Lakeside Church

In a world shaped by stories of violent revolt and divine rescue, Jesus offers a radically different way. In the garden, on the night of his crucifixion, when violence seems justified, he heals his enemy and refuses the sword, forcing us to confront which version of Jesus we truly follow. This Lenten message from Robyn Elliott challenges us to examine the competing narratives shaping our faith: the Jesus of the Cross or the Jesus of the Sword.

Discussion Questions:

1. What background stories (family, culture, politics, church) have shaped how you imagine Jesus?

2. Why do you think the disciples expected Jesus to lead a revolt similar to Judah Maccabee?

3. Can you think of a time when you felt justified in responding with “the sword” (anger, control, retaliation) rather than Jesus? What happened?

4. Where do you find yourself justifying harshness because you believe your cause is right?

5. When you feel threatened, do you move toward control, withdrawal, or attack? And what would it cost you to respond with mercy in that situation?

6. Jesus’ final miracle was healing an enemy. What does that reveal about the heart of God?

7. Where do you see modern Christians trying to use Jesus to justify violence or division?

8. Why is it so hard to wait for Jesus’ response instead of acting on what we assume he wants?

9. What does it practically look like for you to follow the “Jesus of the Cross” in your daily life?

10. This Lent, what competing vision of Jesus do you need to let go of?

Judas is often reduced to a one-word label: betrayer. But what if his story reveals something uncomfortable about us? As the tension of Jesus’ final week builds, this message, from Robyn Elliott explores the dangerous blind spots of faith - how even those closest to Jesus can miss his heart, justify harmful means for a holy cause, and betray the way of Jesus without realizing it.

Discussion Questions:

1. Judas walked with Jesus for three years and still betrayed him. What does that reveal about how easy it is to miss the heart of Jesus, even for sincere followers?

2. The message suggests Judas may have betrayed Jesus not for money but for a cause. Why can believing we’re “on God’s side” sometimes lead people to justify harmful actions?

3. The religious leaders thought eliminating Jesus was necessary to protect their system. Where do we still see systems - religious or otherwise - silencing voices that challenge the status quo?

4. Judas was disappointed that Jesus wasn’t the kind of leader he expected. How do unmet expectations of God shape our faith, either toward deeper trust or toward resentment?

5. Jesus was betrayed through sacred gestures - a shared bowl and a kiss. What are ways Christians today might use sacred language, rituals, or beliefs while still missing the heart of Jesus?

6. Author Brian Zahnd says, “The means are the end in the process of becoming.” How do the methods we choose shape who we become spiritually?

7. Mark’s Gospel consistently refers to Judas as “Judas, one of the Twelve,” and gives almost no explanation for his motives. Why might Mark intentionally leave Judas’ motivations ambiguous while emphasizing his identity as one of the Twelve? What might that suggest about Mark’s message to the early church - and to us - about where betrayal can come from?

8. Lent is described as a season of “sight, not shame.” What blind spots in your life or faith might God be inviting you to see more clearly?

Judas is often reduced to a one-word label: betrayer. But what if his story reveals something uncomfortable about us? As the tension of Jesus’ final week builds, this message, from Robyn Elliott explores the dangerous blind spots of faith - how even those closest to Jesus can miss his heart, justify harmful means for a holy cause, and betray the way of Jesus without realizing it.

Discussion Questions:

1. Judas walked with Jesus for three years and still betrayed him. What does that reveal about how easy it is to miss the heart of Jesus, even for sincere followers?

2. The message suggests Judas may have betrayed Jesus not for money but for a cause. Why can believing we’re “on God’s side” sometimes lead people to justify harmful actions?

3. The religious leaders thought eliminating Jesus was necessary to protect their system. Where do we still see systems - religious or otherwise - silencing voices that challenge the status quo?

4. Judas was disappointed that Jesus wasn’t the kind of leader he expected. How do unmet expectations of God shape our faith, either toward deeper trust or toward resentment?

5. Jesus was betrayed through sacred gestures - a shared bowl and a kiss. What are ways Christians today might use sacred language, rituals, or beliefs while still missing the heart of Jesus?

