SCRIPTURE: Luke 9 & 24

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Why is the Easter story the “main thing” in the Christian faith? What does it mean? What does it prove? Why center on this… even over Jesus’s birth or Jesus’s death on the cross?

2. Do you think you’re a “bad guesser”? What do the stories about the disciples in Luke 9 reveal to us about why we so often get things wrong? What can we learn from Jesus’s attitude towards them?

3. What’s so hard about “denying ourselves”? What was surprising to you (if anything) about how Kenny defined/described this challenge? 

4. How do you feel about this week’s challenge to focus on following Jesus rather than focusing on the future? Do you ever struggle with this? 

5. What’s one way following Jesus is hard for you?

6. Kenny said we can become better followers of Jesus by asking one key question: what does Jesus want to change? How would you answer that question this week? 

7. What does God’s willingness to send Jesus to us in the first place reveal about how He feels about us? 

8. What does the resurrection reveal about how God feels about us? What does it mean, in terms of the challenge to “deny ourselves” and follow after Christ? 

9. Do you believe you are God’s beloved? 

SCRIPTURE: Luke 7 & 19

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Who are the people in Jerusalem looking for in Jesus? Can you relate? If you could “make” Jesus fix the world in just the way you want it fixed, what would you have him do?

2. Read Jesus’s prayer over Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-44. Why do you think Jesus says these things? Do they relate to you, too? How so?

3. Why do you think John the Baptist questions Jesus’s identity? How does Jesus’s reply in Luke 7 answer John’s doubts?

4. Why do the people in Jerusalem change their minds about Jesus? 

5. Look at Jesus’s riddle in Luke 7:31-35. What do the children want? Why? What does this teach us about the “people of this generation”?

6. Kenny said that the people’s “repentance is limited because it’s just a way to try and get what they want; they don’t realize that what they want is what they need to repent of.” What do you make of this? Do you see it in your own story? 

7. The point of this week’s sermon is that the revolution is personal: how do you think this works? Do you believe this? Do you believe it is “enough”?

8. Where do you need to do more “dilly-dallying in Galilee” in your life? How can you be more present, more loving, and more generous towards others? Why do you need to “see” this week? 

SCRIPTURE: Luke 6

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Read Luke 6.  What does this passage mean to you?  What does it teach me about who God is?  What does it teach me about who I am?  What is Jesus showing me about how I can live?

2.  If the Kingdom of God is about living under God's will, what does that look like?

3.  What is the hardest part about loving your enemies?

4.  If Luke 6 has impacted us in any way, how can we make sure we don't forget about what it teaches us?

SCRIPTURE: Luke 5

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What can we learn from the reactions people have to Jesus in this chapter in terms of their awareness of their own “sins”? 

2. Consider the mistakes you’ve made in your own life: what did you most need to hear from God in those moments?

3. Why do you think it’s so hard for the Pharisees in this chapter to accept what Jesus is doing? 

4. Can you see yourself in the position of the Pharisees? Have you ever struggled to accept or trust the kinds of love and inclusion Jesus is modeling here? Why?

5. What does it look like to be a church that can be a “safe place for the Riff Raff?”

6. What is the hope Jesus extends to the Pharisees? Look at the parable of the wineskins at the end of this chapter: are the Pharisees entirely wrong to be holding on to the “old wine” of their covenant with God? 

7. What do the Pharisees get wrong about that covenant? How is Jesus extending hope to them?

8. What does it look like to be a church that can be a “safe place for the Pharisees?”

SCRIPTURE: Luke 3-4

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Don’t forget your “homework” for this week! Read Luke 1-5, and consider journaling as you go. You can consider: what does this passage say? Who is it for? What does it teach me about who God is? What does it teach me about who I am? What is Jesus showing me about how I can live? 

2. This week, we’re talking about way-making: what “way” is Jesus on Earth to make for people? All “ways” connect two points: in this case, what are they? 

3. There are four parts to this message, and the first has to do with repentance. Kenny said that John’s hard words to the people who came out to see him are all about challenging them to do “excavation work” in their own hearts. What do you think this means? 

4. The second part is about generosity: how does living generously towards others line up with the “fruit of repentance” in these verses? What can make this hard for us? 

5. The third part is about what Jesus does: he paves the road and gives us an example of righteous living to follow. But why do you think Jesus is really necessary? What are the limits or problems with just doing the first two things here: repenting and living generously? 

The fourth part is about what we do: we walk the road God has built. How do you understand this step? What does it look like for you? What makes it easier or harder for you to do?

