The Book of Ruth | Hope Motivates
How to use it: After watching/listening to this week’s message, from June 4, 2023, use the questions to go deeper into the message, with your group…or on your own. The questions will introduce you to the topic, reflect content from the sermon, go ‘Beyond the Message’, & get you thinking about practical applications for your life.
Naomi had lost hope (ch.1), but through God’s “hesed” it was awakened in her again (ch.2), causing her to plan and dream about new possibilities for the future (ch.3). Have you experienced an awakening of hope (in a person, sports team, situation) that allowed you to begin dreaming about future possibilities?
Read Ruth 3:1-13. Recalling how Pastor Mark explained the language and culture of this:
a. What was Naomi’s hope for Ruth (v.1-5)?
b. What was Ruth’s hope for Naomi (v.6-9)?
c. What was Boaz’s hope for all three of them (v.10-13)?
Compare Ruth 1:20-21 and Ruth 3:16-17. In what ways has God provided this change to occur in Naomi’s life? Have you experienced a time of emptiness to fullness? Where did you see God’s presence and provision in your story?
Read Eph 1:18-19. What can prevent your heart from being “flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given” (NLT)? How can having this confident hope and “his incomparably great power for us” help us during difficult seasons of life? (recall the analogy of the eclipse).
Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Make a list of what love is and what love is not. How did Ruth and Boaz each display these virtues of what love is?
Read John 15:12-13. What does Jesus command us to do? Considering 1 Cor 13:4-7, what could this look like in our lives? Considering John 15:13, what did this look like in Jesus’ life?