6. Author Brian Zahnd says, “The means are the end in the process of becoming.” How do the methods we choose shape who we become spiritually?

7. Mark’s Gospel consistently refers to Judas as “Judas, one of the Twelve,” and gives almost no explanation for his motives. Why might Mark intentionally leave Judas’ motivations ambiguous while emphasizing his identity as one of the Twelve? What might that suggest about Mark’s message to the early church - and to us - about where betrayal can come from?

8. Lent is described as a season of “sight, not shame.” What blind spots in your life or faith might God be inviting you to see more clearly?

Two days before Jesus’ crucifixion, an unnamed woman crashes a dinner party, breaks open a jar worth a year’s wages, and anoints Jesus while the disciples call it waste. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we step into the story as witnesses and ask: Are we offering costly love, or hiding hard hearts behind responsible religion? Because love that costs you something is never wasted, and sometimes reckless devotion is the only thing in the room that looks like the cross.

Discussion Questions:

1. When you hear Jesus say, “She has done what she could,” what emotions surface in you? Comfort? Conviction? Resistance? Why?

2. Where in your life have you traded costly devotion for comfortable routine?

3. The disciples called the woman’s act wasteful. Have you ever labeled someone’s devotion as impractical or irresponsible? What was underneath that reaction?

4. What is your “alabaster jar?” What feels too costly to break open?

5. In what ways is it possible to hide a hard heart behind a good cause? Where do you see that in your everyday life, in your church, your family, your place of work, or even in your government?

6. Where might Jesus be inviting you to move from speaking about justice to practicing solidarity?

7. If you were physically in that room, how do you honestly think you would have responded? Who would you identify with most?

8. What does “doing what you can with what you have” look like for you in this season?

Lent invites us into a wilderness that strips away illusion and exposes our raw desires. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we look at the temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4), and see that the enemy doesn’t offer evil outright - he offers shortcuts, comfort, and power without the cross. This season asks us a hard question: are we witnesses to the way of Jesus, or have we quietly become accomplices to a different kingdom?

Discussion Questions:

1. Where in your life right now do you feel the ache of the wilderness? What might God be exposing there?

2. The enemy tempted Jesus with good things gained the wrong way. Where are you tempted to justify questionable means for a good outcome?

3. When have you traded faithfulness for influence, approval, comfort, or control?

4. What voices most shape your thinking - Jesus, your political tribe, your social circle, your fears, your wallet?

5. In what ways have you romanticized the cross rather than reckoned with its cost?

6. If the wilderness rescues us from ourselves, what might God be trying to rescue you from this Lent?

7. Where are you most vulnerable right now? How might that be a place of both temptation and transformation?

For 2,000 years followers of Jesus have gathered around a table, not to repeat a ritual, but to participate in a mystery. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we explore Jesus’ shocking words and discover that Communion is more than symbolism; it’s an invitation. At this table, heaven and earth meet, the ordinary becomes sacred, and we are transformed as we participate in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Discussion Questions:

1. When you think about Communion, what emotions or assumptions immediately come to mind? Where do those come from? Did they change after hearing this message?

2. What does it mean to you that Communion is participation, not just remembrance?

3. Jesus challenges the crowd for being fans rather than followers. Where might you be tempted to want something from Jesus more than wanting Jesus himself?

4. Why do you think Jesus used such shocking language (eat my flesh, drink my blood) to describe following him?

5. How does the idea of physically eating and drinking as a way of encountering Jesus reshape your understanding of what is real?

6. In what ways is gathering at the table socially disruptive, especially in a divided or screen-saturated world?

7. How does Communion speak to inclusion, belonging, and even loving our enemies?

8. What might it look like for you to “take in” the life of Jesus this week in a tangible, embodied way?

9. If this table is where heaven and earth meet, how should that shape the way we approach it?

10. John 6 shifts from the Greek word phagein (“to eat”) to trogein (“to chew/gnaw”) later in the passage. Do you think this intensification suggests a move toward literalism, or is John deliberately heightening the metaphor to force decision and offense? What might that tell us about how John understands participation in Christ?

