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This week at Society we continued our series called Unlikely Witnesses. This week we are looking at part of the story of Matthew the tax collector.
Instructions for Community Group Leaders:
These questions are meant to be a guide for you to lead your community group through the Sunday message. They are intended to help your group participants work towards points of application. The hope is that each person might be able to discern what God is speaking to them and identify how that might be applied to their everyday lives.
Do not feel the need to get through all the questions! Pick a couple from each section that seem most helpful and applicable. If you need some help, you can always reach out to our Community Groups director at buck@societychurch.com.
Getting to Know You:
- What is your favorite personal possession and why?
- What was/is your favorite class in school?
Getting Started:
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NLT)
- What does it mean to be “Christ ambassadors”?
- What do you know about Matthew (Jesus disciple)? Share together (Refer to message if needed)
Digging Deeper:
1- Invitation & Receptivity- Read Matthew 9:1-9 (MSG) together
- What similarities do these 2 stories have?
- Why do you think Matthew responded so quickly to Jesus invitation to follow him?
- Read Ephesians 5:8-17 together
- What does it mean to “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”?
- How do we walk in the light of Christ?
- What is God inviting you into during this time of your life?
- How are you responding to God’s invitations to you right now?
2- Missional Creativity- Read Matthew 9:10 together
- What is one of the first thing Matthew does when he starts following Jesus?
- In your own words how would you describe “the mission of God”?
- Read Matthew 28:16-20 if you are stuck
- What do you think is meant by missional creativity? Give an example
- What vision might God be giving you for how to live into some intentional missional creativity in your life?
- Here are some ideas from Sunday’s message:
- Maybe it is inviting that co-worker or friend who doesn’t have a church home or even much of a faith to come and join you for Easter or Good Friday service.
- Maybe it’s taking the time to have that conversation with your neighbor, co-worker or friend about how they are doing.
- Maybe it means inviting someone over for dinner who you know isn’t a part of a church but needs some community.
- Maybe it is coming to a Meet Up this summer and inviting some friends, a neighbor or co-worker to join.
- Maybe it means starting a conversation with that other parent you always see at your kids school, sporting event or activity.
- Maybe it means helping out and serving at that non-profit or community event that you are passionate about.
3- More Mercy- Read Matthew 9:11-13
- In your own words describe what mercy means.
- Definition of mercy from Sunday’s message- actively withholding judgement from those that rightfully deserve it.
- What is an example that you can think of when someone has shown you mercy?
- What do you think Jesus means by quoting “I desire mercy not sacrifice.” to the Pharisees?
- What are some ways God might be leading you into more mercy in your life?
- Who are the people you need to extend more mercy to?
Close in a time of prayer together
- Pray for the requests of your group.
- Ask everyone to use their words to pray about something, assure them its ok if they don’t know what to say or how to say it. Encourage them to just say what is on their mind and heart to God. This is a great environment for people to practice praying together.
- Pray for our Good Friday and Easter services that people would connect with the living presence of Jesus through the church in a meaningful way.