A Study In Luke - End of Week 2

INTRODUCTION
The following is a guide to help facilitate discussion between you and the person you’re studying with or with your Connect Group. Feel free to add, subtract, or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.

OPEN QUESTIONS
When you were growing up, were there certain do and don’ts your parents gave you that you thought at the time seemed silly, or that your friends didn’t have to follow, or even reflecting back on now you may still not have a good reason for why they wanted you to do, or not do, something? (like being home before sundown, or eating whatever you put on your plate even if your sibling put it there when you weren’t looking - I am not speaking from experience)

HEAD

1. Read Luke 6:1-36 together and share any wisdom, insights, or thoughts that come to you from the reading.
2. While the Pharisees were caught up in the letter of the law, Jesus seems so simple and practical (ex: they were hungry so they ate). Where else do you see this type of behavior happen in communities of faith, where we miss the forest for the trees?
3. In v 11, why do you think the Pharisees were so furious and couldn’t celebrate the miracle?
4. Jesus didn’t seek to fulfill his mission on earth alone; rather, he chose a community.  Why do you think community is so vitally important in our faith journey?
5. Why do you think power emanated through Jesus, that people could simply touch him and be healed?  What are some ways that people can know, see, experience that we’ve been with Jesus?
6. In verses 20-22, Jesus mentions some things that don’t sound so great; poor, hunger, weep, hate, rejection.  But these are all things of the seen world.  How can you and I help remind each other, regularly, that there is more going on around us that what we can see…so much more?
7. In verses 27-36, Jesus commands us to love, but not ordinary love.  Rather, superhuman love - love for enemies, for those who hate you or curse you or who strike you.  At Crosswalk, we say lovewell.  How can we practice loving like this in such a divisive, angry, violent, world?  How can we help each other lovewell?

HEART

1. What is special to you about the idea of Sabbath?  What are maybe some ways you think we miss the gift of Sabbath?
2. Speaking to your community of faith, in what ways do you currently help your community of faith grow and impact even more hearts of the kingdom of God?
3. Sometimes, Jesus’ commands seem other worldly, likely nearly impossible for us to follow.  What are some ways that you think we can seek to be obedient to the teachings of Jesus, even the ones that are really hard?
4. There are always two realities, the world we see, and the world we can’t see.  How can we help each other remember that there is always a bigger story going on than the one we see with our eyes?

HANDS
Who in your life right now, is hard for you to love?  Who has hurt you or wronged you in some way?  We won’t ask you to put that all aside, especially if you feel unsafe, but what is one thing you could do today to extend an act of love their way?  Maybe it’s saying a prayer for them. Maybe it’s dropping an anonymous gift at their doorstep.  Or maybe it’s even more.  Pray over what you can do to stretch your ability to love, and do you best to act on it.

LIVING WORDS FOR YOUR WEEK
“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT