Session 10 – Small Group Study Guide
Gentle and Lowly Chapters 18-19
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Study Questions
- Ortlund quotes Goodwin who writes, “The greater the misery is, the more is the pity when the party is beloved. Now of all miseries, sin is the greatest” (p. 167). How have you seen the misery of sin in your life?
- God’s indictments on pp. 163-64 express just how depraved Israel was, and yet it is meant to highlight all the more God’s heart in Jeremiah 31:20, “For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still.” As you think about your own sin, how have you found comfort in the truth that God remembers you still? How has His mercy motivated you to repentance and faith in Christ?
- Take time to repent of any sin in your life from the past week. At the same time, can you write a prayer that especially places trust and hope in God’s heart for you in the midst of it?
- What resources have you used or what practices in your life help you recall and give thanks daily for the mercy of God in your life?
- What are specific moments from the life of Jesus that you have particularly learned from as it relates to how mercy is practically and concretely expressed? Write down those verses.
- One thing Ortlund reminds us of is the fact that whether we are “immoral dead people” or “moral dead people,” “Either way, we’re dead” (p. 177). He writes further that God “doesn’t withhold mercy from some kinds of sinners while extending it to others.” In other words, His mercy extends to sinners of any and every kind. Who are the people in your life that you find it difficult to extend mercy toward? Ask God to help you see His love toward you, so that you might extend mercy toward those people.
Sharing and Prayer
- What is one thing from this study that has impacted your understanding of Jesus? How might this add a dimension to how you relate to Him?
- Share other prayer requests:
