Hello This is a Test

Group Guide

February 27th, 2022
1

Ice-Breaker

Have you ever completely missed the point of something, like a movie or a story someone was telling? Any funny stories about your kids missing the point? 

This Week's City 7

6. Is the Bible God’s word? Jesus proved He is God by rising from the dead and said the Old Testament was God’s word and gave authority to the Apostles to write the words of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that all the words of the Bible are God’s Word.

(Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:27, 44; John 14:25-26, 15:27, 16:12-13, 17:20; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)

Discussion Questions

Have someone read Luke 6:1-11 aloud.
  1. In this chapter we find the Pharisees, once again, following Jesus around and looking for a way to criticize him. Jesus' disciples were just eating some grain and the Pharisees try to blow that totally out of proportion, making it a spiritual problem because they weren't observing the Sabbath. They were, according to the Pharisees, breaking the law. This is what happens when men's ideas and traditions get co-mingled with God's law. The Sabbath had become a burden on the people rather than what it was intended for... a day of rest and refilling. The Pharisees are missing the point... they are missing out on what God intended, what he might want to do in them. As we've been saying, when Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, he is also speaking to us. In what ways have you, either now or in the past, missed the point of following Jesus and made it about something else?

  2. To address this challenge, Jesus responds to the "Bible scholars" by explaining from the Word of God why they are wrong, how they've missed it. Their interpretation isn't just another truth or another way of doing things, it's just plain wrong. The Pharisees have elevated their own ideas and interpretations to that of Scripture, thinking that their own ideas are better than God's! Any time there is a disagreement or controversy between Scripture and the ideas of men, we should listen to Jesus... "sola Scriptura", latin for "Scripture alone". His word trumps what we think, what our consciences tell us, what culture or society believes. Period. There is no "my Jesus", there is only Jesus. What are some ways that Christians today have turned to their own ideas or cultural beliefs and turned away from the truth of God's Word?

  3. Jesus then heals a man with a deformed hand. Some scholars believe this man could've been planted by the religious leaders in order to trap Jesus. They knew he would have compassion on this man and heal him, which is exactly what he did. Jesus, of course, knew what they were thinking and called them out. Jesus always knows the attitudes of our heart. He then acts to deal with their thinking by turning their private thoughts into a topic of public reflection. This helps to engage them on how they view spirituality. He was basically asking, is it about outward action and rule keeping? Or is it about inward love, compassion and mercy? Are you ever guilty of making your walk with Jesus more about outward actions rather than the love, compassion and mercy inside of you? How does this manifest itself?

  4. The first takeaway from Sunday was the Jesus IS the Word of God. Jesus speaks as God, he IS the Truth! Not A truth, not YOUR truth, but THE Truth! And if we are going to pursue the heart of God and follow Jesus, we must have the right heart. The Pharisees disregarded the truth in God's word and, because of their pride, refused to consider that they might be wrong. We must accept the fact that a right heart will always submit to the right authority. We MUST keep our hearts in check and when there is some kind of disagreement between what we think and what God thinks, we must submit. It's HIS truth over our truth, feelings or experiences. What are some ways you have had trouble submitting to the truth of God's Word? Are there any times you go with what YOU think over what GOD thinks?

  5. The second takeaway was that it is JESUS who interprets the Word of God. He is the one that tells us, lovingly, "Here is where you've missed the point." But we must listen to him and then act on it. A right HEART is the first step, and then it must produce the right INTERPRETATION and the right ACTION. Out of the overflow of your heart your mouth speaks. The bottom line is that God wants your heart. He looks past the outward show and looks straight to the core of who you are. Spend some time praying that God would search your heart and reveal anything in you that doesn't line up with his Word or if you are leaning on your own interpretation over his. Is he speaking anything to anyone? 

Prayer Topics

  • That we would constantly keep ourselves in check and do our best to not "miss the point".
  • That God's word would shape our beliefs, not culture or our own ideas.
  • That our walk with Jesus would be more than just the outward show. 
  • That we would constantly submit our hearts to God's word

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Marcus - February 28th, 2022 at 8:59am

Amen!!!

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