Pluck it Out

Adultery

    27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt%205&version=NIV>

 
 

• What is your initial reaction to this passage?
  

   
   

• Test yourself before you begin
  
  • What does Jesus mean here?
    
• Blind men are lucky.
  
• Most of us should have glass eyes and hooks for hands.
  
• When you go looking for trouble you will find it.
  
• Simply trying to avoid evil isn't enough, we have to do something about it.
  

   
   

• Our Context -
  
• Adultery was a sin that went strongly against the cultural mores of the time of Jesus. If anyone was found to be an adulterer, they were guilty of a crime punishable by death. It was a sin that was repugnant to the people of Jesus' day.
  

   
   

• Can you think of sins today that get a response like adultery did during Jesus time? Why these particular sins?
  

   
   

• How shocking would this have been to the average listener - consider the full weight of Jesus' words?
  

   
   

• What does it mean to "look lustfully"?
  

   
   

• Is there a difference between looking lustfully, and being tempted? If so, what is that difference?
  

   
   

• How is it that lust is sinful in and of itself?
  

   
   

• Have you or anyone you've ever known gone deliberately looking for trouble? Is it hard to find, usually?
  

   
   

• If one wants to look for trouble, will they?
  

   
   

• This word "stumbling block" is just about the same thing as a trip wire to a trap - what activities or behaviors do people trip themselves with?
  

   
   

• Have you ever attempted to deliberately not look at something? A scary scene of a movie, car accident, etc.? How successful were you?
  

   
   

• I decided for lent to give up negative thoughts, how successful do you believe I have been? (Thank God for His mercy!)
  

   
   

• In addiction counseling - an addict is often encouraged to find a substitute activity to their addiction, one that is healthy? Can you find a parallel to gouging an eye, or cutting off a hand?
  

   
   

• In addictions, people in counseling often refer to people, places and things that cause them to use or reoffend - can you think of Christian parallels here?
  

   
   

• In the Christian's life often it isn't good enough to try and just not do bad things, one has to engage in Christian activities, do you agree? What are these?
  

   
   

• Jesus also said that to find our lives we must lose them - what similarities do you find here?
  

Leprosy and Disobedience

Mark 1

 
 

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

 40 A man with leprosy[h] came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."

 41 Jesus was indignant.[i] He reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+1&version=NIV>

 
 

Our Context - This healing occurs after Jesus has preached on the mountain, after He has had the marathon time of healing in Capernaum, after He has been hard pressed, and finally sought solitude.

 
 

• The sermon on the mount was a long teaching - it would have taken a long time to deliver - describe how you might have felt were you Christ in the midst of this marathon
  

   
   

• There were different sorts of leprosy during the time of Christ - all of which were painful, drawn out, isolating, death sentences - this man who comes to Jesus has no right to approach Jesus - He was ostracized from all society - he would wear special clothes to mark who he was - he would need to shout and announce his presence to all around him - and was not allowed to approach anyone. A leper didn't just have the physical pain of his disease, but the mental anguish that came from being separated entirely from society. Can you think of modern parallels?
  

   
   

• All of us are born into sin, we are told that there is not a single righteous man in the world. We know that God is perfection personified. Have we any right to approach God with any request?
  

   
   

• So, the man can't bear his pain (physical and emotional), and he throws himself at the feet of Jesus. Can you think of a time when you or someone you know needed help so very badly? Take a moment now, and picture yourself at the feet of Jesus with this man.
  

   
   

• Indignant is not an entirely accurate translation, many translate this as "moved with pity" one version goes further and says "to the depths of His being." Can you recall a time when you have been indignant with pity - you are so concerned with someone that you are miserably upset by it, bothered by it until it makes you sick?
  

   
   

• Imagining still yourself at the feet of Jesus with this leper, describe how you want Jesus, who is God in flesh here on earth, to feel about your problem?
  

   
   

• Jesus broke societal conventions and touched this leper. Touching a leper meant contamination, it meant that you might be banished along with him if you contracted the disease. How would you have felt if Jesus touched you in that moment, this man may not have been touched for years?
  

   
   

• In order to be verified as being "clean" a leper who recovered had to go to the priest and go through a purification ritual. This was the only way that he would be admitted into society. How significant is it that Jesus instructed this man to pay attention to this convention? What does it show that Jesus desires for the man?
  

   
   

• What is the result of the former lepers disobedience?
  

   
   

• Why is it that people still, even in the "lonely places" seek out Jesus?
  

The Fulfillment

Matthew 5

 
 

The Fulfillment of the Law

    17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5&version=NIV>

 
 

• What is your first impression of this teaching of Jesus?
  

   
   

  Test Yourself Before We Begin.
  

  What does Jesus mean here?
  

   
   

1. I hope you're not having pork for lunch.
   
2. Legalism is in, and grace is out - we are in a holiness competition with the Pharisees.
   
3. In Jesus words, and life is the full meaning of the law.
   
4. Jesus is the fulfillment of everything hoped for by the Jew and Gentile.
   

    
    

• In Jesus ministry was he reputed to be a great keeper of the law, or breaker of the law? By whom?
  

