Advertise on podcast: In the Word with Jeff Thompson

A servant travels 500 miles to find a bride for a man she has never met, and her family asks her one question: “Will you go with this man?” In this verse-by-verse study of Genesis 24, Jeff Thompson unpacks the chapter's stunning picture of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Church — plus how God shepherds our decisions when no Bible verse tells us exactly what to do. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Romans 12:1-2, James 1:5, and Proverbs 15:22. Jeff gave 5 steps for when there's no verse that covers your situation: desire to please God, pray, seek counsel from mature believers, listen for the Spirit, and move forward in faith. Paul says a renewed mind is how we discern God's will, not a voice. Be honest: which of those 5 do you tend to skip (for most, it's the counsel one). So name names — who are the mature believers in your life you'd genuinely take a hard word from? If you can't name 2, that's the answer to the question. - Read Philippians 2:12-13 and Nehemiah 2:4-5. Jeff called this chapter's theme the unknowable dance between God's sovereignty and human decisions. Nehemiah prays a split-second prayer to the God of heaven and then, in the same breath, makes a specific ask of a pagan king. Both things at once. Does believing God is sovereign tend to make you more passive or more active? Be honest about which way you lean. - Read Colossians 3:23-24. A caravan of thirsty camels, a 3-gallon jar, steps down to the spring — Jeff put it at 70 to a 100 trips, hours of hard labor, for a stranger who never asked her to do it. And the servant stood there and watched to see if she'd get cranky. She didn't. Tell the group about someone who served you like that — quietly, at real cost, when nothing obligated them to. Have you thanked them? Then turn it around: where does your own serving come with grumbling attached, out loud or under your breath?

God promised Abraham an entire country, and the only piece of it he ever owned was the cave he bought to bury his wife in. In this study, we'll walk through the death of Sarah and what Scripture actually says about grief, losing a spouse, why death still feels like an enemy, and how gratitude becomes the floor you stand on when the waves hit. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - What stuck out to you from this sermon? Did you feel like the Lord was drawing your attention to anything specific in your own life or perspectives? - Read Matthew 10:37 and Psalm 73:23-26. What in your life, if it were taken tomorrow, would take your sense of purpose with it? Your kids. Your health. Your career. Your ministry. Be honest about your own answer. - Read Ruth 1:19-21 and Hebrews 12:15. Where is the line between honest lament, which God clearly permits, and a bitterness that slowly becomes someone's identity? Have you ever been stuck in that second place—over anything, not only a death? What got you out, or what is still keeping you there? - Share prayer requests. Have everyone close their eyes. Have someone read Psalm 23 over the group, and move straight into a time of prayer.

In this study, we'll look at a living parable - the controversial tale of Abraham's binding of Isaac. We'll discover the hidden imagery and prophetic details that point to the Father's offering of Jesus as the Lamb of God, slain for our sins. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Was there anything in the message that especially stuck out to you (encouragement, conviction, etc.)? - Read Micah 6:6–8. Genesis 22 is a favorite passage for people who argue that God is cruel. How would you actually answer a coworker who brought it up? - Is there a part of the Bible that disturbs you and that you've mostly avoided thinking about? - Read Isaiah 53:4–7 & Romans 12:1–2. Given that God withheld nothing from us, what does or would presenting yourself as a living sacrifice look like in your life?

God made Abraham and Sarah wait more than 25 years for the son He promised—and Paul later reveals why, showing that Hagar and Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac, were a hidden picture of two covenants: law and grace, slavery and freedom. In this study, we'll walk through Genesis 21:1–21 and Galatians 4:21–5:1 and show why God waited until no explanation remained but Himself, and why salvation is a gift you cannot help pay for. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Romans 4:18–21 (about Abraham). Abraham's faith grew as he rehearsed what God had actually said. Share a specific promise from Scripture you've leaned on in a hard season. - Read Hebrews 11:8–13 and 11:39–40. Abraham received Isaac. Many others in that same chapter died still waiting. How do we speak honestly to someone who has waited years and never received the thing? What does faith look like when the answer is "No," or "Not in your lifetime"? - Read Acts 15:1–11. Peter calls the Law a yoke no one has ever been able to carry—the same argument Paul makes in Galatians 4. Why do you think a "faith plus something" message is so attractive to religious people? What was the appeal of the Judaizers' teaching, and where do you hear a version of it today? - Read Philippians 3:4–11. What are some things that you used to find your identity and worth in (or still do)? How did Christ work in you to find your identity in Him instead (or how IS He working in you currently)?

