02 Oct Discussion Guide: Reversal Week 8
Before We Get Started
For our discussion today we will be using the sermon series discussion guides. If you would like to follow along you can access this discussion guide on the website at mosaicchurchaustin.com and then select “community group resources” in the menu options.
Prayer
Because the main goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for, or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together.
This Week’s Topic
Today, we continue our new series titled, Reversal. We will be taking some time to walk through the Gospel account of Luke. Luke was an historian who set out to document the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the impact it had on the world of his day. What we see in Luke’s account is that when Jesus gets involved in the life of a person, things get turned upside-down and inside-out. Jesus brings about a reversal of everything we thought we knew.
Today’s Topic
Back to School: Offending
Discussion Questions
What are some reasons someone might get offended at God?
Luke 7:18-20
“The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
For summary purposes, who is John the Baptist, and why is he in prison at this moment?
If you were in John’s situation, how do you think you might feel? Why?
Luke 7:21-23
“In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Jesus is referencing Isaiah 61:1 and Psalm 146:7-8, which are claims of both divinity and Messiahship. Essentially, Jesus is responding to John’s question by saying, “Yes, I am the One who is to come, Israel’s God and Israel’s Messiah.”
What was the real question behind John’s vocalized question?
Why do you think Jesus gives this response?
Have you ever been offended at God because He didn’t do things the way you thought, or hoped, they would be done?
Why are those moments so difficult for us to swallow?
How can those moments impact our view of, or relationship with, God?
Bait Of Satan: Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense
“We construct walls when we are hurt to safeguard our hearts and prevent any future wounds. We become selective, denying entry to all we fear will hurt us. We filter out anyone we think owes us something. We withhold access until these people have paid their debts in full. We open our lives only to those we believe are on our side.”
“Jesus said, “It is impossible that no offenses should come” (Luke 17:1). It is not a question of opportunity to be offended, but what your response will be. It is an unfortunate fact that, not some, but many are offended and held captive.”
What choice was John left with in his moment of offense?
How is that similar to the choice we are left with in the moment’s life doesn’t go the way we thought it would or should?
What is the difference between believing in Jesus, and trusting Jesus with the entirety of your life?
The story has been told of a tight rope walker that drew large crowds to watch him perform his daring feats on the high wire. On one occasion he pushed a wheelbarrow full of bags of cement across the wire as the crowd beneath him cheered and screamed in approval. The tight rope walker then asked the crowd if they thought he could push a person in his wheelbarrow across the wire. The crowd responded with great enthusiasm, “Yes! Yes you can!”
Following the crowd’s response, the tight rope walker yelled down to a gentleman he heard joining in the this proclamation, saying, “Then my dear sir. Will you come up here and get in my wheelbarrow?”
The onlooking man quickly changed his tone, shaking his head and saying, “No way!”
This man believed the tight rope walker could carry someone across the tight wire in his wheelbarrow, he just didn’t trust the tight rope walker to carry him. It is possible to believe something exists without trusting that it exists for you. It is possible to believe God exists, that God is all-powerful, that God is all-good, but still not trust yourself to His all-powerful goodness. We can now whether we trust God, or merely believe in His existence, by how we respond in those moments when things don’t go the way we hoped, or thought, they would.
It is ok to feel frustrated, angry, sad, and sorrowful when those moments happen, but if our hearts turn to bitterness, resentment, and accusation towards God, then we may rightly assume we are not trusting our lives to Him in those moments.
Closing Thought
Is there anything going on in your life right now where you feel like Jesus has failed you? If so, we would love to pray with you.