CRAZY LOVE CHAPTER 7

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 QUESTIONS


1) Is your life shaped in any way by the hope of eternal life? If so, how? If not, why do you think this is the case?
2) Have you ever come to a point where you realized the foolishness of seeking fulfillment outside of Christ? If so, what prompted that realization and what was it like?
3) Have you ever done anything that wouldn’t make any sense if all we have is this life, but makes perfect sense in light of eternity? If so, describe what you did and why you did it. If not, why do you think you’ve never done anything like this?
4) What are you doing right now that requires faith?

5) Describe the way you tend to interact with people. Would you characterize this as sacrificial love? Why or why not?
6) Think very practically here: How should your love for God flow out in sacrifice for the sake of others?
7) Assess your earning, saving, and spending habits in terms of wholehearted devotion to God. Which of these habits might be foolish in light of eternity? How so?
8) Do you have any possessions or resources that God might be calling you to give away to someone who is in need? What and why?
9) In the definition of faith in Hebrews verse 1, what two verbs describe faith?
10) How has your faith changed as a result of your faith in God?

11) End by praying that God would work in your heart. The concept of wholehearted devotion to God can quickly degenerate into a legalistic denial of all of God’s gifts. Instead, ask God to show you distractions in your life and expose things that you desire more than you desire God. Ask Him to decrease your desire for these things and increase your desire for Him. Ask Him to multiple your love for Him to such an extent that it spills out into every area of your life and into the lives of the people He has placed in your life.

CRAZY LOVE - CHAPTER 6 QUESTIONS

1) What if God loves you so much that He doesn’t want to see you with frustration, doesn’t want you to be shackled with guilt or fear, and doesn’t want you driven to try harder? How does it affect you to think of Him like that?

2) Think about Paul’s words in Galations 5:13-14. How do love and freedom keep us away from sin?

3) Consider the difference between serving God out of love versus obligation. How does obedience to God change as our love for God grows?

4) Does the Christian life feel free to you? Or do you feel bound to obey a system of moral commands? Be descriptive in your answer.

5) Which is more difficult for you, relating to God with intimacy or approaching him with reverence? Why do you think this is more difficult for you?

6) What baggage do you carry around with you? How do you think this affects your relationship with God?

7) In the three possibilities of love relationships (with God, neighbor, and self) where are you the strongest? The weakest? What have you found that helps love to grow in each area?

8) It’s time to stop talking about loving God and start spending time directly with Him. Use everything you’ve thought through in this session as you approach God. Be honest with Him about your lack of love for Him. Tell him about your struggles and ask Him to produce more love in your heart. It’s time to stop talking about loving God and start spending time directly with Him. Use everything you’ve thought through in this session as you approach God. Be honest with Him about your lack of love for Him. Tell him about your struggles and ask Him to produce more love in your heart. (You may find this prayer from Chapter 6 helpful:) “Jesus, I need to give myself up. I am not strong enough to love You and walk with You on my own. I can’t do it, and I need You. I need You deeply and desperately. I believe You are worth it, that You are better than anything else I could have in this life or the next. I want You And when I don’t, I want to want You. Be all in me. Take all of me. Have your way with me”.

CRAZY LOVE CHAPTER 5

QUESTIONS

1) Would you say that you are guilty of serving “leftovers” to God? How so, or why not?

2) What does it mean to take up your cross and follow Jesus? (see Matt. 16:24-25). What do you think Matthew thought those words meant when he wrote them down?

3) Being as practical as possible, describe some of the ways that taking up your cross and following Jesus might play in your unique setting.

4) How would you explain the difference between living a perfect life and developing a posture of obedience to God? Why is the distinction important?

5) Whether or not you’ve decided that you’re living the “lukewarm life” at this point in your life, write down some thoughts about the solution to lukewarmness (if you don’t need this right now, you will at some point). How do you overcome apathy and increase your love for God?

6) What does it mean to be, “quick to Listen” ^NRS/NIV/“lead with your ears” ^Message? How does this produce the “righteous” life that God desires?

7) What is the point of the “mirror” image? How is this point reflected in “real” or “pure” religion (v. 26-27)?

8) What aspect of God’s Word here will put into action?

9) Spending some time with God. As you do, meditate on the following questions. Don’t answer quickly; just consider these things in God’s presence, and do whatever business with God is necessary: Am I willing to say to God that He can have whatever He wants? Do I believe that wholehearted commitment to Him is more important than any other thing or person in my life? Do I believe that nothing I do in this life will ever matter unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made?

CRAZY LOVE CHAPTER 4

CRAZY LOVE CHAPTER 4




1. You might be a redneck if…you have ever used a spit can.

2. You might be a lukewarm Christian if…

a. _______ in worship attendance. (Isa. 29:13)

b._______ not a tither. (Micah 3:8-12)

c. More concerned about what ______ think rather than what God thinks. (Luke6:26)

d. Don’t take ______ seriously. (Rom. 6:1-2)

e. Rarely share their ________with others. (Matt.10:32-33)

f. Think about life on earth more then _______with God in heaven. (Col.3:2)

g. Play it safe rather than stepping out in ________. (Matt.10:28)

h. Think more about your _______K, then Jesus. (Luke 18:21-25)

i. Don’t know any ______ people. (Matt.25:34,40)

j. Aren’t that different then _________. (Matt.23:25-28)

3. Like a glass of warm spit. (Revelations 3:16)

4. Lukewarmness is the inevitable result of lack of ________ for God.

5. The solution is not to push yourself to try ________, the solution is to ________your love for God.

6. Spit busters. Growing your ______for God.

a. Spending ______with God.

b. Making Jesus your _______priority.

c. _______ on the Holy Spirit.

