Bethany Community Church

Teacher: Pastor Richard Dahlstrom, November 8, 2011.

In Paul’s movement from trial to trial, before Felix, Festus, nt Agrippa, and then Rome, all notions that Christianity is a pathway to upward mobility are vaporized. Instead, we see that Paul’s particular unfolding of the truth that, “all who desire to live in Christ will suffer.” Each of us must learn to live as people of hope, right in the midst of our own prisons.

Discussion Questions:
Nancy Eckardt

Each of us must learn to live as people of hope, right in the midst of our own prison.

1. Can you think of an example when you have felt stuck between a rock and hard place? How did you handle it? How did it turn out for your “rock” and “hard place?”

2. How do you respond to the reality that followers of God are often prisoners of injustice? How do you reconcile the presence of God in the world with the reality of injustice?

3. How does the presence of evil impact your relationship with God?

4. Who is someone you know or have read about who responded well to difficulty and injustice in their life?

5. Richard mentions in his sermon that the last freedom we have is to choose our response to a situation. How does that apply to difficulties that you might be in right now?

6. How can you move toward being a person of hope, and away from a person of bitterness?

7. How do you find hope in the promise that we are “more than conquerors”?

8. How have you been a “prisoner of incessant delays”? How do you respond to waiting and uncertainty?

9. What is your context for declaring Christ right now?

From the bulletin, a response to the sermon:

1. What is your prison?

2. What is your prayer regarding your prison?