CONNECT: How can we be a humble example of faith on our frontlines this week? Think of one setting/scenario.

WARM-UP

1. In the face of human suffering, have you ever been willing to help but unable to do so? How does it make you feel when you are in this situation?
2. Have you ever been able to help but unwilling to do so? What is at the heart of your unwillingness?

Read Luke 7:11-13

1. What do you think this funeral would have been like? How does it differ to typical funerals in Australia?
2. Who were the people with the widow in this procession? Where would they have been going?
3. What are the ways we express grief in the context of community? What could we learn from this one?
4. How would the sonʼs death been devastating to his mother on many levels? Why was the widow now potentially destitute?
5. When Jesus sees the woman, what is the immediate response in his heart? How is this a great comfort?
6. What does it mean for you to know that in Jesus we find the one who is full of compassion?
7. What does Jesus say to the woman? Is he being insensitive? Why would he say this?

Read Luke 7:14-17

1. What does Jesus say to the man? Who would you have been looking at? What happens next?
2. What are the ways in which Jesusʼ authority have been demonstrated in Luke? Whatʼs notable here?
3. Was this resurrection final? What purpose did it ultimately serve? Why for this widow? (cf. vv.21-22)
4. In what way does the crowd recognise who Jesus is yet still not have a complete picture of him?
5. How in Jesus do we witness that God is both willing and able to address our greatest need? How should that fill us with great security and hope?
6. When you put your trust in Jesus, how is this manʼs resurrection like ours? How is it different?
7. How is a choice for Jesus a choice for life? How should this future reality impinge on our lives today?
8. In what ways - as individuals and a community - should we both grieve and hope in the face of death?

APPLY: How can we live in a way that points to the certain hope that we have of resurrection?

On Your Frontline This Week: Who on your frontline is finding life challenging at the moment? How can you take extra time and care to show them Godʼs love?

Listen, Watch, and Read:          

• Audio: “Can I be raised from the dead” by Rico Rice
• Audio: “Jesus: An Example of Compassion” by Alistair Begg
• Audio: “Salvation and Death” by William Taylor
• Article: “5 Minute Jesus: How are we to view Jesusʼ Miracles” by Dr John Dickson

SERIES Resources:

• Series overview booklet
• Scripture Journal: for the Gospel of Luke. For example, https://bit.ly/3A6N9CO
• Book: The Infographic Bible by Karen Sawrey (the visualisations of the way in which people interacted with Jesus are particularly helpful)
• Book: Luke for Everyone by Tom Wright
• St Bartʼs Library Resources for Current Series