7. Remember your ________love. (Rev. 2:1-7)



Questions to consider:

1. Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus? Or do words like half-hearted, lukewarm, partially committed fit better?

2. Have you ever experienced a love for God so intense that it would lead you to do whatever He wanted for His sake?

3. What desires are stronger than your desire for God?

4. What barriers in life keep you from loving God as you ought?

5. How can you overcome those barriers?

6. What can you do to cultivate a stronger love for God?

7. It is impossible to overcome tendencies toward lukewarmness by simply trying harder. We need God’s power and God’s spirit. Spend time simply enjoying God’s presence and asking Him to come near to you.

CRAZY LOVE ***February 4 & 5 - CHAPTER 3

1  Corinthians 13 and John 3:16 -17

1) How would you explain the difference between knowing God’s love intellectually and knowing it intimately? 


2) Think about your life and your relationship with God. How does God demonstrate His love to you? Be specific. How do these demonstrations  of God’s love affect you? (Don’t think about how these things ought to make you feel; describe how they actually make you feel and what they move you to do.)

3) Describe some things that have made you question God’s love for you (whether God gave you things you didn’t want, didn’t give you what you wanted, or took something good from you). How do these things make you feel about God and His love?

4) In light of your circumstances, what would it mean to believe and embrace God’s love for you?

5) Do you remember the moment when you “got it,” when you first realized you loved God with your heart, mind and soul? Describe that moment.

6) How can you work together with the Christians in your life to remind one another throughout the week of the love Jesus demonstrated on the cross?

7) Can you honestly say that you believe God is the greatest good in the universe? If not, what keeps you from affirming this? If so, what makes Him the greatest good?

 8) What is love? List the seven characteristics of what love is and the eight that it is not in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7?

9) Rewrite each of the “love is…” qualities to show what love ought to look like in your specific situations at home, work, church, etc. Which one do you feel the need to work on this week?

CRAZY LOVE *** January 28 and 29 - Chapter 2

  JAMES 4:13-7, LUKE 12:13-21

1) List the elements in your life that keep you distracted. Include both good things and bad things in this list.

2) How is it that the good things in your life have come to distract you from what is most important?

3) What would it take to adjust your lifestyle and mentality in order to put the most important things back in their proper places?

4) Make a few notes on this passage. What is James warning against? What is he calling us to do?

5) If James were to say these words specifically to you in the midst of your current life situation, what do you think he would tell you to avoid. What do you think he would tell you to pursue?

6) What are the sources of stress and anxiety in your life? 

7) What can you do to remind yourself of God’s care and your dependence on Him in the midst of these stressful situations?

8) How can you structure your life to reflect the fact that your every second is dependent on the grace of God?

9) Describe some people in your life who have died abruptly. What were some of their achievements in life and what might have been their regrets?

10) If today was the day you died, what would you regret, and why.

11) What can you change about your life today to avoid those regrets?

12) What lifestyle difference result from believing in Jesus?

13) In planning an investment portfolio to become “rich toward God”, what will you do this week? This year?

14) Close your time in this session by praying. You’ve been thinking through some pretty heavy issues, and if you’re seriously thinking about making changes in your life to avoid regrets, you likely have some important changes to make. Remember that this life is all about dependence on God and that so many things will pull you away from His simple calling on your life. Spend some time asking God to work in your heart and mind to remove distractions and place you on the path He’s calling you to.

CRAZY LOVE ***Chapter 1 -Jan 21 & 22

 JOHN 1:1-2:2

1)How can your relationship with God and your prayer life differ as a result of reading chapter 1 and considering God’s glory?

2)Describe your prayer life.Do you find yourself talking at God, or do you take time to consider who you are talking to and enjoy being awed by His presence?Why do you think you tend to pray the way you do?
3)How often do you stop to consider how great God is and how insignificant you are by comparison?When you do, what leads you to this point?If you never do, why do you think you’ve never done this?
4)How can you build times of reflection into your lifestyle?
5)What things in your life distract you from loving and worshipping God the way He deserves to be loved and worshiped? What can you do to overcome these obstacles?
6)Which aspects of your priorities, thoughts, and actions declare that you exist for God’s service and glory?
7)Which aspects of your life declare that God exists for your benefit and service?
8)If there are aspects of your life that declare that God exists for your benefit and service, how can you begin to reorder these aspects of your life around the reality of God’s greatness and your dependence on him?

9)What does John mean by the statement “God is light”, practically what does it mean to “walk in the light” as opposed to walking “in darkness”?



If light is linked to love and darkness to hate (see 1 John 1:6&2:9), what does that imply about relating to God? About growing spiritually? What hope does John give when people fail to live in the light of Christ’s love (1:9, 2:1-2)?
you have many opportunities weekly to go further in-depth with Crazy Love including:
1. Read the book.
2. Join a Crazy Love Discussion Group:
· Rowley’s group will be held Mondays at 10:00 a.m. at FUMC.
· Rathmel’s group will be held Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. at FUMC.
· Crook’s group will be held Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. at FUMC.
· Late Birds group will be held Thursdays at 8:00 a.m. at Mr. C’s.
· Pastor Lane will be leading a group in the Chapel on Sundays at 9:40-10:10 a.m.
3. Watch corresponding chapter videos for Crazy Love
weekly at www.crazylovebook.com/videos.html.