   
   

• In the time of Jesus "law" had multiple meanings. "Law" could mean the ten commandments, or the first five books of the Bible, or it could mean "the law and the prophets" their known canon of scripture, or it could mean the oral, or scribal law, which do you believe Christ is referring to here? Why do you believe this?
  

   
   

• Name some of the things that Christ did that would have been violations of the "scribal law".
  

   
   

• Can you think of a thing that Christ did to violate "the law and the prophets"?
  

   
   

• It is said that Christ fulfilled over 300 prophecies concerning the Messiah, what light does that shed on this passage for you?
  

   
   

• How do you believe that the teachings of Christ fulfill the law and the prophets? Does anything that Christ teaches go against the nature of God as we see Him in the entirety of the Old Testament?
  

   
   

• What attitude does this show of Jesus' toward scripture? Where else do you see Christ giving reverence to the scripture?
  

   
   

• The word that Jesus uses here to describe the smallest letter is "iodh" it is Hebrew for apostrophe - what does it mean to you that in following Christ you have liberty, yet not even an apostrophe has fallen away from the Bible?
  

   
   

• Many have stated in recent years that the Bible contradicts itself, therefore it is unreliable. It has been said that the God of the Old Testament does not match the Jesus of the New Testament. Do you agree or disagree with this? Why?
  

   
   

• What does it mean to read the Bible in the context that it was written? Is it correct for us to interpret it through our cultural lens? What happens to the "iodh" when we do?
  

   
   

• What does righteousness mean to you? Where does the Christian derive their righteousness?
  

   
   

• The Pharisee received his righteousness from following ALL of the law - all of the definitions - his life was a constant list of "shalls and shall nots". How can we compete with righteousness like that?
  

   
   

•  
  

Narrow Gate

Matthew 7:13-14 (New International Version, ©2011)

The Narrow and Wide Gates

    13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7:12-14&version=NIV>

 
 

 
 

What are your first impressions of this passage?

 
 

Test yourself before we begin

What did Jesus mean here?

1. Big gates are dangerous
   
2. Narrow gates are better - they display superior craftsmanship.
   
3. Just because something is popular does not make it right
   
4. Sometimes the hard road is the right road.
   

    
    

   Read this poem by Robert Frost - compare the words of Jesus to the words of the poet
   

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;     Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,     And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back.     I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-road-not-taken/>

 
 

 
 

• When Jesus mentions the broad road and wide gate he's referring to the way that most people take - what do you believe this road to look like?
  

   
   

• Roads were new technology in Jesus' day - the Romans had created roads that connected all of the known world - you could now communicate and move quickly anywhere - it was the internet of the day - what impact does this have on this passage?
  

   
   

• Narrow roads would have been older technology - perhaps considered backwards, antiquated - what parallels can you draw with this?
  

   
   

• Is it a hard road to walk? Discuss the terms "path of least resistance" and "go with the flow"
  

   
   

• Describe the path that most take these days - is it challenging? - How would you describe the physical health of the average american, mental health, spiritual health?
  

   
   

• How does the broad road lead to destruction?
  

   
   

• An old saying goes, "anything worth getting is worth working hard for," do you agree?
  

   
   

• What do you consider the narrow path to be today? What must the Christian do to take this road?
  

   
   

   
   

The Flavoring of the World

Salt and Light

Monday, March 28, 2011

3:32 PM

 
 

Matthew 5:13-16 (New International Version, ©2011)

Salt and Light

    13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

   14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt%205:13-16&version=NIV>

 
 

 
 

What are your first impressions of this passage?

 
 

• Jesus then compares us to salt - discuss the ways that salt was used, and still is used.
  

   
   

• Salt was a symbol of a few things in the ancient world - above all it was thought to be useful - how could this apply to the Christian?
  

   
   

• Salt was a symbol of purity - all sacrifices in the temple were offered with salt - discuss the world's need for purity, and how we offer that.
  

   
   

• Salt was a preservative - it was used to keep meat from going bad - how does this apply to the Christian in society?
  

   
   

• Salt was flavoring - a valuable one - a salt and pepper shaker were once symbols of affluence - salt was desired - is this the case with the Christian?
  

   
   

• How can the Christian, or the church be these to the world?
  

   
   

• Can salt lose its saltiness - is it then salt (imagine food without salt)? How would this happen to a Christian?
  

   
   

• What function does light have? How does the Christian perform this function in the world - what are we to illuminate - what darkness do we overcome?
  

   
   

• The bushel that Jesus refers to was a clay pot that the lamp was covered with when someone left their house for safety sake - do we cover our lamp when we leave the house of God (Sunday at about 11:30)?
  

   
   

• How can the sight of a city on a hill be a welcome thing?
  

   
   

• The light that we've been given, is it ours to keep? What is its purpose?
  

   
   

• What is our light to direct people to?
  

   
   

Mustard Seed and Yeast

Luke 13

 
 

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

 18 Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches."

 20 Again he asked, "What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds[a] of flour until it worked all through the dough."

