Matthew 22:35-40
Fresh Ink, Pt. 2
Every time we gather as a group, these are some ways we ensure the best group discussion:
We make the circle safe by staying honest and transparent - leave the masks at the door.
We keep it inside the circle. Each person’s story is theirs alone to share.
We look to the Bible for wisdom and truth, and work together to let it shape how we see the world.
We don’t try to fix each other in front of each other or give unsolicited advice. We lovingly save hard conversations for private moments.
We respect each others’ time by starting and ending when we say we will.
We believe that in Jesus Christ, there is hope for everyone.
Christian American or American Christian?
Ian Watson
“We live on a contaminated planet. It is contaminated on every level. It should have been quarantined from heaven. No reasonable God would go near it with a ten-foot pole. But Jesus is no reasonable God. He became a human being and took on your uncleanness and mine. But instead of the world infecting him, he infected the world. With his immaculate infection, it’s still spreading.”
Matthew 22:35-40
“One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
_______ your neighbor
Everyone is someone
4 Types of Love
Friendship (philia)
Passion (eros)
Family (storge)
Selfless (agape)
Dallas Willard
Love is to will the good of others.
How can I be like that?
Understand how loved we are by God
Start small
Everyone we engage with...communicate value
“Be the kind of person that makes people love Jesus, not hate Christians”
MUD: Memorable + Understandable + Doable
What was the most memorable part of the message or service this weekend for you personally? Why?
Did anything you heard challenge or influence how you think about God or your life?
How can what you learned influence or change how you live in everyday life? What tangible steps would it take to make that change a reality?
Additional Questions
We had a tumultuous week in our country, and Mike brought us back to an important tension we live in: are we American Christians… or Christian Americans? What defines our identity and hope more?
How has the tumult and division in our country this last year affected you or your relationships?
What does it look like for you to live in this tension personally?
What we think about God is incredibly important - but what is even more important is what God thinks about US. And the primary thing He thinks about us is that He loves us.
What are you tempted to think God’s primary emotion toward you is? On your worst day, in your worst moment, how do you imagine God thinks or feels about you?
Read Mark 12:30 together. Jesus makes sure we know that he puts both commands on the same level - loving God and loving people are both the most important thing, neither is more important than the other, and doing one requires doing the other as well.
What does the way a person treats others tell you about their love for God?
Looking at your own life, what might the way you treat others tell you about your own love for God?
Two guiding quotes Mike gave us about loving God and loving people were these: (1) To love is to will the good of another. (2) Be the kind of person that makes people love Jesus, not hate Christians.
How do these two quotes challenge or guide the way you interact with some of the “neighbors” in your life?
What’s one way you can more effectively love someone in your life that isn’t quite so easy to love?
