In one of Jesus' most famous parables, we learn what makes Christianity so radical among other religions and philosophies. Jesus teaches that God is not distant and withdrawn but seeks after lost and broken people. In a surprising turn, it is not just the prodigal son who is lost. The outwardly obedient older brother is also lost. Both need the grace and love of the Father to draw them into the feast of his love. When we find that love looking for us in Jesus Christ, we too can be brought home to our Father in heaven.

Application Questions: 

1. How do these stories strike you? Do they line up with your ideas about God and yourself? 

2. Do you relate more to the younger brother or to the older brother in the story? 

3. How can this parable put your heart at ease about what God is really like, and lead you to accept his grace? 

The cost of discipleship is high, and Jesus uses harsh language to communicate it. But underneath the harsh words, we find healthy reminders of the supremacy of Christ and our souls' deepest desires being met in him and his kingdom. 

Application Questions: 

1. Do Jesus' words about hating your loved ones offend you? 

2. How often do you consider Jesus' call to bear your own cross in following him? 

3. What things are holding or threatening to hold too high a place in your life? 

4. In what ways can your walk with God be more salty?

Who is the kingdom of God for? What kind of people are a part of his kingdom? Jesus uses an exclusive dinner party as an occasion to confront people's assumptions about God and his kingdom. And as he does he confronts many of our assumptions as well.

Application Questions: 

1. What types of position or status are you tempted to pursue?

2. How have you seen those pursuits leave you spiritually bloated?

3. What would humbling yourself entail in those areas?

4. In what ways do you feel excluded?

5. What distracts you from accepting Jesus' invitation or living in light of your identity in his kingdom?

Jesus begins his ministry saying he is bringing the kingdom of God. In this passage, he tells us more about it. Jesus compares the kingdom to seeds and leaven, things that do not look impressive but eventually produce powerful effects. Entering the kingdom means going through a narrow door—so narrow that you can carry nothing with you, not even your own righteousness. Only through Jesus Christ himself will you find yourself in the kingdom of God, eating at his table and enjoying his own fellowship. 

Application Questions: 

1. The way God works in the world—and in our lives—is often overlooked, but has powerful effects. Have you ever experienced that in your own life?

2. How are you tempted to use your moral performance or religious activities as ways of getting "in with God? 

3. What are you tempted to hold on to that won't fit through the narrow door of following Jesus? 

4. How does the love of God in Jesus Christ encourage you to put those temptations aside and pursue life with God as king? 

Repentance is at the heart of following Jesus, but it's very easy to forget. In this passage, Jesus hears of a nearby tragedy and insists that his hearers take it as an opportunity to repent themselves. In his comments, and in the following parable and miraculous healing, he shows us our need for continual repentance and gives us the tools to pursue it ourselves. 

Application Questions: 

1. Is repentance a regular part of your life? Why or why not? 

2. How can you pursue wholistic repentance in your daily life? 

3. Is God's grace a motivating factor for your repentance? Why or why not? 

4. Is there something God is asking you to repent of today? What is holding you back from doing so?

Jesus regularly says things we find surprising, even shocking. It keeps us from thinking we have him under control or that we can shape him after our own preferences. Here, Jesus shocks us awake to spiritual reality by making it impossible to stay neutral when it comes to his identity. He presses us to see that he is God in the flesh, making claims no one else makes. He will bring fire—cleansing justice to create a new and perfect world. And he will step into that fire himself on the cross so we might be forgiven and enjoy that new world ourselves. 

Application Questions: 

1. What about Jesus is surprising to you? How do you deal with that surprise? 

2. Have you experienced Jesus bringing division? 

3. Do you have a sense of the importance of spiritual reality in your daily life? 

4. How does the distress of Jesus about the cross demonstrate his love for you? 

The return of Christ is a very practical doctrine, because we all base our lives on what we think the future will hold. In this passage Jesus teaches us about the future so that it can shape our present: he tells us what his return will be like, he tells us about the timing of his return, and he tells us how we should live in the meantime. 

Application Questions: 

1. How often do you think about the return of Christ? When you do, what exactly are you thinking about? 

2. Do you resonate with the idea of being spiritually sleepy? How have you experienced that? 

3. How can you practically stay awake and ready in your life now? 

We live lives filled with anxiety. The question isn't: how do we not experience fear? The question is: where do we turn when we're afraid? Jesus gently reminds us of who he is and the fullness of his love so that we can learn to trust him in every situation - even the scariest.

Application Questions: 

1. What form has anxiety over provision, security, and the future taken most recently in your life?

2. How do you normally combat or deal with those worries?

3. What aspects of nature most regularly remind you of God's faithfulness, character, and love?

4. How would your week look different if you were seeking his kingdom, and not your own, first?

5. How do the eternal promises of God fuel your life lived for his glory and not your own?

Jesus talks about money more than almost anything else. He regularly presses people to see that the way we handle our possessions tells us a lot about what we truly believe. That's why when someone asks Jesus to settle a property dispute, he instead tells a story about the danger of coveting. Greed and envy invade our lives and make us fools, like someone who looks for their life in money only to leave it behind when they die. The gospel can free us from the power of money—whether we have it or not!—and turn us into generous people because of our generous God.

Application Questions: 

1. Where do you see coveting, envy, or greed at work in your life? How does it affect your thoughts, emotions, and decisions?

2. Have you experienced a time when you got what you wanted but it didn't satisfy you the way you thought it would?

3. Does generosity come easy to you, or do you find it difficult? Why do you think that is?

4. How can the gospel can move you towards contentment and generosity in your life now?

Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem, and he teaches his disciples what it means to follow him in a difficult world. With crowds surrounding them and enemies plotting against them, the disciples will be tempted to hypocrisy—trying to show people only what they want to see. Jesus says this is the one thing they must not do, and he gives them a lesson on fear, forgiveness, and how the gospel makes you a whole person wherever you go and whatever you face.

Application Questions:

1. Do you feel the pull of hypocrisy in your own life? Are there any areas in your life where you see its effects?

2. Do you present yourself a certain way in Christian environments that doesn’t reflect reality? Do you present yourself a certain way in non-Christian environments that doesn’t reflect reality?

3. How does fear play a role in your answers to the above?

4. How does the gospel address those fears and help you be a whole person wherever you go?