SCRIPTURE: Luke 3:22 & Philippians 2:6-7

“Can you imagine the impact a community of people who go first might have? Can you imagine what hope might spring from a people who cancel debts, feed others, seek to help, choose to forgive, and choose to love before their neighbors do anything to earn it? When we say we believe in Jesus, we’re putting our trust in his Way.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. This week, we explored our beliefs about Jesus. Before going into the particulars, think/talk for a moment about your experience with the Jesus story. When did you first hear it? What are you curious about? Why do you find it compelling?

2. The first (of four) beliefs about Jesus in this passage is that Jesus is God’s “only Son…conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This belief concerns Jesus’s divinity. Why is it important that Christians believe Jesus is “fully God”? 

3. The second (of four) beliefs about Jesus is that he was “born of the Virgin Mary.” Why is it important that Christians believe Jesus is “fully human”? 

4. The third (of four) beliefs about Jesus is that he “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” Why is it important that Christians believe Jesus “suffered”?

5. The fourth (of four) beliefs about Jesus is that he “was crucified, died, and was buried.” Why is Jesus’s actual death a central part of this story? 

6. What do these beliefs teach us about God’s feelings towards us? How do they help us to trust Him?

7. What is one step you could take this week in the Way of Jesus?

SCRIPTURE: Romans 8:26, Philippians 1:4-6, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, & 1 Peter 1:22

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What have you discovered during this series? Has it enhanced your understanding of “sin” or “atonement”? What questions do you still have?

2. The first half of this week’s sermon is about how we might know if “atonement” really works. Have you ever wondered about this question? 

3. Kenny said that the metaphor of a “road trip” can be helpful for understanding three aspects of Christian life. The first is that the Christian journey “always begins with an act of trust.” If you identify as a Christian, can you remember that moment? If you don’t, what do you think of this idea?

4. The second aspect is that the Christian journey “involves progressively letting go.” What do you think we have to let go of? Why is it necessary? Why can it be frightening, and where might you find reassurance?

5. The third point is that the success of the Christian journey (like a good road trip!) is evidenced by “growing relationships.” What relationships are currently growing in your life? What ones might need to?

6. The second half of the sermon is about how atonement changes things right now for us as a community. Scripture teaches that internal changes in us lead to mutual love among us. Where do you see that at Revolution? Where can we pray/act to see it more? 

7. Finally, the love we have for each other is meant to equip us to be “ambassadors of reconciliation” in the world. What do you think this means? How can you help?

SCRIPTURE: Luke 5

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What can we learn from the reactions people have to Jesus in this chapter in terms of their awareness of their own “sins”? 

2. Consider the mistakes you’ve made in your own life: what did you most need to hear from God in those moments?

3. Why do you think it’s so hard for the Pharisees in this chapter to accept what Jesus is doing? 

4. Can you see yourself in the position of the Pharisees? Have you ever struggled to accept or trust the kinds of love and inclusion Jesus is modeling here? Why?

5. What does it look like to be a church that can be a “safe place for the Riff Raff?”

6. What is the hope Jesus extends to the Pharisees? Look at the parable of the wineskins at the end of this chapter: are the Pharisees entirely wrong to be holding on to the “old wine” of their covenant with God? 

7. What do the Pharisees get wrong about that covenant? How is Jesus extending hope to them?

8. What does it look like to be a church that can be a “safe place for the Pharisees?”

SCRIPTURE: Luke 3-4

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Don’t forget your “homework” for this week! Read Luke 1-5, and consider journaling as you go. You can consider: what does this passage say? Who is it for? What does it teach me about who God is? What does it teach me about who I am? What is Jesus showing me about how I can live? 

2. This week, we’re talking about way-making: what “way” is Jesus on Earth to make for people? All “ways” connect two points: in this case, what are they? 

3. There are four parts to this message, and the first has to do with repentance. Kenny said that John’s hard words to the people who came out to see him are all about challenging them to do “excavation work” in their own hearts. What do you think this means? 

4. The second part is about generosity: how does living generously towards others line up with the “fruit of repentance” in these verses? What can make this hard for us? 

5. The third part is about what Jesus does: he paves the road and gives us an example of righteous living to follow. But why do you think Jesus is really necessary? What are the limits or problems with just doing the first two things here: repenting and living generously? 

The fourth part is about what we do: we walk the road God has built. How do you understand this step? What does it look like for you? What makes it easier or harder for you to do?