Landmark #7: Invite (Matthew 22)

If you could invite one historical person to your home for dinner, who would it be? Why? What would you talk about?

What is the best invitation you have ever received? What made it so great?

What factors make an invitation special?

Read Matthew 22:1-14 together.

Who do you think each of the following characters represent:
The King
The King's Son
The Servants
The Guests who were invited first
The Guests who were invited second
The "good" and the "bad" people (verse 10)
The Guest without wedding clothes

Where do you see yourself in this parable? What are some of the lessons we can learn from this parable?

What do we learn about God from this parable? What do we learn about God's final judgment?

Who should God's servants be "inviting" today? To what should they be inviting them?

Make a list of ways we can invite people to God's "banquet". Which of these things are easy? Which are difficult?

How often should we be inviting people into a relationship with God? Is the group willing to set a goal for "invitations given" this week? Why or why not?

How will you pray for and support one another this week?

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:

Community Killers: Crisis

Here is Part Two in my series on dealing with "Community Killers". Today the topic is "Crisis". Every group experiences crisis at some point. Death, illness, divorce, and financial ruin are just some of the issues that can threaten to destroy a group. These crisis, however, are not to be feared. Rather, they should be embraced as an opportunity for the group to care for one another in unique and deeply meaningful ways. The following are five suggestions (certainly not an exhaustive list) which can help a group handle crisis successfully: Openness. The first step in a group’s efforts to deal with crisis is simply knowing about and understanding the crisis. If a member does not feel comfortable sharing the crisis issues in their life, the group cannot come to their aid. A willingness to share not only the crisis situation, but also the details can significantly impact the degree to which the group can offer assistance. The role of the leader sometimes requires a per...

Creative Community

Search This Blog