Genesis 19 Discussion Guide
Sermon Date: April 30, 2023
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Here are important events that you should be aware of and praying over:
THE WAITING ROOM - May 6, 9:00am-12:00pm, CLB Office - 3304 N 190th Plz, Elkhorn, NE 68022
TELL YOUR STORY - We’re collecting stories! Visit clb.church/story to learn more.
WHY CITY GROUPS?
The point of a City Group is to help us apply God’s Word to our everyday lives through the power of the Holy Spirit, and to multiply faithful disciples of Jesus who make more disciples of Jesus. So we gather regularly to give ourselves to three basic Christian practices: sharing stories, reading the Bible, and praying.
PRAY
Ask if anyone would like to open up in prayer and ask God to bless your time together
STORY
Break the ice with a testimony..
Who has prepared their 5-7 minute story?
Who can give testimony of God’s goodness right now? (i.e. answered prayer, provision, transformation, etc.)
VISION FOR THIS DISCUSSION
We want to consider the pain that sinful compromises bring to our lives, and how to ‘stay clean’ before God and experience His blessing as we pursue holiness.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PASSAGE
Read Genesis 19 aloud as a group (caution: adult content). What are some initial observations that caught your attention?
Read Genesis 11:31 & Genesis 13:8-13 together to get a background on Lot. (God’s commentary on Sodom is clear - they “were sinning greatly against the Lord.” This should have been the first clue for Lot to keep his distance.)
By the time you get to Genesis 19:1, Lot has not kept his distance, but has become a civic leader in the community - likely an elder at this point, which shows a slow and steady progression of compromise in his life. He has gone from looking toward Sodom, to camping near Sodom, to living in Sodom, then to being a leader in Sodom. Lot’s sensitivity toward sin was on a steady decline…
Read Psalm 1:1-6 - it will show the effects of comfortability with sin (walking, to standing, to sitting…) What does this teach us about our relationship with paths and decisions that aren’t God’s best for us? What is the result of a life lived at a distance from God? How does this passage warn us?
Do you have a story or a lesson learned of getting comfortable and desensitized toward sin (attitude toward loved ones, decision, habit, social life, etc.)? How has God ‘awakened’ you to the evil within and increased your conviction over it? What did it cost you to ignore that conviction?
APPLICATION
Where are you ‘walking’, ‘standing’, or ‘sitting’ in sin? What is one area right now where your sensitivity to sin should increase? How will God bless you through repentance?
What tools, habits, or rhythms do you practice that keep you from compromise?
How would you encourage other people who are in the middle of the ‘drifts’ we all experience?
PRAYER
Feel free to ask the group for any pressing prayer requests that would be good to pray over together.
Use the TACOS acronym to let the text you studied pray for you:
Thanksgiving - “Father, thank you…”
Adoration - “Father, You are…”
Confession - “Father, I confess…”
Others - “Father, I pray for…”
Self - “Father, please help me…”
*If size or group dynamics seem to hinder prayer, consider dividing into groups of men/women or groups of 3-4 to reduce barriers to praying out loud.