Discussion questions

GETTING STARTED  

Before we dig into Scripture’s authority, let’s start with the everyday voices we trust, ignore, or occasionally argue with. These questions are meant to get everyone talking, not place anyone on trial at the Diet of Worms. The sermon’s central question is simple: Who gets the final word?​

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1. What piece of advice from a parent, grandparent, teacher, or coach has stayed with you...even if you didn’t appreciate it at the time?

2. What instructions or warning label have you ignored and later discovered were there for a very good reason?

3. Who is someone whose opinion carries unusual weight with you? What makes you trust that person?

4. When several voices disagree, experts, family, friends, social media, and your own gut, which one are you naturally most likely to believe first?

 

DIGGING DEEPER

These questions follow the sermon’s movement from remaining in Scripture, to recognizing its divine source, to receiving its correction, and finally to finding Christ in its message. Take time with the passages...the goal is not to finish quickly, but to see more clearly why God’s Word deserves the final word.​

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Stay in the Word

1. In 2 Timothy 3:14–15, what reasons does Paul give Timothy for continuing in what he has learned? How do the words learned, convinced, those from whom you learned it, and the sacred writings fit together?

2. Look up Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and Psalm 78:1–8. What roles do parents, testimony, repetition, and God’s revealed acts play in passing faith to the next generation? How is biblical faith more than simply inheriting a family tradition?

3. Paul tells Timothy to “continue.” Why is continuing in revealed truth different from refusing to learn, think, or grow? How can someone grow deeper without needing to move beyond Scripture?

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Stand Under the Word

1. What exactly does Paul claim by calling Scripture “God-breathed”? Why is this primarily a statement about Scripture’s source, rather than about how inspired or encouraged a reader may feel?

2. Look up 2 Peter 1:19–21. What does Peter mean when he says the writers were “carried along” by the Holy Spirit? How does this passage hold together genuine human authorship and divine authorship?

3. Look up Matthew 5:17–18 and John 10:34–36. What do Jesus’ words reveal about His view of Scripture’s authority, permanence, and reliability?

4. What can ancient manuscript evidence reasonably demonstrate about the Bible? What can it not prove by itself? Why is it important to distinguish the reliable preservation of Scripture from its divine inspiration?

5. Look up Nehemiah 8:1–8. What roles do public reading, careful explanation, teachers, and the gathered community play in understanding God’s Word? How does this passage challenge the idea that Sola Scriptura means, “Just me and my private interpretation”?

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Be Shaped by the Word

1. Paul says Scripture teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains. How are those four functions different, and how do they work together? What would be missing if Scripture only taught or encouraged but never rebuked and corrected?

2. Look up Hebrews 4:12–13. How does the picture of God’s Word penetrating, discerning, and exposing deepen Paul’s description of Scripture’s corrective work?

3. The sermon contrasted the religious leaders’ use of Corban with the Bereans’ response to Paul. What opposite mistakes do those two examples reveal? How can tradition become more authoritative than Scripture, and how can Scripture test even a respected teacher without producing cynicism?

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Follow the Word to Christ

1. Look up Luke 24:25–27 and 44–47. How does Jesus describe the relationship between the Old Testament and Himself? How does this help explain Paul’s claim that Timothy’s childhood Scriptures could make him “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”?

 

​LIVING IT OUT

God’s Word is meant to do more than inform us...it reshapes how we think, speak, decide, and point people to Christ. These questions invite honest conversation about what it looks like to stand on Scripture with both conviction and grace.​

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1. What voice most often competes with Scripture for the final word in your life: your feelings, family expectations, political views, fear of others, or something else? Where do you notice that struggle most clearly?

2. Think of a time when Scripture challenged something you strongly wanted or believed. What emotions did that bring up, and what helped, or would have helped, you receive correction without becoming defensive?

3. Suppose a family member or close friend says, “The Bible is outdated and has nothing to say to modern life.” How could you respond honestly and respectfully without becoming argumentative or retreating into silence?

4. In a workplace, school, or neighborhood conversation, someone asks why you believe the Bible. What could you say that is clear and sincere, while avoiding both a lecture and an embarrassed apology for your faith?

5. How can we share the gospel in a way that makes clear the Bible is not merely a book of rules, but the Word that exposes our need and leads us to Christ? What misunderstandings about Christianity might need to be gently cleared away first?

6. When politics, social media, or a trusted public figure strongly reinforces something you already believe, how can you tell whether Scripture is shaping your convictions, or whether you are using Scripture to defend your side?

7. Who in your life may need a true word from outside themselves...the message that they cannot save themselves, but Christ can? What would be a natural, loving next step toward sharing that hope with them this week?