Group Guide
This Week's City 7:
3. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?
Since “all have sinned” and the “wages of sin is death,” Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the fine for my sin so I could be right with God.
(Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 21-22)
Since “all have sinned” and the “wages of sin is death,” Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the fine for my sin so I could be right with God.
(Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 21-22)
Ice-Breaker:
- What is your most legendary mistake, a time you completely blew it in front of people (a sports blunder, a typo in a massive email, a trip on stage), that you can finally laugh about now?
Scripture
Jonah 1:1-3
1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
Discussion Questions:
- Brandon kicked off the sermon talking about Leon Lett, a man whose elite career is often overshadowed by his most infamous mistakes. Jonah was the same. Though his name means gentle and compliant, son of faithfulness… He became a stubborn, fleeing rebel.
- Have you ever felt like a mistake or a season of your life started to define you?
- How has that shaped the way you see yourself now?
- At the same time, why do we tend to downplay our own disobedience or mistakes while calling it out in others?
- Jonah was a "Nationalist Prophet." He was good with the God who had him prophesy prosperity for Israel, but he ran from the God who asked him to show mercy to Nineveh. It’s easy to follow God when it lines up with what we want. It’s a lot harder when it costs us something or stretches us.
- When has following God felt inconvenient or disruptive to your life?
- Do you ever catch yourself pushing back or making excuses in those moments?
- What do those reactions reveal about how you actually view God?
- Jonah didn’t just drift away from God, he made a deliberate choice to go the opposite direction. He heard God clearly and still chose disobedience. Most of us don’t think of ourselves as running from God, but when obedience gets uncomfortable, we tend to fall into familiar patterns: avoiding, delaying, or choosing something easier instead.
- When you feel God nudging you outside your comfort zone, how do you usually respond? (Do you hesitate, overthink it, make excuses, ignore it, distract yourself with something else, etc. )
- Why is distraction or uncertainty often a more socially acceptable excuse for us than "I just don't want to"?
- When you avoid what God is asking, where do you usually go instead? (Comfort, busyness, relationships, entertainment, work, scrolling, etc.)
- It’s one thing to receive God’s mercy for yourself… It’s another thing to actually want that mercy extended to people who have hurt you, disagree with you, or who are actively persecuting you. Jonah deeply struggled with God’s compassion going to the wrong people.
- Who is it hard for you to see the way God sees them and what makes that difficult for you? When you think about God showing grace to them, what’s your honest reaction?
- How does realizing that you were once God’s "enemy" (Romans 5:10), change the way you think about them?
- In Jeremiah 2:13, God says His people left the source of living water and tried to create their own cisterns that couldn’t actually hold or give life. Most of the time, running from God doesn’t look dramatic. It looks like slowly trying to build a life that feels safe, comfortable, or in control… But apart from Him.
- What is the cracked cistern (a habit/relationship/goal) you keep returning to even though it always leaves you empty?
- If you stopped running, what is the very first thing you would have to surrender to God?
Prayer Topics:
- That God would help us see our reflection in Jonah without shame.
- That God would give us His heart for the people we find hardest to love.
- That God would be the only source of our satisfaction and security.
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