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?

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Disciples should share Jesus' joy in lost sinners becoming found sons.

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 15:1-32

1. Do you now, or have you ever felt estranged from God? If so, what is/was it like?

2. In the sermon, Brett mentioned that happiness dependent on something that could be lost is fragile. What makes you happy? How durable or fragile is it?

3. Have you ever hit rock bottom? What was it like?

4. Read Luke 15:20. When you think of God’s love, how similar or different is it to what’s described?

5. There are two ways to be lost: self-indulgence or self-righteousness. Which way did/do you gravitate towards?

6. How is the insight this passage gives us to what brings heaven joy both a thrill for us and a challenge to us?

7. If your joy is the same as what brings God joy, how will it affect:

a. Your view and relationship with those who don’t know Jesus?

b. Your prayer life?

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Not all who are interested in Jesus are disciples of Jesus (v. 25)

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 14:25-35

1. What does Jesus mean when he says in verse 26 that to follow him means hating our family? What other passages in the Bible can help bring clarity?

2. Are there any dynamics within your family that can, at times, make it challenging to put Jesus first? How do you typically handle those situations?

3. Verse 27 teaches us that to be a disciple of Jesus involves a willingness to take on the death of self-denial. What are some of the things you might otherwise say yes to, but now say no to, in order that you might say yes to Christ?

4. What is the gain of following Jesus?

5. In verse 33, Jesus tells us that renouncing all that we have is a requirement for being his disciple. What does this mean? What does this look like for you?

6. To trust Jesus as our Savior and our Lord means there is nothing he does not have the right to ask of us. Is there anything that comes to mind you really hope Jesus does not ask you to give up? If so, share. How can you determine if that thing is being held on too tightly in light of Jesus?

7. “There is nothing Jesus calls us to in this passage that he hasn’t already done for us.” What does that mean? Do you find encouragement from this? How so?

8. Think about how you talk about the Christian life to others. How is that similar or different from Jesus’ description here?

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

The Pharisees were too busy building their own kingdom to bother with following Jesus in his.

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 14:1-24

1. We can all, at times, find ourselves living for the “kingdom of self” rather than for the Kingdom of God. What are some of the ways you see that happen in your life? (e.g., work, responsibilities, possessions, activities, etc.)

2. How does a greater focus on the Kingdom of God (with a corresponding decreased focus on the “kingdom of self”) lead to greater compassion for others?

3. What are places and situations where you may be tempted to care too much about what others think of you? (e.g., work, school, neighbors, friends, kids’ abilities, etc.)

4. Why is it liberating to be freed from living for the recognition of others? What difference will that make at work? Home? Church? Evangelism?

5. In verses 13-14a, Jesus encourages us to pursue a generosity that will not be repaid in this life. What could it look like to show compassion and generosity to “the poor, the crippled, the lame (and) the blind”?

6. Jesus promises in verse 14b a reward for moving towards those who can give you nothing in return. What is the reward? Is it motivating? Why or why not?

7. “Live for the line, not for the dot” is a common phrase in the history of CrossWay that captures the desire to live now for the life to come (the line) and not for the short few years we have on earth (the dot). If we believe this to be good, how can we help one another pursue it?

8. It is a tragic and grievous reality that many around us fail to heed the invitation into the kingdom Jesus has inaugurated because they are consumed with the things of this world. What might it look like for us (in an appropriate manner) to “compel” those outside the kingdom to lay down their excuses and come join “the banquet” of the kingdom?

Prayer

Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions

Sermon Overview

Rejoice in the restoration God's kingdom unstoppably brings.

1) Jesus has come to restore and set free (vv. 10-17)

2) This restoration will spread quietly but unstoppably despite opposition (vv. 18-21)

Digging Deeper

Read Luke 13:10-21

1. God often furthers his Kingdom on earth through the weak and unimpressive (like the disabled woman in the passage) to show that the power belongs to him. How should this reality encourage us to be faithful in what may seem like small things?

2. Jesus freeing the crippled woman physically (vv. 10-13) is a picture of what he intends to do for the world spiritually. If you’re a follower of Jesus, how have you experienced spiritual freedom? If you’re not, what do you hope Jesus could do for you?

3. Jesus has come to restore and set free. In what area(s) of your life are you most eager to see Jesus restore and set free?

4. Freedom is something that is valued and often spoken of in America. How might we pivot in a conversation with an unbeliever about political freedom to speaking of the freedom Christ brings from sin, Satan, and death?

5. When we see the brokenness and “bent-ness” of the world around us (in the news headlines or in our own lives), what truths from this would it be good for us to keep in mind?

6. How do we know that Jesus' healing the disabled woman (vv. 10-17) is connected to his answer of what the Kingdom of God will be like (vv.18-21)?

7. Verses 18-21 give us a picture that the Kingdom of God will be established often in slow, seemingly unnoticeable ways rather than spectacular displays of spiritual might and triumphant conquest. How have you seen this in the history of the church? How does this encourage you now?

8. Jesus’ For followers of Jesus, his restoration work in us has already started, but not yet fully completed. How might knowing the “already … not yet” nature of God’s restoring work in us lead to increased hope, joy, and peace in our hearts?

9. What is one area of your life where you could make a small beginning (as small as a mustard seed) of faithfulness, that God might use to further his unstoppable Kingdom?

Prayer