Q1: What piece of advice would you give to your 16-year-old self?

Everyone answers - 30 seconds per person.

Q2: 1 Corinthians 1:18 (ESV)

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Why do you think the message of the cross seems so foolish to lost people?

Q3: ‌Acts 15:1 (ESV)

15 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

People today still try to pick and choose parts of the Old Testament and just old-fashioned church culture and say you must do this to be saved. Why do you think that is?

What are some examples you see that are important to church culture but not in the Bible?

(Please be respectful with this conversation.)

Q4: Acts 15:28–29 (ESV)

28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

Pastor Jeremy brought out that the first two of these were about how we keep God first in the first-century pagan culture, and the second two were about how we keep ourselves clean from the world. What do you think? 

In your opinion, if James wrote that today for America, what might he say?

DIGGING DEEPER:

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 (ESV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

What stands out to you in this passage?