Passage for this week: 1 Corinthians 5:6
Resource: Pray The Word Podcast by David Platt
How to use this resource: The questions below should be read after you and your family have spent time listening to the resource, and after you have had time to read through the passage carefully and slowly. Following your family time discussion (using the questions below, or your own questions regarding this text), close in prayer and ask your kids how you can be praying for them and let them know how they can be praying for you as parents.
Family Devotional Question For This Week:
1. What stands out to you the most from reading this passage? What did you learn that is new to you from this passage? What did you learn that caused you to remember something you’ve known, or what has been reinforced from reading this passage?
2. How is one persons sin or a small sin in our own life a bad thing?
(Potential answers: This passage has been covering the beneficial removal of an unrepentant unremorseful (and proud of their sin) congregant within the corinthian church. Paul likens this whole process and focus to the use of leaven when making bread. leavening a lump or dough with yeast happens when just a small amount proportional to the dough is added to the whole lump and mixed in. as it is mixed in, the lump rises and expands exponentially. thus, what was once a small unseeing amount of ‘leaven’ ends up effecting the entire lump of dough in a tremendous way. sins of any size that are not dealt with in a godly and gracious manner have the potential to ruin an entire congregation, so personal responsibility for each christian is to be in Gods Word, allowing it to transform our hearts and minds continually (Romans 12:1-2) and be willing to kill internal pride and listen to your brothers and sisters if they see sinful patterns of living in your life.)
3. How can we balance grace and forgiveness with taking sin seriously and, if needed, practicing church discipline? individually what should this look like for you?
(Potential answers: Before telling us to think with sober judgement regarding our own lives and actions (From Paul / Romans 12) wee see Jesus explaining in Matthew that the grace that we are measuring and giving to others is what Jesus says will be used to measure ourselves (Matthew 7:2). These words should cause us to take seriously the grace we have been given by God through the cleansing blood of Jesus christ and to be reminded of the payment of his life on the cross that was in our place for the sins we have committed. If we are committed to asking God to reveal the true nature of sin to us through his word, his people and communing with him in prayer, it can be expected that we would grow in holiness and in rejection of sin in our personal lives.)
Prayer Prompts For This Week:
– Pray that we continue seeing sin for what it truly is – rebellion against a Holy God.
– Pray that God would give us clarity in areas of our lives that we have neglected repenting of sin and for God to make us aware of what those areas are. pray also that we would seek reconciliation in protected ways for those who have sinned against us and vice versa so that we would abide in Gods Word and in holiness.
– Continue to pray for one another and write down or remember the requests of each person. Either have one person pray over each request, or delegate those prayer requests so that each person prays for something or someone specific.