Month: April 2013

Date:  April 27-28, 2013
Series:  Christian
Message:  Where Are You?
Passage:  Matthew 5:13-16

 

INTRODUCTION – 5 MINUTES

 

WHAT WAS A TIME SOMEONE SAW SOMETHING IN YOU THAT YOU DIDN’T SEE YOURSELF?

Leader note:  Make this as conversational as you can.  Think of a time someone affirmed you for something you didn’t even notice.  Perhaps it was the ease you accomplished a task, the grace you gave to someone you met, your ability to affirm in tense situations, etc.

 

OBSERVATION –  20 MINUTES

 

READ MATTHEW 5:13-16.  WHAT DOES JESUS WANT OUR INFLUENCE TO BE?

Leader note:  He’s talking to His disciples.  A translation of this is “you and only you”.

 

Commentary: 

To be Salt (of the earth):
To be Light (of the world):
To do good deeds (those which are both salt and light) cause people to praise God
               Point to God not themselves
               Affects other people
               When our motivation is to do good for God it brings glory to God
               When we do acts for ourselves we get the praise, when we do them for God He does
               If they think I’m kind and good people will think God is great.
               “If I’m doing good and people aren’t praising God what good is it?”

 

WHAT ARE THE UNIQUE QUALITIES OF SALT AND LIGHT (SPECIFICALLY IN JESUS’ TIME)?

 

Salt:      

               Healer
               Flavor enhancer
               Only effective when it comes in contact
               Permeates and infects/changes
               Preservative – stops rotting/decay
Highlights engagements
It is to be used, worthless by itself
Stops decay – preservative
Flavors – “brings out the God flavors”, adds zest to life

 

Light:

               Distinctive
               Reveals what’s around
               Allows you to see
               Dispels the darkness
               Is a signpost/warning (lighthouse)
               Lights a path/guides
               Is attractive, you are drawn to the light
Reveals/exposes
Eradicates darkness
              

UNDERSTANDING – 20 MINUTES

 

WHAT ARE THE EQUIVALENTS OF SALT AND LIGHT TODAY?

Leader note:  Consider the descriptions you listed in the question above.  What do those qualities accomplish for followers of Jesus?

Salt:

It stands against evil, influences or advances the good
You make the world better by standing against the moral decay
 

Light

Speak the truth of the Gospel
Show in my actions the truth of the Gospel
Not hide who I am in Christ

 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR SALT TO LOSE ITS “SALTINESS”?

               If it is diluted, not effective
               If it isn’t used – or too much or not enough is used
               If it doesn’t come in contact with what it is supposed to
               Becomes useless

 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR LIGHT TO BE HIDDEN?

               Loses its value
               Doesn’t reveal everything, only part of what can be seen
               Leaves some darkness – doesn’t get rid of it completely

 

APPLICATION – 20 MINUTES

 

WHERE IN YOUR LIFE ARE YOU SALT?  WHERE DO YOU LOSE YOUR “SALTINESS”?

Leader note:  Have your group consider places where they find themselves being salt – stopping the moral decay of their surroundings.  Where are they healing relationships and situations instead of breaking them down or adding to their deterioration?  And where are they making contact with others to enhance situations, instead of avoiding others?

 

WHERE DO YOU FIND YOURSELF BEING LIGHT?  WHERE DO YOU HIDE YOUR LIGHT?

Leader note:  Another way to say this would be, “where do you show and tell the gospel?”

 

WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE TO BE A SALT AND LIGHT CHRISTIAN? 

Leader note:  One way to answer this is to look at people you may know who live out both salt and light in their life. Another way to look at it is to consider people who are just salt, or just light, and look at the lack of effectiveness they have.  Are their deeds bringing praise to God or themselves?  What is their motivation?  Who are examples of people who are just “salt”?  Just “light”?  Is it enough that we are just living it?  What are the dangers of “not” talking about the gospel?  What is the balance of both?  What about for you – what would it look like for you to be a salt AND light Christian?

