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 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: Following

Discussion Questions

Why do you think it’s so easy for people to see, or understand, Jesus as someone other than the Son of God and God the Son?

Luke 7:36-39

“One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

Why do you think Simon was skeptical of Jesus?

What was Simon trying to accomplish by requesting Jesus come to his house for dinner?

Have you ever been skeptical of Jesus, or maybe skeptical of something He was doing in your life?

Why might someone’s heart get to that place of skepticism towards Jesus?

Why was this woman’s heart towards Jesus different than Simon’s heart towards Jesus?

What might that tell us about our own skepticism?

Luke 7:44-50

“Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

What does it mean to “see” someone for who they truly are?

How does skepticism and pride, keep us from seeing others that way?

How does love and compassion enable us to see them more accurately?

What does it mean to “see” ourselves for who we truly are?

How does skepticism and pride keep us from seeing ourselves that way?

How does the Gospel, seeing Jesus’ love and compassion for us, enable us to see ourselves more accurately?

Closing Thought

How can seeing ourselves that way change the way we see and treat the people around us?