The Church - Week 8
Sunday, November 1, 2020
In week #8 of our series on “The Church”, we tackle the question “How should the church relate to government?”
Why are authority structures a “good thing”?
Give some illustrations how God created His creation with authority structures embedded.
How has sin infiltrated authority structures or led to the misuse of authority?
Share some examples from Scripture.
Share some examples from history or our current time & culture.
Review five ways the church relates to the government. The church relates to the government by:
Understanding God’s purpose for government.
Obeying the laws of the government.
Honoring the leaders of our government.
Loving one another regardless of the government.
Revering God above all government.
Jason said that the basic purpose for government is to restrain evil and to regard good.
What does it mean for the government to restrain evil by administering justice?
How does the government regard good?
Are we to honor every leader in authority? Why or why not?
How does reflecting on Peter’s letter during the time of Nero help us answer this question?
Why is it so difficult for the American church to love one another regardless of the government
Review the four applications Jason gave:
Let’s believe in God’s purpose for government and do what we can to pursue it.
How is your belief in God’s purposes for government influencing your prayer life and actions today?
Let’s be a church that obeys the law unless doing so causes us to disobey God.
How could we see this applying to UBC?
Let’s love each other like family especially when interacting about politics.
What does this look like?
Let’s honor our leaders knowing that God is firmly in control.
How can we best honor our leaders during this election week?
Take some time to pray for deep trust in God’s leadership, wisdom for our elected officials, and peace among the people of our country.