CONNECT: How can you live in a way that points to the certainty of that yet to come?

WARM-UP

1. What do you know about the Gospel of Luke? (Brainstorm: author, date, setting, and features)
2. How do earthly kingdoms and kings compare to that which God has prepared and initiated?

READ Luke 17:11-14

1. What do you find most surprising about the encounter between Jesus and the lepers?
2. What was leprosy? How were people with leprosy ostracised and cut off physically, socially, economically, and religiously?
3. How does the healing of the lepers point to the shape of God’s Kingdom and the identity of the King?
4. How do all of the healings and miracles in the Gospels act like signposts to God’s Kingdom?
5. On your various frontlines, how might your life act as a signpost to God’s Kingdom and Jesus as King?
6. If God’s Kingdom has arrived (or been ‘inaugurated’) in Jesus, when will it come in full?
7. What does it mean as a follower of Jesus to live in ‘in-between times’ - the ‘now but not yet’?
   How do we feel the effects of this tension daily? What gives us strength to persist?

READ Luke 17:15-21

1. Who comes back and how do they give thanks to Jesus? What is significant about who returns?
2. What role does thanking God play in your life? How might you grow in expressing gratitude to God?
3. Who are the outsiders and marginalised in our Toowoomba community? Is the Good News for them?
4. By going straight to Jesus instead of the Temple, what truth about Jesus’ identity is being conveyed?
5. Who can be part of the Kingdom of God and by what means?
6. What do you think the Samaritan recognises about Jesus? What are the clues?
7. What were the Pharisees asking of Jesus? What did Jesus’ response mean? What had they missed?
8. Do you think you can ever be at risk of failing to see what is right before your eyes?
9. Has there ever been a time in which you couldn’t see clearly who Jesus really is? What changed?
10. What do you think hinders people from seeing Jesus clearly today?
    

APPLY: How can your life act as a signpost to King Jesus and his Kingdom?

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On Your Frontline This Week: What opportunities do you have this week to model godly character?

Listen, Watch, and Read:          

• AUDIO: “Remember to Thank Jesus” by Richard Bewes
• AUDIO: “Has the Kingdom Come?” by Andrew Sach
• AUDIO: “The Faith that Makes Well” by Abraham Cho
• ARTICLE: “The Need for Leprosy Ministry Today”
  

Series Resources:

Some helpful resources for our Series:

• OUTLINE: for Series with key verses, big ideas, and reflection questions:
  https://bit.ly/39w5Ggk
• FOR FAMILIES: Download the St Bart’s Kids Lego Devotional Guide: https://bit.ly/2YrP3Mf
• WEBSITE: “Gospel of the Kingdom of God” by the Bible Project: https://bit.ly/2NFP2SJ
• BOOK: “Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel & Kingdom, Gospel & Wisdom, the Gospel in Revelation” by Graeme Goldsworthy
• BOOK: “Luke for Everyone” by Tom Wright
• Course: “The Bible Overview” as part of the Ridley Certificate (6-week online course).
  https://bit.ly/3pGDVH7 (We’ll also be offering this in Term 3 of 2021 at St Bart’s.)

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