Abraham had walked with God for over 25 years and had a promise from Jesus Himself — then fear sent him straight back down an old path of sin he'd never bothered to close off. In this study, we'll unpack why we return to sins we thought we'd outgrown, why a half-truth is a whole lie, and what practical steps actually mark the old road "DEAD END." SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Romans 4:18-21. How do you reconcile this description of Abraham with his actions in Genesis 20? And how should that encourage us regarding the way the Lord views us? - Read Romans 2:14-15. Do you think Abimelech is in Heaven? Why or why not? What’s the difference between a man like him and a Mormon neighbor who lives a morally upright life? - Read Ephesians 4:25. Is there an area of life or a certain subject where you struggle with half-truths? - Read Philippians 2:3-4. The worst part of Abraham's plan was that the plan removed all risk from him and placed it entirely on Sarah. He was protected; she was exposed. Who has paid the price for your fear? A spouse, a kid, an employee, a friend? *This one may take some courage to answer honestly. It's the kind of thing that's very hard to see in yourself and very easy to see from the outside. (Married folks: this is a good week to ask your spouse rather than guess.

Peter calls him “righteous Lot” — a drunk, a coward, and a failure as a father whose slow drift in Sodom warped his family’s thinking until the unthinkable seemed reasonable. This study traces the real cost of compromise, the call to hold the line at home, and the staggering grace that credits righteousness to broken people — and ran the line of the Messiah straight through Lot’s family. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Isaiah 48:17-18. Have you ever obeyed a command from God and found it to be far more beneficial than you expected? - Read Romans 12:1-2. What are the top 3 things in your life that are shaping how you think? Are they helping or hurting you to think in a godly way? - Read Romans 4:3-5. How do you make sense of how Lot behaved when Peter describes him as "righteous"? - Read Psalm 103:2-5. When you're facing doubt, what's something the Lord has done for you that others could remind you of to strengthen your faith in that moment? - Read Deuteronomy 6:6-9. How do we practically build homes, marriages, and families where Christ is central?

Why did Jesus say the end times would look like "the days of Lot"? This verse-by-verse study walks through the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the prophetic parallels emerging in our own culture, and the sobering warning of Lot's wife — a picture of a heart that never left the world behind. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Matthew 5:13-16 and Genesis 19:1. Lot sat in Sodom's gate — in the culture but absorbed by it. Jesus calls us to be salt and light — in the culture but distinct. Practically, what's the difference between engaging culture and compromising with it in your workplace, school, or neighborhood? - Read Genesis 19:6-8. Lot's offer of his daughters shows how spiritually disoriented a believer can become while trying to fit in with the culture. Where do you feel the strongest pull to accommodate the culture — work, family, entertainment, social media? What guardrails do you have (or need)? - Read Genesis 19:14. Lot's own sons-in-law thought he was joking. His lifestyle had cost him his spiritual credibility. What builds — or erodes — that kind of credibility? - Read Genesis 19:15-16. Lot hesitated — and the angels grabbed his hand "because of the LORD's compassion for him." Share a time God was merciful to you despite your hesitation, doubt, or foot-dragging. - Read Jeremiah 29:4-7 and 1 Peter 2:11-12. God told the exiles to seek the welfare of a pagan city, yet Lot was told to flee his. How do we know when to engage, when to resist, and when to flee? Where do you land, and why?