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+13&version=NIV>

 
 

• What are your first thoughts when you hear these parables?
  

   
   

  Test Yourself Before We Begin
  

  What does Jesus mean in these parables?
  

1. Mustard is a holy herb, much holier than ketchup
   
2. Unleavened bread lacks spirituality.
   
3. The kingdom of God has room for all - like the branches of a tree for birds.
   
4. The kingdom can start small and grow large.
   

    
    

• What do you know about mustard seeds?
  

   
   

• Are they large? What correlation does this have with the kingdom?
  

   
   

• The plant that Jesus was talking of grew to an average of eight feet tall from a very small start. How does the seed get its start?
  

   
   

• What do we have that is comparable to that seed? What must you do to see it grow?
  

   
   

• What kind of faith does planting imply?
  

   
   

• How does it become a tree?
  

   
   

• The birds in Palestine loved this tree - it had many seeds - they would flock to it - its branches covered as they pecked at and ate the seeds. Why are the birds significant? Who would they represent to us?
  

   
   

• All kinds of birds would share this tree - why is that significant?
  

   
   

• Does service in the kingdom require you to shed that which makes you, you?
  

   
   

• Does Jesus seem to say that this tree has room , and food enough for all?
  

   
   

• How do we endeavor to make that so in our church?
  

   
   

• The leaven that Jesus mentions was a bit of fermented dough that a woman would keep - a tiny piece. What can we gather from the introduction of the leaven? Does it have a big beginning? Does it even seem pleasant (it is rotten dough)?
  

   
   

• Can Jesus use what we have? How does he do this? Do we need much for him to do much?
  

   
   

• Can you witness leaven working - affecting the dough at the molecular level?
  

   
   

• Can you see the affects?
  

   
   

• Is the work of the dough internal or external? And the work of the kingdom?
  

   
   

   
   

Attitudes On Wealth

The Rich Fool

Monday, March 14, 2011

2:57 PM

 
 

Luke 12:16-20 (New International Version, ©2011)

 16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

   18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'

   20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luk%2012:16-20&version=NIV>

 
 

• What are your first impressions of this saying of Jesus?
  

   
   

• Test Yourself Before We Begin
  

   
   

• What do you think Jesus meant by this saying?
  

1. Large harvests will make a person lazy and stupid.
   
2. Being a carpenter, He preferred smaller barns.
   
3. It is better to be poor than to be rich.
   
4. We should not become so focused on our work that we forget about God.
   

    
    

   Searching for Context
   

    
    

    13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
   

    14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."
   

    
    

   Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12&version=NIV>
   

    
    

• What happens in this passage?
  

   
   

• 
  It was a common practice of the rabbis of Jesus time to arbitrate disputes like this - why do you believe that Jesus shied from this?
  

   
   

• What does Jesus seem to say that the real root of the problem for these brothers was? When you go to a doctor would you prefer them to treat your symptoms or disease? Are you sure of your choice?
  

   
   

• Would conventional wisdom agree with Jesus in v15? Do we live in a society that values possessions or faith? Do you feel this makes us a happy or unhappy society?
  

   
   

• Why do you believe Jesus admonishes against greed?
  

   
   

   16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
  

     18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'
  

     20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
  

   
   

• Re-tell this parable in your own words
  

   
   

• Is it a bad thing to have an abundance? Is this what Jesus is preaching
  

   
   

• Describe the pronouns that the man uses? What's the problem with this?
  

   
   

• What happens to our world when we are self-centered?
  

   
   

• Where else could the man have focused his wealth
  

   
   

• What attitude does Christ seem to have toward possessions? Are they intended for our sole enjoyment?
  

   
   

• Does someone have to be wealthy to have this attitude toward wealth?
  

   
   

   21 "This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."
  

   
   

  Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12&version=NIV>
  

   
   

• How does one accomplish being rich toward God?
  

A Quiet Place

Mark 1:35-39 (New International Version, ©2011)

Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place

 35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"

 38 Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mar%201:35-39&version=NIV>

 
 

• Discuss your first impressions of this passage.
  

   
   

• Do you recall the flurry of activity Jesus had just encountered? Why do you think that Jesus prayed in solitude?
  

   
   

• Jesus is God in flesh - yet He prayed - why do you feel that is?
  

   
   

• Is time spent, alone, in solitude simply praying, time well spent?
  

   
   

• Do the disciples feel that Jesus is spending His time wisely?
  

   
   

• What do you think the disciples feel that Jesus ought to be doing?
  

   
   

• A professor of mine used to tell us to "not get so caught up in the work of the Lord that we forget the Lord of the work." What do you think of this statement?
  

   
   

• How have you experience the exhaustion that Jesus is experiencing? Did you deal with it in the same way that He did? How are some other ways that we deal with exhaustion?
  

   
   

• How do you pursue solitude in your daily life?
  

   
   

• How does Jesus respond to the disciples?
  

   
   

• Why did Jesus come? In His words…
  

   
   

• What else did He do when He was in the villages? What do you find significant about that?
  

   
   

• When Jesus came into contact with someone the encounter changed them, talk about the kind of changes that happened to them.