Leader Guide week of 3-2-08

Small Group Leaders Guide
March 2, 2008

When You Need A Miracle

Getting Started:

1. How many people did Jesus raise to life after they had died? How many people did the Apostle Peter raise?

• Lazarus
• The daughter of Jairus
• Himself
• The widow’s son (Luke 7:14-15)
• 1-Tabitha (Acts 9:39)

Going Deeper:

2. Read Luke 8:43 and Mark 5:25-26. When it comes to healing, what is the relationship between prayer and doctors?

3. Read James 5:14. When you get sick, is your first thought to call a doctor or call the church? To take medicine or pray?

4. Read Luke 8:45. Why is Jesus asking, “Who touched me?” Did Jesus not know? What made Jesus think someone had touched him? What does it mean that power went out from Jesus?

• Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
• John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
• John 12:49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
• When Jesus emptied Himself, taking on the very nature of a servant and became obedient to death, He put aside His divine prerogative and only did what He saw His Father doing. He only spoke what the Father gave Him to say. He was totally dependant on His Father for everything He did.
• Jesus healed people by way of the power of God working through Him. When God saw the woman’s great faith, He chose to work through Jesus to heal her. This is why Jesus felt power go out from Him.

5. In Luke 8:48, Jesus says to the women, “Your faith has healed you” What did this woman do that showed faith? What does Jesus mean when He says that her faith healed her? Does faith have some type of healing power?

• See previous blog post below for thoughts on this question.
  

6. Read Luke 8:49. Why do you think the people were advising Jairus to stop bothering Jesus? What does this tell you about who they thought Jesus was or wasn’t?

• It seems somewhat strange that they thought He could heal the sick but that once sickness became death, He was no longer able to do anything about it.

7. In Luke 8:52-53, it says the people laughed at Jesus. Did Jesus crack a joke? How would you characterize the laughter referred to in this verse?

• They laughed down at Him. The King James renders the word, “laughed to scorn."

8. Was the girl awaken from sleep or raised from the dead? How do you know?

• Verse 55 states that her spirit returned to her.
• Verse 42 says that the girl was dying, not falling asleep.

9. In Luke 9:52, Jesus says the girl is not dead but asleep. Often in the Bible death is referred to as sleep. In using the term “sleep” what might that indicate about death?

10. Who raised Jesus from the dead?

• God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” Acts 2:24
• John 10:17-18, “I lay down my life that I may take it up again… I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.
• Romans 8:11 says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
• This ends up providing a useful lesson in Trinitarian theology, namely, that in the work of any member of the Trinity, the other two members are always intimately involved. Everything the Trinity does is done by all of the Trinity. Surely, in the case of the resurrection of Christ, the great preponderance of references speaks of God the Father as the leading actor. But the Son and the Spirit were also responsible in the resurrection, just as all three divine Persons are actively involved in our spiritual rebirth and on-going sanctification, which is our first resurrection, just as they will together conspire to ensure our second and final resurrection on the great day to come. To all Three be glory.

Putting it into practice:
1) What miracle do you need from God right now? How can your small group help you to stay strong in your faith? Pray about this in your groups.


Quote Of The Week
Reading God’s hand into circumstances can be an evasion of genuine commitment to being His person in them. It can be an insidious alternative to giving Him your heart, because it keeps your attention directed outward rather than inward, where His chisel bites….We can routinely ask God to intervene in our circumstances while hoping He’ll keep His nose out of inner things like our spiritual indifference and pride.
--John Boykin

Can Faith Heal? Thoughts on question 5

Faith pleases God, right?
Yes and no.
While it’s true that faith pleases God, it’s not true that all faith pleases God.
Faith cannot stand alone, but must be attached to something to be manifested. In other words, faith must have an object. There must be someone or something to have complete trust and confidence in for faith to exist. The object of our faith is Jesus Christ.
Money, possessions and one’s own righteousness are obvious examples of the objects of some people’s faith that would not please God.
In Luke 8:43-48, I think we see an example of the kind of faith that does please God; the kind of faith that recognizes God’s power even when all else fails, faith that sees through circumstances and feels the possibilities, faith that reaches out after hope is gone.
In this case, that kind of faith prompted a response from God.
But we should never confuse an act of God prompted by faith with a faith-caused miracle. Faith can't heal anyone. God may choose to heal someone because of that person’s faith, but the faith didn’t do the healing. God did. Faith doesn’t have power. God does.

In verse 46, Jesus said that He knew power had come out from Him. Was that the woman’s faith He felt? Was it the power of her faith?

Faith isn't a force; it is an attitude of trust which allows you to depend on someone that can do for you what you cannot do for yourself. Faith allows you to go to the source of the power. Faith isn't the power. What Jesus felt was the power of God, flowing through Him and out of Him, healing the woman.
So what does Jesus mean when He says, “your faith has healed you?”
Here’s my opinion: I think He means that the faith of the woman prompted God to act on her behalf. God chose to heal her because of the faith He saw.

Luke 7:36-50

Thoughts On Forgiveness

On Sunday, we looked at Luke 7:36-50 and talked about what forgiveness is and what it isn't. I wanted to expand on a few thoughts I shared on Sunday regarding the nature and definition of forgiveness.

Forgiveness either happens or it doesn’t. By it’s very definition, anything less than forgiveness isn’t forgiveness. Here's an illustration:

Let's say you commit a crime that carries with it a $10,000.00 fine, here are a few possible outcomes that illustrate what I mean:

1. You pay the fine. No more, no less. This is justice.
2. You pay NINE thousand instead of TEN thousand dollars. You are still being punished, but punished less. This is mercy.
3. You pay nothing. The payment and punishment are no longer being held against you either now or in the future. This is forgiveness.

