God's Answer to an Empty Life: Hosea 4-7
- Phillip Bates
- Sep 12, 2025
- 2 min read
Sermon Guide for September 14, 2025
How to Use This Guide:
These guides are designed to help you engage more deeply with the weekly sermon, no matter what stage of life you're in.
Parents, use the information you find here to have conversations with your kids that will be spiritually formative and draw them deeper into God's love for them.
Lastly, please leave a comment! I would love for these posts to foster intergenerational dialogue so that we can all learn from and bless one another.
Scriptures referenced in the sermon: Hosea 4:1-6, 6:4-6, 7:8-12.
Main Idea: Israel fell because of empty minds (4:1-6), empty worship (6:4-6), and empty trust (7:8-12).
Kids (ages 5-12)
Key Insight: Knowing God is the most important thing.
Reflection Prompt: What are some ways that we get to know God?
Action Step: Draw a picture with everything you know about God. Then, explain your drawing to your mom or dad.
Teens (ages 13-17)
Key Insight: God doesn't just want you to go to church; he wants your heart to be completely set on Him.
Reflection Prompt: What are some ways you could better align your heart with your outward actions?
Action Step: Model to your friends and peers what it looks like to live a life that is wholly dedicated to God.
Adults (ages 18-64)
Key Insight: If you get your sense of stability and security from anything other than God, it will eventually come crashing down.
Reflection Prompt: If you're honest, what is something in your life that has replaced God as a source of stability and security?
Action Step: Start each day this week by asking God to fill you with knowledge of Him, authentic worship, and single-minded trust in Him.
Seniors (ages 65+)
Key Insight: Our security is not dependent upon our health, wealth, or any other external thing. Our security is rooted in God's faithfulness to us.
Reflection Prompt: How have you seen God take care of you as you look back on your life?
Action Step: Thank God for his provision, and let that thanksgiving propel you forward with greater trust in God.
Love how this is broken in to specific age ranges and how there are clear quick and easy steps and information given !
Hello fellow brothers and sisters, my name is Evan and I am in my mid 30s. I have spent the last 15 years for the most part working my life away always chasing that extra dollar. Always in the constant got to go go go felling to get ahead in life. Although my job does give my family and I some comfort in stability, health insurance and a good retirement I find myself still feeling empty. I have started to reflect on these issues for the last couple of years and started to realize that what I am missing is true trust in God to take care of me and my family. I have started to get more plug…