Leader note:  Look again at verse 16 from the passage.  Talk with your group about what this passage means to them and how they can live it out in their lives as it is really what it means to live a life of salt and light, and the results are about God, not individual.

 

Pray:  As you close your time together, pray for each person to want to be saltier and lightier.  Pray that where they are already salt they will add light and where they are light they will add saltiness.  Pray that God will convict them of where they are losing their saltiness or hiding their light and they will desire to change. 

 

LIVE IT OUT

 

WHAT WOULD CHANGE IN OUR COMMUNITY IF OUR GROUP LIVED AS SALT AND LIGHT?

 

Date:  April 13-14, 2013
Series:  Christian?
Message: Be Fearless
Passage:  Matthew 25:31-46

 

INTRODUCTION – 5 MINUTES

 

WHAT DO YOU SEE?  WHAT ARE YOU BLIND TO?

Leader note:  Here are several fun ways you can create energy with this question.

1. Have everyone close their eyes.  Ask, “What is so and so wearing?”  Ask about several different people to see how observant people are.
2. Present a 3D picture (that emerges when you stare or cross your eyes – they are available online), and discover who can “see” the image.
3. Have a Where’s Waldo book and see who finds him first.
4. Change something in the room where you meet and ask, “What’s different in the room?”

 

OBSERVATION – 20 MINUTES

 

READ MATTHEW 25:31-46.  WHAT DO YOU LEARN ABOUT FOLLOWING JESUS?

Leader note:  Last week we defined “Christian” as a follower of Jesus, someone who learns from and imitates Jesus.  This week we will look at what it means to follow Jesus.

 

Commentary from the passage:

It’s someone who cares for, sees, identifies, notices, and engages the “least of these” (without regard to who they are or how they got there)

• Hungry
• Thirsty
• Stranger
• Prisoner
• Sick
• Without Clothes

They didn’t know it was Jesus – just saw someone in need and met that need.

Jesus divided them as sheep and goats – sheep were useful for their wool, goats were not – they were divided by their usefulness.

 

WHAT’S THE SURPRISE IN THE STORY?

 There is a big division, they all thought they were followers, but Jesus said “no”!

 

UNDERSTANDING – 20 MINUTES

WHO WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE CATEGORIES OF “THE LEAST OF THESE?”

Leader note:  Go through each of the categories Jesus highlights in the passage and put together a complete list of who would be included in each one.  Consider people in emotional, physical, spiritual, geographical, financial, relational terms.  Here are some examples to get you started.

 

• Prisoners – captives – addicts, financially indebted, toxic relationships, slaves to their past,
• Sick – mental illness, cancer, physically disabled, auto-immune disorders
• Hungry – (continue working through the various categories)

 

CONSIDER ALL THOSE INCLUDED IN THE CATEGORIES, WHERE DO PEOPLE PUT ON BLINDERS TO THEM?

Leader note:  Look at how people live their lives and discuss how they purposefully avoid people that fall into the categories.  Maybe by “checking out” when issues come up, avoiding certain people altogether, creating a lifestyle where they control who they come in contact with.

 

WHY DO WE PUT ON BLINDERS TO THEM?

Commentary:

We aren’t uncomfortable
Takes time
Avoid our own stuff – we have to see our own if we engage
“I don’t want to go there”
I might catch it

 

APPLICATION – 20 MINUTES

WHERE HAVE YOU “SEEN” JESUS THIS WEEK AND RESPONDED TO HIM?  WHERE HAVE YOU PUT ON BLINDERS? 

Leader note:  Discuss opportunities you have run into this week to respond to those in the categories listed above and what you did.  It could be as simple as buying a cup of coffee for someone, engaging in conversation with someone who needed relationship.  Explore different ways you have met the needs of those hungry, thirsty, imprisoned, etc.

 

GO TO howtobefearless.org AND CHOOSE A SERVING OPPORTUNITY TO DO AS A GROUP.

 

LIVE IT OUT

 

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN OUR COMMUNITY IF WE TOOK THE BLINDERS OFF?