Life can feel unbearably heavy, and Jesus never denied that reality. In this message from Mike Carmody, looking at a section from the Sermon on the Mount, he shows us that Jesus invites us onto the narrow road - not as a crushing moral test, but as a path of love, presence, and companionship. The narrow road isn’t walked alone; it’s lighter because Jesus walks it with us, offering rest, closeness, and life.

Discussion Questions:

1. What feels most heavy in your life right now - personally, relationally, or emotionally? How do you usually respond to that weight?

2. When you hear “the narrow road,” what emotions come up for you - pressure, fear, hope, resistance? Why do you think that is?

3. Who are the voices (online, at school/work, in your friend group) that most shape how you see yourself, and how might choosing the narrow road mean listening to Jesus’ voice instead?

4. In what ways have you seen the “wide road” promise relief but fail to deliver in your own life?

5. How does seeing the narrow road as a relational invitation with Jesus (instead of a moral test) change how you understand faith?

6. Where might Jesus be inviting you to slow down, stay present, or stop instead of rushing past something difficult?

7. Jesus never shamed people for being weary. How does that challenge the way you talk to yourself when you’re exhausted or struggling?

8. What would it look like for you to walk closer to Jesus right now so that his pace becomes your pace?

9. Is there one burden, hurt, or habit you sense the Spirit nudging you to lay down as a next step on the narrow road?

Sermon on the Mount: Polished But Poisoned

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns that the greatest danger to faith isn’t hostility from the outside, but deception from within. False prophets don’t always look harmful - they quote Scripture, appear faithful, and feel safe - yet they pull us away from the way of Jesus. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we are called beyond surface-level belief and into a life where faith is measured by love, mercy, humility, and transformed living.

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount reveals a radically different vision of the good life - one where serving comes before leading, generosity overcomes fear, and true treasure is measured by the heart, not possessions. In this message from Jack Ninaber, we’re invited to examine where we place our security and what truly owns us. In a world driven by scarcity and accumulation, Jesus calls us into an upside-down kingdom marked by trust, abundance, and freedom, and shows us that where we place our treasure ultimately shapes who we become.

Discussion Questions:

1. Growing up, what did you treasure most? And when you think about your time, money, and energy today, what do they reveal about where your heart is right now?

2. Do you tend to live with more of a scarcity mindset or an abundance mindset? Where do you think that comes from?

3. How does Jesus’ definition of a “blessed” or good life in the Sermon on the Mount differ from how our culture defines success, and where do you feel that tension most in your own life?

4. If someone looked at how you spend your time and money, what picture of “the good life” would they assume you believe in? How does that compare with Jesus’ vision?

5. What fears (loss, security, control) most influence the way you handle money or possessions?

6. How do Jesus’ words about generosity and storing treasure in heaven challenge your current priorities?

7. What would it look like to practice generosity - intentionally and regularly - as a way of reshaping your heart?

8. How do our thoughts and longings - what we dwell on, desire, or envy - reveal where our treasure really is, even apart from money?

Jesus calls us to the most challenging command of all: love your enemies. In this message from Johanna Kelly, we look at Matthew 5 and the parable of the Good Samaritan, which invites us into a radically different way of living - one rooted in mercy, accountability, and self-reflection - where love breaks cycles of harm and builds a kingdom of reconciliation.

Discussion Questions:

1. When you hear Jesus say, “Love your enemies,” what emotions or resistance surface in you, and why?

2. Who or what have you been tempted to label as “the enemy” in your own life (people, groups, systems, or ideas)?

3. How does the parable of the Good Samaritan challenge your understanding of who belongs inside God’s kingdom?

4. Have you ever had to set a boundary that felt unloving at the time but was actually an act of love? What did that look like?

5. How does accountability play a role in loving someone who causes harm, without excusing or enabling that harm?

6. Where might God be inviting you into deeper self-reflection to notice “the enemy within?”

7. What does it mean to you that love is an action, not just a feeling, especially when love feels costly or uncomfortable?

8. Can you think of a time when someone you least expected reflected God’s mercy or compassion to you?

9. As you reflect on the Lord’s Table, who might God be inviting you to see, include, or extend radical compassion toward?