No "Favorites" Allowed (James 2)

Who was your favorite teacher when you were in school/college? What made him or her your favorite?

Were you ever in a class when the teacher had a favorite? How did you feel about the "teacher's pet?" (or, were you the teacher's pet?)

Read James 2:1-13. Use this passage as your guide while answering the following questions:

Based on what you read in 2:1-4, how would you define favoritism?

Besides rich people, what are some other types of people who might receive preferential treatment? Why would people show favoritism toward these people?

What do you think might cause someone to act this way in a church?

Can you think of times in your life when you've shown this type of favoritism?

What things can you do to avoid showing unjust favoritism?

According to 2:5, what are the benefits of being poor? What do you think these things mean?

Compare this passage to Matthew 5:3. How are they similar?

Does this mean we should favor the poor and dishonor the rich? Why or why not?

According to 2:9, how does God feel about favoritism?

What does it mean to "show mercy?" Can you give specific examples of how you might show mercy to someone in the coming week?

What can you do today to show mercy instead of judgment?

Comments

Discussion Questions for Easter

Have several people ask the question, “What’s the most important thing you’ve ever done?” Ask other people, “What do you hope to accomplish in the next several years of your life?” Tell your class that today you’ll be talking about “life mission” or the one most important thing you do that drives everything else. Tell them that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the defining moment in history, so it should be the defining moment in our lives. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. How does the resurrection impact some of the crucial beliefs of Christianity? How would Christianity be different if there was no resurrection? How would you be different without the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. What are some specific ways that the resurrection gives us hope? If you had been a friend of Jesus when he was on earth, how would the resurrection have impacted your life? How do you think his followers then were effected by the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthian...

FIGHT CLUB! (iron sharpening iron)

Our youth pastor, Keith Sandison, has implemented "Fight Clubs" with the young men of our church. While these teenagers and young adults aren't actually pummeling each other physically, they are using the opportunity to aggressively challenge one another to be more attentive to their spiritual formation. Right now my son is participating in a fight club focusing on Proverbs. I love it. Keith has created a handout he uses for the fight clubs which lists seven different methods of "generic Bible study". I think the idea started with this post a few years ago, but as he often does; Keith took my thoughts and made them immensely more substantive and beneficial. Check out his system below:

10 Summer Activities To Keep Your Small Group Connected

I just sent an email to all our small group leaders (I do this 3-4 times each month). This week's focus was STAYING CONNECTED THROUGH THE SUMMER. Below is a list of 10 summer activities a small group can use to stay connected. These are specifically created for groups at The Gathering, but you can pretty easily modify the list to fit your church or your community. Go to a Dragon's Game together. You can buy tickets as a group from the church for the game on July 11. Design a Progressive Dinner. Have appetizers at one house, salad at another, the main course somewhere else and dessert at a final destination. Have a monthly barbecue party. Serve together. Pick a place (Good Neighbor House, St. Vincents, Victory Project, Pirate Packs, Caring Partners International, One Bistro) and sign up to serve as a group one afternoon or evening. Meet up at the Family Movie Night on June 15. Spend a day at King's Island. Work at the church for an afternoon. We have many proj...

Creative Community

Search This Blog