)
    1. Sweet wine. New wine. 
    2. Hills flowing with milk. 
    3. Streambeds of Judah flowing with water.
    4. Fountain from the house of the Lord watering the Valley of Shittim. 
  2. Vengeance of the Lord against His enemies. (vs. 19)
  3. A restored Jerusalem inhabited by God and His people forever. (vs. 20-21)

RESPONSE

  1. For the follower of Christ, the future is glorious. For the enemies of God, the future is disastrous. 
    1. Revelation 22:7 ESV “Behold I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
    2. Revelation 22:12-13 ESV ““Behold I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
  2. Enemies of God will be judged and repaid according to their deeds. 
    1. Romans 5:10 ESV “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life”
    2. Revelation 22:20-21 ESV “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come Lord Jesus! The grace of the LORD JESUS be with all. Amen.”
  3. What is your future like? 

ICEBREAKER QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION

OPENING DISCUSSION: GOD MOMENTS  

What a great series this has been! Our hope and prayer is that you’ve had some great conversations around the book of Joel. 

It’s so important to remember who God is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He has promised to do. Take some time to practice the rhythm of remembering. Share some God moments and prayer requests as you kick-off you group time this week. 

  1. What are the “God moments” from this past week?  How have you seen God at work that is unmistakably Him? 
    1. How has He been working not just in your life personally, but in the lives of your family (spouse, kids, grandkids)? 
  2. How did God speak to you through His Word this past week? 
    1. How are you hearing and obeying? 
  3. How can we specifically pray for you this week? 

Pray as a group – thanking God for how He is at work and asking Him to answer the requests that were mentioned. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Ask and discuss the following questions.

Q: How would you define covenant in the Scriptures? Why is this an important concept to understand?  

Q: How do we see covenant explained and illustrated in Genesis 15?

Q: How does we see covenant fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus? (Check out Hebrews 8:6-8 & 13, 9:15, and 12:24.)

Q: Who are God’s covenant people today? How do we know this?  

Q: How is God towards His covenant people?

Q: What will happen on the Great Day of the Lord?    

Q: How should knowing the Great Day of the Lord is coming affect how we live our lives today?

Q: Can you describe the glorious future followers of Jesus have in store? Why do followers of Jesus have this glorious future to look forward to? 

Q: How should the glorious future that awaits us as followers of Jesus influence and impact how we live our lives today?  

WRAP-UP

Followers of Jesus have a glorious future awaiting. This glorious future should not only influence and impact what we look forward to but also how we live today! As we wrap-up our study in Joel, let’s focus on what we have been hearing from the Lord and how God is calling us to obey. 

  1. What did you hear? 
    1. What is your one “take-away” from this week? How did God speak specifically to you through this week’s passage and study? 
    2. What is you main “take-way” from the series? 
  2. What do you think? 
    1. How did this passage and study affirm, challenge, or change the way you think about gathering in big and small ways? 
    2. What about for the series as a whole? 
  3. What will you do? 
    1. What is your next step? How will you take the truth of God’s Word and apply it to your life this week?   

Close with prayer. 

SCRIPTURES FROM THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE: 

  • Joel 3:17-21, Genesis 15:1-21, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Hebrews 8:6-8 & 13, 9:15, 12:24, Romans 11:22-27, Joel 3:13, 3:18-21, Revelation 22:7 & 12-13, Romans 5:10, Revelation 22:20-21 

UPCOMING MESSAGES: 

  • Series: “Protect This House” 
    • October 3 – Marriage: Closing the Doors of Destruction (Hebrews 13:4) 
    • October 10 – God Deigned It, Let Him Build It (Psalm 127:1)
    • October 17 – Parenting: Discipling the Next Generation (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
    • October 24 – Leading and Living Through Family Difficulty (Psalm 121:1-8)