Bethany Community Church

Preached on Sunday, May 3rd

Teacher: Richard Dahlstrom

This week, we looked at Hosea and considered how we tend to wander away from God, only to desire to return to him. We looked at Hosea 6:1-3, where we are encouraged to return to the Lord and press on to return to the Lord over and over again.

• Can you think of a time when you were a child that you wandered off? How did you feel? How did it feel to be found?
• Can your describe a time when as an adult you wandered away from the Lord? How did it feel to return and be home again?
• Hosea 10:12 says: “Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground.”
  • Sow with a view to righteousness. Where are you on the road? What steps do you need to take to return to the Lord?
  • Reap in accordance with kindness. What gifts from God do you find easy to receive? What gifts do you find hard to receive? Why?
  • Break up the fallow ground. What behavior patterns do you need to break? What will it take?
• Hosea 12:6 says: “Therefore, return to your God, observe kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually.”
  • How do you hold fast to kindness and justice?
  • What are you waiting for in the Lord? How is the waiting going?
  • Can you think of a time with waiting opened your eyes to God’s gifts in a new way?
• Hosea 14:2-3 talks about confessing our sin before God and renouncing the things in our lives that draw us away from one another.
  • What keeps you from being honest with God? With your friends?