Week 6

Read: Matthew 4:12-17 and your notes from Sunday morning’s sermon.

 

Intro: Last week we looked at the temptation Jesus faced in the wilderness and how he handled that. This week, we get to dive into Jesus beginning to preach. Jesus came to save Jews and gentiles alike, to save them from darkness by giving them a new light! Jesus has a lot to say but some of the first things we see matthew record, is Jesus telling people: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We can not be complacent, but rather, we need to prepare ourselves.

Questions: 

 

  1. Who is Jesus to us? Why is he “light?”
  2. Jesus tells the people he is preaching to, to repent as the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What do you think they needed to repent of? Why does the kingdom of heaven require that repentance you think?
  3. What does repentance look like to us today? Is this something we do once, or over and over? Why? Why is the answer to this important to how we view a christian life?

Feel free to discuss or ask additional questions as they arise

Spiritual Practice: We are starting to wrap up our practice of meditation. We’ve practiced it over the past few weeks and we have shared our experience with each other as we work this into our daily lives. We are going to be doing the same thing this week because we know this takes practice, discipline and persistence. This week, continue to make the space and time for meditation with God. Share your positive experiences with Christian meditation with your group throughout the week as an encouragement to one another. When you do forget, make it a point to reflect on it afterwards so that you can recognize those opportunities more readily in the future. Group leaders, reach out to your group this week to ask them how they are doing with this practice. Finish strong with this practice as we will build on this in our next practice. 

Closing verse: Matthew 4:17 – From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”