At 99, Sarah had quietly stopped believing God would ever keep His promise to her — until He overheard her cynical laugh and asked, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” This study of Genesis 18 walks through Sarah’s unbelief, Abraham’s bold intercession for Sodom, and the God whose character is big enough to do wonders even for you. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Psalm 9:10. Has growing in your knowledge and understanding of God's character affected how much you trust Him? How? - Read Psalm 84:1-2, 10. Where do you experience the Lord's presence? Are you enthusiastic about it, as Abraham was when Jesus and the two angels visited him? - Read Daniel 3:16-18. How do you reconcile God's goodness with the fact that some prayers for things like healing get answered, while others don't? - One of the most common apologetics questions is, "If God is good, why do bad things happen to good people?" How would you answer? - Read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. Open your time of prayer by thanking God that we are destined to be with Him in paradise rather than to experience His wrath (which we deserve).

God was never after the mark on Abraham’s body — He was after his heart. In this study, we unpack circumcision, covenant, and the daily battle between flesh and Spirit, and discover why real faith obeys God now — before we have all the answers. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Ezekiel 36:26-27. Looking back, where have you seen God soften something in you that used to be hard? - Read Mark 7:20–23. Are there any changes in behavior that you're trying to work on right now? What wrong beliefs do you think have driven that wrong behavior? - Read Hebrews 11:8. Tell us about a time you followed God’s leading before you understood the whole plan. What made it hard? How did it turn out? - Read Ephesians 2:8-10. What do you tend to add to Jesus as proof that you’re really OK with God? How do VV.8–9 and V.10 hold together without turning grace into a checklist? - Read Joshua 24:14-15. How can husbands and fathers lead their families in a God-honoring way, without compromise, yet not being a dictator?

After 14 years of silence, God meets Abram — now 99 and drifting — and doesn’t open with a rebuke but with His own name: “I am God Almighty.” In this study, we explore what God says to a believer who has wandered, why He gives Abram a new name and an everlasting covenant, and how the strange sign of circumcision points to the heart of discipleship: lordship — surrendering every part of our lives, even our flesh, to God. It’s a message about walking with God, the difference between earning blamelessness and receiving it, and the Spirit’s power to keep Christ on the throne of our hearts. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Luke 15:17-24 (the prodigal son comes home). It had been 14 years since Abram heard from God, and he had drifted. Have you ever gone through a season of feeling distant from God, and then sensed Him meet you again? What was that like? - Read aloud Isaiah 6:1-5. God reintroduced Himself to Abram as “God Almighty,” and Abram fell facedown. When Isaiah glimpsed God’s holiness, he responded the same way. When was the last time God felt that big to you? What tends to shrink your view of Him day to day? - God renamed Abram “Abraham” so he could see himself the way God saw him. How do you think God views you? Has your understanding of that question changed as your faith has grown? - Read Romans 2:28-29 and Matthew 7:21-23. The sermon warned that there is no salvation by ethnicity or by outward ritual — only by faith that is real on the inside. How can we tell whether our heart has truly been changed by faith, or whether we're just "checking the boxes" through external behaviors (e.g., church attendance)? - GROUP PRAYER (decide beforehand whether to stay in one group or split into guys/girls for this question). Read 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 and Philippians 2:12-13. Abraham couldn’t consistently keep his flesh off the throne — but we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, who gives power Abraham never had. Where do you most want the Spirit to grow and change you this season? Pray that over one another.

When a pregnant, frightened Hagar runs into the wilderness to escape a mess she didn't create, she discovers that the God she didn't even know already saw her. In this study of Genesis 16:4b–16, we unpack why waiting on the Lord is active rather than passive, how shortcuts around God's plan create fallout far bigger than we imagine, and why El Roi—"the God who sees"—still pursues the running, the overlooked, and the worn out. It's a message about trusting God's timing, the real cost of taking matters into our own hands, and the relentless grace that finds us first. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Lamentations 3:25-26 and Psalm 62:1-5. The sermon argued that waiting on the Lord is active, not passive — praying, getting into the Word, praising, and listening for His voice. When you've been in seasons of waiting, what spiritual practices have you found most encouraging? - Read James 1:5 and Proverbs 3:5-6. Abram and Sarai made two huge decisions without ever praying about them. How have you seen prayer make a difference when you were facing a big decision? - If someone asked you, "What should I expect to happen when I pray over a big decision?" How would you answer? - Read Romans 12:2 and 1 John 2:15-17. Where do you notice the culture quietly shaping your thinking more than Scripture does? (Be honest — this is hard for all of us.) - Read 1 Peter 2:13-21 and Hebrews 13:17. God met Hagar with grace — and then called her to do a hard thing: go back and submit to Sarai. Where is submitting to authority hardest for you? And how do we discern the line between God-honoring submission and a situation that is genuinely wrong?

