Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Our hope for endless peace rests on a child who will reign forever.

I. The future for God's people is a dawn that drives out darkness (vv. 1-3)

II. This dawn will mean the end of enslaving enemies (vv. 4-5)

III. God will make this endless peace through a child who will reign forever (vv. 6-7)

Digging Deeper

Read Isaiah 9:1-7

1. “To be in darkness is to seem to be abandoned by God.” By a show of hands, have you ever or do you now feel this way? Share more if you’re comfortable.

2. “The first coming of Jesus was the beginning of the end of the darkness of the world.” How have you experienced this line from the sermon? How has darkness begun to end? How is it still present? Think in terms of the world and your own life.

3. Anticipating that Christ has come and is coming again should lead to hope and joy. How might we help one another be more intentional about giving thought to Christ’s first and second coming?

4. Do you see spiritual enemies (like sin, demons, the fear of death) as your greatest enemies? Why or why not?

5. How did Jesus’ death on the cross defeat our spiritual enemies?

6. Reread Isaiah 9:6, especially the end. Which of the four descriptors of Jesus catches your attention? Why?

7. What is a takeaway (s) for us from the fact that roughly 700 years prior to the birth of Jesus, Isaiah so clearly and so specifically foretold his coming?

8. Where do you long for peace in your life? With God? With yourself? With others?

9. There are many aspects to the peace Jesus came to bring for his people (e.g. - peace with God, peace among ourselves, peace within ourselves, etc.). Are there any aspects of the peace he brings that you have perhaps not appreciated as much as you should? Why might that be? How might we grow in gratefulness for all that Christ came to do for us?

10. Read Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” How has Jesus brought us peace through his death? How might we use this verse to share the gospel with someone this Advent season?

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Those who enter the kingdom depend on Jesus completely and treasure him supremely.

I. Who enters: those who depend on Jesus completely (vv. 15-17)

II. Who enters: those who treasure Jesus supremely (vv. 18-30)

III. How Jesus makes entry possible: suffering in our place (vv. 31-34)

IV. How entry looks: dependent faith produces joyful following (vv. 35-43)

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 18:15-43

1. Jesus exhorts us to receive the kingdom of God like a child, in complete dependence. How does this help us in entering his kingdom?

2. What’s the opposite of being like a child in approaching God? How could/does this show up in your life?

3. Wealth isn’t evil, but it is a danger. How is wealth a powerful rival to God?

4. Where do you struggle when thinking about money? Greed? Discontentment? Jealousy? Overreliance on it for security? What might you do or change to grow in this area?

5. Those who follow Jesus give up much now, but also receive much now. If you follow Jesus, what good things have you already experienced because you are a part of God’s kingdom now?

6. It was asked in the sermon, “Do you see Jesus’s love?” What does it mean to see His love, and how does it help us enter his kingdom?

7. The blind man at the end of the passage is a picture of the one who enters the kingdom. How do we live our lives marked by the kind of joyful following that the blind man exhibits upon being healed?

8. What is one specific thing that keeps you from entering the kingdom? Self-righteousness? Pride? Wealth that consumes your life? How do you flee from it?

9. How can we live in such a way that witnesses to unbelievers about the goodness of entering the kingdom of God?

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Come to God, trusting not in yourself, but in Jesus. God's saving mercy and grace are only for those who know they don't deserve it.

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 18:9-14

1. In our passage, the Pharisee comes to God trusting in himself (and how good he is). Where do we see this in the text?

2. What are subtle or obvious ways we can trust ourselves instead of Jesus?

3. “Whenever we feel God does not love us because we have failed, we have adopted the Pharisee's approach.” Do you experience this? If so, how can you respond to these feelings? How can we help each other?

4. One of the ways Pharisee-like self-righteousness reveals itself is in a propensity to treat others with contempt (cf. v.9b). Reflect on some of the words (and tone) you have used with others around you in the past. Do you see any supporting evidence that you may have, at times, been guilty of treating others with contempt? What heart-level attitudes might such words reveal?

