God's Sovereignty Is Not Compromised

In one paragraph

Week six of Tribe's ongoing series on Israel focused on the word Zionism, where it comes from, what it actually means, and why Brian Hunter thinks the church needs to reclaim it. He made the case that God's sovereignty is not undone by the imperfection of the people or movements he works through, and he pressed the congregation to think carefully about how they have let others define terms for...

Read together

1. Romans 11:28-29 God's gifts and call to Israel cannot be withdrawn, even when they are enemies of the good news
2. Psalms 105:7-8 God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as a never-ending commitment to give Israel the land of Canaan
3. Ezra 1:1-4 King Cyrus decrees that the Jews may return to their ancestral land and rebuild the temple
4. Isaiah 44:28 God calls King Cyrus his shepherd who will command the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple
5. Isaiah 45:1 God calls King Cyrus his anointed one whose right hand he will empower
6. Romans 1-3 God gave people over to a depraved mind as a form of judgment by withdrawal
7. 1 Timothy 4:2 The conscience becoming seared, raised in discussion of how God withdraws as judgment
8. Psalms 139:5 Quoted from the Passion Translation to illustrate God going into our future and following behind to protect us from the harm of our past

Talk about it

1. Romans 11:28-29 says Israel are enemies of the good news yet still people God loves. How does that tension between 'enemy' and 'beloved' sit with you, and what does it say about how God might call us to think about people we find hard to love?
2. Brian said our tendency is to be good to people who are good to us. Where in your own life have you noticed that pattern, and where have you seen it broken?
3. Brian walked through the logical fallacy of rejecting the whole Zionist movement because of who funded its early days. Can you think of other beliefs or movements you may have accepted or rejected based on similar flawed reasoning rather than examining the thing itself?
4. God called the pagan, idol-worshiping King Cyrus 'my shepherd' and 'my anointed one' in Isaiah. What does that do to your picture of who God is willing to work through, and does that comfort you or unsettle you?
5. Brian said the enemy wants to use your past failures to convince you that you are disqualified from being used or loved by God. Has that lie shown up in your own life, and what has helped you push back against it?