Today’s passage: Luke 12:1-12

Helpful thoughts:

• In an environment where people were being physically trampled, the greatest danger was still false teaching and what it produces.
• There are four specific commands communicated in this passage:
  • Beware the leaven of the Pharisees (Watch out for false teachers). Verse 1
  • Do not fear those who can kill the body…fear not.  Verses 4 & 7
  • Fear God (Him who…has authority to cast into hell).  Verse 5
  • Do not be anxious about how you would defend yourself or what you should say.  Verse 11
• The Holy Spirit exalts Jesus Christ (John 15:26).  To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  If you go to your grave having rejected Him you have also blasphemed the Holy Spirit, and you will not be forgiven.

Questions to consider:

1. In a room where ten hostile people hate Christ and His followers and only one loves Christ and loves his neighbor as himself, who has the upper hand?  Why?  Who is with the Christian and actively involved in times of persecution?
2. How could we apply this passage today in our current culture?  What part does faith in God’s presence and promises play when we are faced with choosing to share Christ with a friend and risk their disapproval?
3. What would be easier, affirming your faith in Christ before a firing squad or sharing the Gospel with friends who might stop calling you?  (This isn’t a gotcha question…  The answer might be more complicated than we think.)  Ultimately, why is it only right to be willing and obedient to do both?

Today’s passage: Luke 11:37-54

Helpful thoughts:

• As was always the case, the astonishment of the Pharisees(s) toward Jesus had nothing to do with any breaking of the actual OT law.  Jesus had simply not followed their own extra-biblical rules.
• The Jews were considered “unclean” when they walked over the grave of a corpse.  In verse 44, He is telling the Pharisees that they are corrupting the people of Israel, rendering everyone they influence “unclean”.
• After these pointed and passionate rebukes from the Son of God, the Lawyers (“Experts” in the law) only felt insulted, and the Scribes and Pharisees were driven to find fault in Jesus!  Their anger and blind rejection of Jesus’ rebuke didn’t make it wrong (Or a failure) for Jesus to speak up.

Questions to consider:

1. What motivated the “cleanliness” of the outside of the cup for the Pharisees?  Why did they do what they did?  Given the motivation they had, what did their efforts result in for themselves and for others who were taught by them? (Note: Jesus termed their motivations as “greed” and “wickedness/malice”.)
2. Who would be the “Pharisees”, “scribes” and “lawyers” of our day? (Hint: It’s not atheistic college professors!)  What does God think of pastors, Bible teachers, etc. who teach false doctrine and manipulate people (Whether they realize it or not) for their own personal gain?  How would Jesus speak to them?  (The Pharisees, scribes and lawyers were dead in their sins and therefore blind.  They didn’t believe they were doing wrong.  Many false teachers will not believe they are a false teacher!)
3. I am not sure I have seen the “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelet applied to passages like this one… However, a better question for us is, “What Would Jesus Command Me to Do?”.  How would 2 John 9-10 and 2 Peter 3:17-18 help us to answer that important question?

Today’s passage: Luke 11:27-36

Helpful thoughts:

• Signs are just signs.  The greater power is in the message, the truth presented.  Love the Word of God!
  • Jonah being vomited onto land by a big fish isn’t the best part of the narrative.  Jonah speaking the command of the Lord to pagan Gentiles is the amazing part!
  • Solomon’s wealth and fame are not the best part of his life story.  A powerful woman coming from a foreign land to hear about God is the best part!
• Christ, the light of the world, was speaking right in front of this crowd, but their spiritual “eyes” wouldn’t let the light in.  Therefore what they thought was light in them, was actually darkness.
  • It is possible to believe yourself to be full of light, and to instead be full of darkness.
  • When the light is truly in you, you will shine.

Questions to consider:

1. Why did Mary live a blessed life?  Why is she in Heaven today?
2. If a person considers themselves more spiritual because they claim to see and believe God is doing signs, miracles and wonders today because of their great faith yet they don’t rightly divide the Word of God, and they are even unrepentant, what is happening there?  Who is orchestrating that kind of “spirituality”?  Should we be impressed or cautious and concerned?  Is that person gathering or scattering (Verse 23)?
3. How does the light of Christ get into us (Through our “lamps”)?  What needs to happen in us to make the Word of God become delightful and appealing?

Today’s passage: Luke 11:14-26

Helpful thoughts:

• Seeing miracles does not bring repentance and conversion out of the hearts of man (Luke 16:31).
• Jesus is stronger than the devil and all demons (Verse 22).  He will not lose.
• If we are not gathering with Jesus, we are scattering.  There is no middle ground.  There is no neutral position.
  • The man in verses 24-26 serves as the illustration for the truth in verse 23.
  • This man “cleaned himself up” but in a moralistic self-righteous way.  This only invited more demonic activity.
    • Jesus is declaring this man better off having acted demonically than to be outwardly righteous without Christ!
    • He was obviously scattering in the first place.  Now he might think he is gathering, but instead is doing far scattering than he was ever before.

Questions to consider:

1. What was Jesus’ posture towards these people in this conversation?  Was the love of God being communicated passively with an appeal to their felt needs or were they being warned that the Kingdom of God had come upon them?
2. What should be most exciting for us to see at church, a new family that looks cleaned up and shares our same interests and hobbies who do not know Christ, or a person from an entirely different background with different interests who comes to know and love Christ?  How should the answer to this question also inform the way we “do” church, how we view people, and how we present ourselves to the mission field around us?
3. Is it possible for a church (And church goers) to be scatterers?  How would you be able to identify a pastor, church, ministry that is scattering instead of gathering?

Today’s passage: Luke 11:1-13

Helpful thoughts:

• God wants us to pray!
  • He is to be hallowed (Greatly revered, honored).
  • He is a loving Father.
• A sincere heart is far more important than many words.
• A good father will not give his children “serpents” and “scorpions”, even when they ask for them.

Questions to consider:

1. What kinds of things did Jesus include in this prayer?  How could it serve as a model for us? (See also Matthew 6:9-13)
2. Is it possible that some of our requests that seem to be good are in fact “scorpions”?  What might be some examples?  What kinds of gifts does God give (James 1:17)?
3. How does the fact that God deserves to be hallowed and that His kingdom is assuredly coming reinforce your prayers?  How does it reinforce your faith in His goodness, even if things don’t go they way you thought they should?

Today’s passage: Luke 10:38-42

Helpful thoughts:

• The things that Martha was doing were not wrong in and of themselves.  She wanted to show great hospitality.
• Martha wanted to provide Jesus with a banquet.  Jesus was already providing a banquet and Martha was declining.
• “No spiritual discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word.” – Don Whitney

Questions to consider:

1. Even though both sisters desired to honor Christ in this passage, which one was showing Him the greatest honor?  What about Mary’s action honored Christ more?  What had Jesus desired to give to His hosts in that moment?
2. Do you ever feel like you aren’t “getting anything done” when you are spending time in the Word?  Why do we think that way?  Why is that thinking incorrect?
3. What are the things that most often distract you from hearing from God in His Word?  How can learning from Him help you to better think about the things that distract you?