5. How tempted are you to compare yourself with others to determine how good or bad you are? A lot? A little? Something else?

6. What’s the problem with assessing yourself based on comparison to others?

7. How easy is it to view yourself like the tax collector, claiming no righteousness of your own?

8. It was said in the sermon, “... we are all far more sinful than we think. And it is only when we grasp this that we can receive the good news.” What was meant by this? Do you agree?

9. How might we use this parable (and the truths it teaches) to engage with unbelievers about the good news of the Gospel?

10. What one specific application from this passage might God want you to consider and take with you into the week ahead? Please share.

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Jesus' sure and sudden return calls for wholehearted loyalty and persevering prayer.

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 17:20-18:8

1. Did this sermon help you in your understanding of what the Kingdom of God is? How so?

2. How does Daniel 7:13-14 shed light on what Jesus meant when he spoke of “the kingdom of God” and “the Son of Man”?

3. The coming of the Son of Man will be unmistakable to all (17:22-25). Why do you think Jesus wants his disciples (including us) to know this? What does this truth help guard against?

4. The coming of the Son of Man will be unexpected by many (17:26-30). In mercy, Jesus is warning his people, lest we be numbered among those who are not ready for his return. How can we help one another guard against complacency and against living with no sense of urgency (as those in Noah’s and Lot’s day did - until it was too late)?

5. The coming of the Son of Man will be for salvation and judgment (17:27, 29, 34-35). Apart from God’s grace, we can be inclined to think that we’re really not all that bad, and certainly not worthy of God’s judgment. How might we use the truths taught in this passage to help unbelievers see both the sober reality of coming judgment and the salvation Christ offers?

6. One rightful response to what Jesus shows us in this passage about his return is to live with wholehearted loyalty to God. Is there a specific area of your life in which you are okay with something less than wholehearted loyalty to God? Please share. What would be a good next step toward change in this area?

7. Another rightful response in light of the second coming of the Son of Man is persevering prayer to God (18:1-8). Are there things you have prayed for, and yet God has not answered the way you hoped he would? Have you found yourself tempted to give up praying, and “lose heart”? Please share.

8. It was said in the sermon that “the key to not losing heart (in prayer) is the character of God.” What aspects of God’s character would you say are most important for you to be mindful of as you seek to persevere in prayer until the Son of Man comes again?

9. What might be some ways we can encourage one another to persevere in prayer until the Son of Man returns?

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

The whole Christian life is enabled by faith in Christ.

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 17:1-19

1. Faith in Christ gives us a sort of superpower to do things that are really hard (some would say impossible). From the passage or the sermon, what kinds of things does faith enable?

2. After all the hard things Jesus has been calling the disciples to, they feel that they need an increase of faith (vs. 5). Why do you think they ask for more faith, instead of more of something else?

3. What is or may be an area you have freedom to pursue that you intentionally don’t because you want the spiritual good of someone weaker in the faith?

4. Christians are commanded to reconcile wrongs with others. What makes it difficult to be reconciled with someone who has wronged us (or make amends to someone whom we have wronged)?

5. Where do you need to go and be reconciled? Consider both relationships in which you need to forgive, and relationships in which you need forgiveness.

6. Have you ever experienced a surprising ability to serve God (through increased grace for others, stamina in ministry, resistance to sin, etc.)? Where did this come from, according to Luke 17?

7. In the sermon, it was said that faith enables us to receive God’s mercy. Is it ever hard for you to receive mercy from others? What about from God?

8. Where in your life do you need to have faith in God right now and ask him to move? Do you trust Him to do what you’re asking? Be specific.

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Because death reverses the wrongs of life, the living should hear God now and respond.

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 16:19-31

1. Money is a recurring theme in Luke 16. What does Jesus say about money? Why do you think he talks about it so much?

2. When you think about someone spending an eternity without God, do you struggle with whether it is just? Why, or why not?

