Prepare your heart for the Sermon by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together hearing God's Word.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Carefully Think

• What has Paul been doing in vv. 1-11? Summarize his argument in one sentence.
• Read 15:12-19. What is the relationship between this section and the section that precedes it? How does v. 12 help you understand what Paul was doing in vv. 1-11?
• What hypothetical conclusions does Paul draw from the rejection of the resurrection of the dead? What would be true if the dead were not raised? How does this show the importance of this teaching?
• What is the relationship between our personal lives as believers to the resurrection of the dead? What is the relationship to our ministry and the resurrection of the dead?
• What is the Christian’s hope based on this passage? How crucial is the resurrection to our lives as Christians? Can someone be a Christian if they reject the resurrection?
• The Sermon Study equipping class notes are available online for anyone wanting to dig deeper. Please review this week's notes to help study this passage. Click here for the notes.

Prayerfully Meditate

• How should this passage impact the way you think about the resurrection?
• What is the importance of the resurrection for your daily life as a Christian? What hope should the resurrection give you?
• How does your thinking and living need to be adjusted in light of the centrality of the resurrection? How should your evangelism be shaped by the resurrection?
• Is Christianity a religion of a better today or a better tomorrow? Are the temporal aspects of Christianity focused on the temporal benefits or the eternal? What good is a Christian faith that only impacts this life?