Leaders Guide Week of April 26, 2015

You Believe What? Truth Be Told

Leaders, I hope this is a great week of discussion and reflecting for you. This topic of the Bibles
reliability and inspiration is not one that gets talked about very much, but it is really important!
I would encourage you to see how the message hit your group and try and get an honest
assessment of where everyone is on the spectrum (full confidence in the Bible, some doubt,
significant doubts, disbelief). This will help you know how to steer your discussion.
I would also encourage you to remind your group of why these things matter. These really are
foundational issues.
It hit me this morning that many sermons are aimed at teaching or motivating people to love
God with their heart. Fewer have the bent of learning to love God with our mind. But both
are important.
You can use the Looking Back questions below to guide your discussion.
Hope you have a great discussion. Grateful for you and your leadership.
Could truth really be told? Could God have really revealed Himself and His will to us in words and
those words actually be in the Bible? If so, then that changes everything. In our limited time on
Sunday, we looked at the reliability and inspiration of the Bible two really big claims that the
Bible makes that we must deal with in order to accept it as truth. Where you land on these
important issues will have a massive impact on how you interact with the Bible.
Thinking It Through (agree/disagree consider/contemplate)

"The doctrine of Scripture affects all other doctrines, since they are derived from the
Scriptures."
~ Millard Erickson
The Bible was composed by 40 different authors including kings, peasants, shepherds, tax
collectors, and fishermen. It was written over a period of 1500 years on 3 continents in 3
different languages. The Bible includes narrative, history, poetry, biographies, sermons,
parables, and prophecy. Its authors speak independently, without consulting each other, on
hundreds of topics, but in spite of all of that diversity, the Bible tells one amazing story with
remarkable unity.
Working It Out
1. Have you struggled with questions about the Bibles reliability? Where are you today on
that issue?
2. Why is believing in the inspiration of the Bible so important?
3. Do we tend to treat the Bible more like a history book, encyclopedia, or manual than we
do the living words of God? Why or why not?