3. Real people go to a real hell. What difference should this reality make in our lives now?

4. It can be easy to feel like we have to get it all right in this life so we don’t end up like the rich man in the parable. What helps us avoid thinking we can earn our way to heaven due to a fear of hell?

5. The great news of the gospel is that if we are in Christ, we are beneficiaries of a second reversal, greater than that of death. What was that reversal, and what does it mean for believers?

6. What brokenness in our world now might we joyfully anticipate being reversed in eternity later?

7. How do you do justice and show mercy in your everyday life? If you struggle with this, how can you grow in showing mercy?

8. In the sermon, we heard that part of responding to the reversal that is death is “to be generous and prepare.” What are some needs around us that we can anticipate and meet as a community?

9. How do we share this truth of the gospel - this reversal of right and wrong - to someone who doesn’t believe there is anything other than this life?

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Pursue a God-pleasing righteousness from the heart, including in your marriage

I. The righteousness God seeks is from the heart (vv. 14-15)

II. The kingdom Jesus brings fulfills the law but does not relax righteousness (vv. 16-17)

III. God's enduring desire for righteousness is shown in his enduring instruction about marriage (v. 18)

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 16:14-18

1. In the sermon, righteousness is “being right, doing right, before God.” The righteousness God is seeking is righteousness from the heart. What’s the difference between being righteous just on the outside (like the Pharisees) and being righteous from the heart?

2. Have you ever found yourself resisting a teaching in the Bible, only to later realize (or experience a sense of conviction from the Holy Spirit) that it is a truth that was pressing on something you were loving as a rival to God? Please share.

3. If you were to be honest, is there an area of your life where you are settling for outward conformity (a merely external righteousness)? What might be a good step toward pursuing change in this area of your life?

4. After hearing this sermon, how might you respond to someone who thinks they can live however they want because Jesus counts us as righteous through trust in him?

5. Jesus didn’t come to make righteousness unnecessary, but rather to make it possible. What does that mean? Do you find this truth encouraging? How so?

MARRIAGE

In our culture, the starting point for thinking about marriage is often self-fulfillment: my wants, my needs, my goals. It’s easy to miss God’s design for marriage, which is a covenant to which we must be faithful, a union that is only broken with great trauma, and a picture of God’s love and faithfulness. It is, therefore, not surprising that so many fail to see the grievousness of divorce as God does.

6. How can we speak and act about marriage so that those around us are pointed toward God’s good design of marriage?

7. This passage urges us to “Pursue a God-pleasing righteousness from the heart, including in (our) marriages.” If you’re married, what would this practically look like?

8. Given your marital situation and background, what was one takeaway from this sermon God might want you to remember in the days ahead?

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Followers of Jesus shrewdly manage mammon now for eternal purposes.

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 16:1-13

1. How was the crooked manager in the parable shrewd?

2. If you’re a follower of Jesus, what would it look like to be shrewd for kingdom purposes?

Mammon can be defined simply as money and possessions (like in verses 9 and 11). And it can be understood as a demonic power that uses money and possessions to lure people away from God (like in verse 12).

3. Mammon will fail (v. 9) because it goes up and down in life, and when we die, it will be worthless. If you believed this through and through, how would it change your life?

4. Western culture is a materialistic culture. What blind spots do you think this causes in our lives and church when it comes to spending your money with kingdom priorities?

5. How have you experienced the influence of mammon inside of you? How have you looked to money to give you peace, security, significance, adventure, pleasure, etc?

6. In what ways is Jesus a better God to serve than Money? Why is this easy to forget in day-to-day life?

7. Often, we connect with what Jesus has done in the past to motivate our lives now (e.g., Jesus was generous, so we should be generous). In our passage, Jesus motivates generosity and faithfulness with future eternal rewards (see v. 9 and v. 11). Do you think much of eternal rewards? Why or why not?

8. Imagine the eternal rewards God promises for shrewd stewardship of mammon, like eternal friends (v. 9) and true riches (v. 12). What comes to your mind?

9. How can we, as a Gospel Community, together encourage one another to look forward to eternal rewards?