05-24-2020
05-24-2020
Dr. E. Dale Locke and Pastor Efrain Silva
Sermon Series: “Amazed! A Closer Look At One Amazing Life”
Week 6 – “Amazed at Eternity”
English PDF file for printing.
Para imprimir el archivo PDF en Español.
Each week, our Sermon Discussion Questions are here to help the sermon go deeper into your life. You can think these through on your own, or discuss them with your spouse, family, or small group.
1. Say our theme verse for this sermon series together. Mark 7:37a: “People were overwhelmed with amazement. ‘He has done everything well,’ they said.”
2. Read Mark 10:17-31:
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
What insights or questions do you have from this passage?
3. The rich man appears to think he’s good enough to earn entrance into heaven, but Jesus lovingly tries to help him recognize that his wealth is a barrier between him and God. The man’s response shows that his possessions had grown more important to him than his relationship to God. What are some things that sometimes take God’s place in people’s lives today? Which of these is the area you struggle with most?
4. Do you think it’s always a requirement for wealthy people to sell everything they have and give the money to the poor in order to follow Jesus? Explain your answer.
5. In Jesus’ day, it was assumed that wealthy people had been blessed by God because of their goodness, so the disciples thought, “If this rich guy isn’t saved, it must be impossible for anyone to be saved.” This idea today is called “Prosperity Gospel” – the belief that good things come to good people, and bad things come to bad people; and that God owes me if I’m good. What is wrong with this idea?
6. Why do you think it might be more difficult for a rich person to follow Jesus?
7. Jesus assures his disciples that, even in difficult cases, salvation and life change are always possible with God! Do you know someone who is now a Christian, that you never would have expected to become a Christ-follower? If so, tell about that person.
8. What changes has God accomplished in your life that might have looked impossible years ago?
9. The first step that’s needed for a person to receive eternal life is to admit they have the sin problem like everyone else. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 53:6: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And Paul wrote in Romans 3:23: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”. Why is this such an important step?
10. Why do some people find it so difficult to admit that they have sinned?
11. Read Jesus’ words in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This is a well-known verse, but what is it actually saying about how to have eternal life? What does it mean to “believe in” Jesus?
12. Read Romans 10:9: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” What does this passage add to your understanding of how to be saved? Why does Paul add the words, “in your heart”?
13. Read Mark 10:14–16: “[Jesus] said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’” What does it mean to receive God’s kingdom “like a child”?
14. What do you think Jesus meant by his response to Peter in Mark 10:29-31?
15. The rich man had asked a great question in Mark 10:17: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” If someone asked you that question, what would you tell them?
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