BUT

How can a person be forgiven little if forgiveness is an all or nothing proposition?

Here’s the way I see it:

Inherent in the very nature of forgiveness is an aspect of totality and completeness. However, this only applies to forgiveness. It does not apply to the person or wrongs being forgiven.
Therefore, the quality of forgiveness is such that anything less isn’t forgiveness. The only way to be forgiven little would have to be in quantity, not quality.

Take a look at number two above. The good news for you is that you really have been forgiven the ONE thousand dollars! This forgiveness is a complete release from the obligation to pay that portion. It is not partial, not artificial. There is nothing lacking in the quality of the forgiveness received. The problem is, it’s not ENOUGH. The bad news for you is that you still owe NINE thousand dollars. If you can't afford the fine either way, mercy is nice but it's not what you need the most!

Leader Guide week of 2-17-08

Small Group Leaders Guide
February 17, 2008

Getting Started:

1. Do you pull over when you see someone on the side of the road with car trouble? Why or why not?
2. Has anyone ever pulled over for you?

Going Deeper:

3. How would you sum up the law of God?

4. Read Luke 10:25. What did it mean to be an “expert in the law” in that day?

5. In Luke 10:28, Jesus says, “do this.” Now that the lawyer’s question is answered, shouldn’t this be the end of the conversation? Could the lawyer have “done this?”

• It almost seems like Jesus should have used the phrase “if you can do this.

6. In Luke 10:25, Jesus is asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answers the question by asking one. Why did Jesus send this particular lawyer to the law? Read Jesus’ answer in verse 28. Is this how people inherit eternal life? Why or why not? Why did Jesus answer in this way?

• This conversation takes place before Christ died on the cross. Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God
• Does this mean that people can be saved by keeping the law? Is it possible for a person to keep the law?
• Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
• Romans 3:9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
• Galatians 2:15 "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

7. Read Luke 10:29. What is the definition of the word, “justify?” Why do you think the “expert in the law” wanted to justify himself?

• 1. To demonstrate or prove to be just, right, or valid 2. To declare free of blame; absolve. 3. To free (a human) of the guilt and penalty attached to sin. Used of God.

8. In this parable, why do you think Jesus used a priest and a Levite for examples of people that did not show mercy to the wounded man? Likewise, why do you think He used a Samaritan as an example of someone who did show mercy?

9. The lawyer’s question was, “who is my neighbor?” As you read this parable, do you think the question was answered? If not, what question was answered?

• I think the question that was answered was, “what does it look like to love my neighbor as myself?”

Putting it into practice:

1) What is hardest for you when it comes to loving your neighbor as you love yourself? Pray about this in your group.


Quote Of The Week

The thief’s philosophy is, “What you have is mine.” The philosophy of the priest and Levite is, “What I have is mine.” The philosophy of the Good Samaritan is, “What I have is yours.”
--Dean Brown

Leaders Guide Week of 2-10-08

Small Group Leaders Guide
February 10, 2008

Getting Rid of Relationship Ruiners

Getting Started:

1. When you go to a fast food place, what kind of drink do you order and what size?
2. What is the name of the medium size cup at Starbucks?
3. If you had to choose, do you like Pepsi or Coke better?

Going Deeper:

4. Read Luke 6:37. What is the difference between judging and condemning?

• To judge is to form an opinion or conclusion about something.
• To condemn is to express complete disapproval of, typically in public or to find someone guilty of a criminal act or wrong.

5. In Luke 6:37, is Jesus teaching that we are not to form opinions? Other passages in Scripture give warnings, such as that of being unequally yoked, bad company corrupts good character, stay away from a foolish man, etc. How do you take heed of such warnings without making judgments? Is this what Jesus is asking us to do?

• Jesus is the judge. John 5:26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
  
• Any act of judgment that puts you in the place of God is sin.
• God judges hearts. We can only judge actions. When our judgment of actions causes us to judge the heart, we are in violation of this teaching of Jesus.

6. Read “The Lord’s Prayer” from Matthew 6:9-15. What connection is there between the forgiveness we offer to others and the forgiveness God offers to us?

7. In Luke 6:38, Jesus makes reference to the “measure” you use. If you could picture the judgment and forgiveness that you offer to others in two different cups, what would you notice about the size of each cup? What would you notice about who received which cup? According to this passage, those same cups will be used to measure what you give, back to you. Are you encouraged or discouraged by this?

8. In Luke 6:40, it says that everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. Who are your teachers? Would you be satisfied to be like your teacher? Is it appropriate to try to imitate anyone besides Jesus?

• Paul thought it was. He even sent someone who imitated him to the Corinthian church. 1Corinthians 4:15 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son, whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
• 1Corinthians 11:1 Follow my example, as i follow the example of Christ.
  
• Philippians 3:17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
• The author of the book of Hebrews thought it was. Hebrews 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

9. In Luke 6:41, Jesus asks a question. In your life, have you ever done the thing Jesus is asking about? Has anyone ever been kind enough to point out your plank while you were helping him/her with his speck of sawdust? How did it make you feel?

10. In Luke 6:41-42, what do the speck of sawdust and the plank represent?


Putting it into practice:

1) Do you need to change the size of your cups? Pray about this in your groups.
2) This passage is about judging others. How does this passage speak to you regarding the ways in which you judge yourself?

Quote Of The Week

Once we learn the hard way is often the best way, & the long way is often the right way, then we will find that our lives are established upon the teaching of Jesus & no storms will ever shake them. (Barclay)