Click here to see the sermon discussion questions or see them listed below. We highly encourage you to listen, think, and talk about the sermon. These are questions you can reflect on by yourself, with your family, or with your small group.

Sermon Discussion Questions:

1. In spite of his suffering, the Apostle Paul, throughout his epistles, exhorts Christians to give thanks for all things (1 Thes 5:18, Eph 5:20, Col 3:17) What do you think Paul learned through his trials and persecution about giving thanks in all circumstances, always, and in everything we do?

2. Paul undertook a Nazirite vow to dedicate himself to God, symbolizing his desire to yield himself completely to God.  Why do you think Paul, or anyone else for that matter, would take such a vow?  Should Christians today follow Paul’s lead and take a Nazirite vow? Explain

3. We’ve all probably felt “burned out” in life at some point. It certainly seems the apostle Paul did. How does the gospel restore our heart, mind and soul?  Similarly, as in Paul’s life, why would a thankful heart be “fuel for future ministry”?

4. Why is love for Christ intertwined with love for the church?  Can you love one without loving the other?  Think about the people in our church.  What makes it hard to love all of them? What does this tell you about what it takes to truly love Jesus Christ?

5. Apollos was a gifted, educated and eloquent man who was also willing to be corrected and taught by Priscilla and Aquilla.  Do you think humility is necessary to reach people with the gospel and teach them the Scriptures? Why would a sense of entitlement undermine such efforts? 

6. Apollos was preaching a baptism of repentance similar to John the Baptist.  Is it enough to be sorrowful over our sin and to repent from wicked lifestyle in order to truly be saved?  How is a person saved? 

7. The unbelieving world tends to think that the source of our problems comes from outside of ourselves and that the solution to our problems must ultimately come from within ourselves.  Explain how the Bible teaches the exact opposite and why this leads to a thankful heart.