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 Gospel of the Kingdom

Jesus’s Kingdom, as He himself taught, is not of this world. While His Kingdom influences and transforms people and structures, fundamentally, it does not belong to an individual or ideology. His is the kingdom and the power and the glory, as he taught us to remember in prayer.

Today’s Topic

The Parable of the Sower

Discussion Questions

The Prophecy

Matthew 13:14-15

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’

John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way

Much preaching of the gospel today does not call people to a life of discipleship. Following Jesus is seen as optional — a post-conversion “second track” for those who want to go further. Tragically, this has created a two-tier church, where a large swath of people who believe in God and even regularly attend church have not re-architected  their daily lives on the foundation of apprenticeship [discipleship] to Jesus.

This is an alien idea in the writing of the New Testament. For example, in the literary design of the Gospels, you have two recurring groups: The apprentices and the crowds. The apprentices include all Jesus’ followers — the twelve apostles, but also many others, including women. The crowds [multitudes] were simply everyone else. There is no third category of “Christians” who generally agree with most of what Jesus was saying but don’t follow Him or make a serious attempt to obey His teachings (but it’s all good ‘cause they will “go to heaven when they die”).

 

In your opinion, what does the life of a disciple of Jesus look like?

If church attendance is not the defining mark of a disciple, what are the benefits of attending church regularly?

What spiritual practices help cultivate stronger reliance on the way of Jesus?

The Parable

Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  Whoever has ears, let them hear…

Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

 

What practices help you protect the message of the kingdom when God sows good seed in your heart?

How can we respond to trouble and persecution in a way that protects the seeds growing in our hearts?

How are generosity and prayer tools for cultivating good soil in our hearts?

The Promise

Matthew 13:13, 16-17

This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand….

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

 

Dallas Willard, Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship

The first and most basic thing we can and must do is to keep God before our minds…This is the fundamental secret of caring for our souls. Our part in thus practicing the presence of God is to direct and redirect our minds constantly to Him. In the early time of our practicing, we may well be challenged by our burdensome habits of dwelling on things less than God. But these are habits —not the of gravity—and can be broken. A new, grace filled habit will replace the former ones as we take intentional steps toward keeping God before us. Soon our minds will return to God as a needle of a compass constantly returns to the north…If God is the great longing of our souls, He will become the polestar of our inward beings.

 

How do choices such as reading the Bible, prayer, and gathering with other Christians help us care for our souls?

Can you describe a time when you experienced God’s presence in a unique or formative way?

What is one attribute of God’s character that you meditate on when your soul needs a reminder that God keeps his promises?

Closing Thought

Dorothy Day

People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions. Each one of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that. No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do.

 

Take turns sharing one thing you plan to do this week to foster a deeper devotion to following Jesus.