26 Jan Discussion Guide: The Cross Week Three
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
Today’s Topic
At the Cross: Joseph of Arimathea
Discussion Questions
If someone were to make an icon, or logo, for your life, what would it be?
Luke 23:50-56
50Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God.
52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. (Luke 23)
John 20:38
Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders.
The Meaning of the Cross
1 Corinthians 1:18-19
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
What is the message of the cross?
How is this message similar or different from the message of American culture?
Why do people have a hard time receiving the message of the cross?
The Power of the Cross
Matthew 21:9-11
And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Matthew 27:22-23
Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
Luke 23:34
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. ‘
Why were the people singing and shouting Jesus’ praises as he rode into Jerusalem?
Why did those shouts of praise turn into shouts to, “Crucify him!” just days later?
Why does sacrificial, pardoning love have the power to transform the human heart?
How has receiving the merciful love of Jesus transformed your life?
The Mission of the Cross
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, A Precocious Autobiography
“One person he said, intervened into that cycle of hate and hurt and revenge with a simple act of pardoning love.”
This quote was from the story of the elderly, Russian woman serving and loving the imprisoned, German troops as they were marched through the streets of Moscow.
What do you supposed motivated this woman to do such a thing?
Joseph was a wealthy, Jewish leader. Why might he have been willing to risk his reputation, position, and maybe even his life, to have Jesus buried in his own family tomb?
How might loving Jesus first and foremost bring about change both in our lives, and through our lives in the lives of others?
Closing Thought
Jim Elliot
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.”
Is there anything in your life you need to give away or sacrifice for the sake of the cross and the message of the Gospel?
Let’s take a moment to pray for one another to have the faith and courage to do that.