Growth Guide
Hosea: The Runaway Bride Hosea 1:1-11
LIVE: Repent from Faithlessness
Jason stated, “Relentless love reveals our infidelity to God and restores our intimacy with God.”
How does God’s relentless love actually do that?
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Prayer Focus:
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Why is disobedience a big deal even though God is loving and forgiving?
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What difficult task is God calling you to start being or remain steadfast in? (Life or
relationships)
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LOVE: Remember God’s Faithfulness/ Rejoice in God’s Faithfulness
Hosea took Gomer as his wife out of obedience to God’s command, but God had no such
compulsion on Him when He saved us. What does it stay about God’s love for you that even
though knowing you’d be unfaithful to him, he would love you faithfully anyway?
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Praise God for His
amazing
faithfulness to love
you in spite of your
unfaithfulness.
Confess the ways
you have been
unfaithful in
thought, word and
deed, and then
thank Him for the
forgiveness He
provides in Christ.
Ask God to help
you show that
same love towards
others regardless of
their faithfulness to
you. Also, ask God
for strength to
forgive others
when they sin
against you.
What does a faithful church look like? What does it look like when a church becomes unfaithful
to God? How will you pray for Southway’s faithfulness in the coming week?
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How can we encourage others to be steadfast and faithful? Who will you encourage within the
next week in tangible ways? Be specific.
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Group Prayer: Use this space to write down prayer requests from your group, and pray for
them throughout the week:
Digging Deeper:
This week, set aside time to
read the following passages:
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Heb. 12:5-11
Romans 6:1-2
Psalm 51
Romans 2:4
As you read, seek to answer the
following questions:
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What does the text
say?
What did the author
mean?
How should I
respond?
Growth Guide
Hosea: The Runaway Bride Hosea 1:1-11
LOOK: Hosea 1:1-11
Jason mentioned a friend’s haunting question: If I knew she was going to cheat on me, would
I have married her?
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Married People: What was your biggest fear heading into marriage about the
relationship?
Single People: What is your biggest fear about marriage/relationships?
How is Gomer’s infidelity a foreshadowing of Israel’s infidelity? What were the activities Israel
was engaged it that caused her to depart from God?
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The Setting of Hosea
Judging only by appearances,
Israel was doing pretty well
during the time of Hosea. The
nation was experiencing a time of
material prosperity and political
peace. But appearances can be
deceiving. Israel had departed
from her God, and had turned to
the worship of idols. The nation
had fallen into moral and spiritual
corruption, and was moving
quickly toward destruction.
Jason made the comment that Hosea 1-3 was a “sandwich” structure of story as the bread,
and prophecy/oracle as the insides. How does this help us dig deeper into Hosea?
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Table-talk for Families:
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Discuss with your kid/s how
discipline IS love, and how a
lack of discipline would not
be loving toward them.
LEARN:
Hosea 1:1-3 shows us how devotion (to God or people) can be difficult. How does the text
illustrate that? What helps you remain faithful during stretches of difficulty?
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Hosea 1:4-9 shows us how deception is disastrous through the names of the children
(Jezreel/No Mercy/Not my People: Jezreel: God is sowing discipline and Israel is guilty. No
Mercy: No compassion or love. Not My People: You are no longer acting as my prized
people). Gomer’s actions affected Hosea, and her children. Describe a time where your actions
led to consequences not just for yourself but also for others.
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Hosea 1:10-11 shows us how God’s devotion is determined. How does God’s discipline of
Israel and us, actually bring us back to Him rather than leave us completely torn apart?
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Activity for Kids Age 4-8:
As an illustration of God’s
loving discipline of us, have
a discussion with your
child/children on how they
would discipline themselves
if they were you. Call it
“Turn the Tables” and have
them be the parent and you
be the child. Describe
something you have done
wrong and see what
discipline they would come
up with. Discuss this with
your child.
Verses for Family Devotion:
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Romans 5:8
Colossians 3:18-24