Group Guide

April 2nd, 2023

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; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)

Ice-Breaker:

What kind of church did you grow up in, if any? Any weird or funny stories from when you were a kid in church?

Discussion Questions:

Have someone read Luke 17:1-10 aloud.

Clayton opened by telling a story about a pool party at a friend's house where a kid became trapped under an inflatable slide. The dad, who was watching vigilantly, noticed and jumped in to save her. We are also in a precarious situation in which we must, as faithful followers of Jesus, remain vigilant. We are in a battle against Satan, who wants to steal kill and destroy, against our own apathy, against our own hearts that want to drag us towards sin, against the pull of culture, against false teaching. And we must be vigilant. Does it seem to anyone else like the enemy is turning up the heat in these last days? What are some of the areas he is attacking and where do we need to be more vigilant?
In Luke 17:1, Jesus is warning us that sin, false teachers and bitterness want to sink us. So how do we stay afloat? Clayton gave us three different lifejackets to save us from sinking. The first one was ORTHODOXY, which is believing RIGHTLY about God. Jesus is warning against people that might lead others astray through false teaching. It would be arrogant of us to make up things about God when He has clearly revealed himself through His Word and His Son. God will eventually tell you things you don't like or don't want to be true or that don't sound good to you. In other words, if your "god" never disagrees with you, you don't have a God! Have there been times in your life when you discovered that you had been believing wrongly about God or Scripture? Are there people in your life that are blindly falling into this trap, choosing to believe things that don't jive with God's Word?
The next lifejacket is ORTHOPRAXY, or BEHAVING rightly. Jesus is telling us to watch ourselves. Pay attention to YOURSELF, then watch your brother's life as well. "Only God can judge me!" Have you heard a Christian say this? While this might feel good to say to someone you feel is up in your business, the problem is that it runs contrary to the very words of Jesus. We are actually SUPPOSED to judge people INSIDE the church. But Jesus warns us to first deal with our own sin before we attempt to correct someone else. We must approach our brother in HUMILITY. When you deal with the plank in your own eye, you will have the right heart and right spirit when approaching someone else. If your heart isn't broken over YOUR sin, don't approach people about THEIR's. Here's a quote Clayton shared... "God intends Christian behavior to be reinforced and upheld by the friendship, company, teaching, counseling and loving criticism of other Christians. Not to appreciate this is to lapse into that arrogant independence of one’s fellow human beings—worse, one’s fellow Christians—which is a sign not of the new life but of the old." Do you feel like we've developed this kind of community here in our group? If not, what do you think is lacking? How do we take a step in that direction?
The final lifejacket is one of HUMILITY. Humility isn't thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less. We must realize and recognize that, especially in comparison to an all-powerful, holy God, we are weak and need His help. When Jesus talks about uprooting the mulberry tree or moving a mountain by faith, He is saying we must come the place to not only believe that God CAN, but recognizing that I CAN'T. This takes humility. It takes humility to refuse to make things up about God or admit you have wrong opinions of God. It takes humility to admit your heart is wicked and to submit it to Jesus and His Word. It takes humility to approach your brother or sister about their sin in order to win them back. It takes humility to offer someone forgiveness when they repent. Pride is difficult to see in the mirror, but do your best to self-assess. Are there areas of your life in which you lack humility? Have you become too casual when it comes to your own sin?
Last question... Are you wearing your lifejacket? Of the three lifejackets we talked about... believing rightly, behaving rightly and having humility... which ones do you need to give attention to? Where are you most at risk of sinking?

Prayer Topics:

That we would believe and behave rightly.
That we would walk in humility.
That we would develop the kind of community that can hold us each accountable.a

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