Discussion Guide: The Cross Week One

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 primary 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

 

The Cross

Join us as we take four weeks, along with hundreds of churches around the world, in looking deeply at four lives impacted by the central symbol of the Christian faith, the cross of Christ.

 

Today’s Topic

On the Way to the Cross: Simon of Cyrene

Discussion Questions

Name some items you carry in your regular, daily life. How heavy do you think each item might be?

Mark 15:21

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.

A Lesson About Justice

 

Isaiah 1:17  

Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.

 

John M Perkins

God has always wanted the vulnerable in society to be cared for. He never intended for them to languish in poverty, abuse, slavery, homelessness, or other types of devastation. When we care for individuals who are trapped in these ways, when we show them love and help them move toward freedom and wholeness, we participate in bringing a little part of God’s Kingdom back into alignment with His greater plan. We do justice and God smiles.

 

Rosa Parks

Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.

 

How was Simon of Cyrene’s act of carrying the cross for Jesus an example of a just and good deed?

How does remembering the past help us prioritze doing what is right in the present?

Who do you think of when you think of someone who honors what is just and good with their choices? 

A Lesson About Obedience

 

1 John 5:3-4

In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

 

CS Lewis

If you ask why we should obey God, in the last resort the answer is, “I am.” To know God is to know that our obedience is due to Him.

 

Saint Teresa of Avila

I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible.

 

Why do you think Simon of Cyrene chose to carry the cross?

What do you feel is our culture’s general perspective on the topic of obeying God?

When is obeying God most difficult for you? 

A Lesson About Joy

 

James 1:2-3

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

 

William Shakespeare

Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing

 

What is the difference between joy and happiness?

How does your life bring joy to others and to God?

How have you seen trials in the past produce greater joy in your life?

Closing Thought

 

Share any burdens you may be carrying and then spend the final moments of your time together praying for one another.



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