Most Christians don't lose their faith in a dramatic moment; they lose it because their expectations of the Christian life were never biblical to begin with. In Genesis 16, Abram and Sarai get tired of waiting on God's promise after ten years and make a mess that's still playing out in the Middle East today. This message traces the cost of impatience from one couple's bedroom to the breakdown of an entire culture — and lands on a single quiet conviction: God's ways are better. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read 2 Corinthians 4:16–18. When you first believed in Jesus, or started taking your faith seriously, what did you assume the Christian life would be like? How has reality matched what you expected, and where has it diverged? Where did those expectations come from in the first place? - Read Romans 8:18-25. Christians aren’t exempt from the natural consequences of living in a fallen world. Do you think you’ve been quietly holding on to any assumptions about the kind of life God “owes” you? - Read Colossians 3:1-5. Even good things — a spouse, a child, a healing, a career — can become idols when we put all our hope in them rather than in God. Has a good thing ever become an idol in your life? How do we tell the difference between a strong, godly desire and an idol? - Many Christians try to find a way to please God and people. Do you think this is possible when God and people hold opposite opinions (e.g., homosexuality)? What are the dangers of trying to please both God and people? - Before you pray, ask if anyone has things they are waiting on the Lord for. Pray for patience, faith, and peace as they wait.

In Genesis 15, God doesn't meet Abram halfway—He walks through the bloody covenant alone, taking on Himself the consequences of every breach by either side. This message traces that picture from Abram's vision all the way to the Cross, where Jesus paid for the half of the covenant we could never keep. If you've ever feared you could blow it and lose your salvation, this one's for you. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Genesis 15:7-21. Was there anything about the text that you didn’t understand? Did it raise any questions for you? What sticks out to you? - Read Lamentations 3:22–26. Share about a time you had to wait a long time for God to answer a prayer or fulfill a promise. Looking back, what did the waiting produce in you that you wouldn't have learned any other way? - Read 2 Timothy 2:11–13 and John 10:27–30. Have you ever feared losing your salvation? What did that fear sound like in your head? How do these two passages speak to that fear? - Jeff shared that his mom “never let go of the rope” and prayed him into the kingdom. Who are you holding the rope for right now, in prayer? Pray for each name as a group.

As God comes to Abram while he's wrestling with fear and doubt, we are given a lesson on God's character and how believers are to approach wrestling with these powerful enemies. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - Read Genesis 15:1-6. Have you ever experienced fear or doubt shortly after stepping out in faith, and how did God meet you in that moment? - How does the secular world (culture, medicine, psychiatry, pop psychology, etc.) approach dealing with fear and anxiety? What approaches are compatible with Scripture, and what approaches are contrary to Scripture? - Read Philippians 4:6-7. If/When you have followed Paul’s instructions while wrestling with fear and/or anxiety, how did these practices affect you? - Read 1 Peter 5:6-7. What does it look like practically to cast all your cares on God while still acknowledging the genuine pain and difficulty of your circumstances? - In what ways might fear and anxiety become an identity or a form of self-absorption that prevents us from serving others and obeying God's commands?

As we continue our study of what giving looks like for the Christian under the New Covenant, we'll answer the questions, "Is tithing a perpetual command that predates the Law?" and "Can I give time and service instead of money?" We'll also look at Paul's instructions to the Corinthians regarding giving, which offer many insights still helpful to us today. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: - What is the best and worst investment you’ve ever made? - Why does it matter that we serve God with our time and energy and our money? How does each expression affect our hearts? - Read Mark 12:41-44. What do you think Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that would require a change in their previous thinking about giving? - Is it any easier or harder for a rich person to store up treasure in Heaven than for a poor person? Why or why not? - Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-5. How does the Macedonian churches' response of begging for the privilege to give during their own extreme poverty challenge your understanding of what it means to give sacrificially? - How should a Christian balance sacrificial generosity in the present with responsible planning for the future?