10.25.20 HUDDLE- Talking Points Week 2

Zach Below   -   October 25, 2020

INTRO QUESTIONS

  1. Is the topic of politics a heated subject in your family, ignored in your family, or somewhere in between?

 

  1. What do you remember about the relationship between politics and your family as a kid? Did you know what party your great-grandpa belonged to?

 

 

TALKING POINTS: WEEK 2 INTRO

Last week we kicked off our new series Talking Points: Relating Like Jesus in Culture, Politics, and Relationships by talking about how followers of Jesus need to see themselves first as citizens of the Kingdom of God. This week, we continue our study of The Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6), looking at the life and words of Jesus and letting it guide us in how we approach culture, politics, and relationship.

 

Last week Pastor Bret challenged us to read Luke 6 every day until election day. The why behind this is that as we approach the election, conversations in our country are becoming more heated, anxiety is rising, and there is a greater sense of division among us. Allowing Luke 6 to sink deep into our souls can remind us that we are first citizens of the Kingdom of God, give us peace in the midst of anxiety, and promote unity during a divisive time. With that said . . .

 

  1. Was anyone able to read Luke 6 this week on their own?

 

  1. Did anything specific stand out?

 

We still have a week or so until election day. So, even if you did not read it once last week, you still have time to join in the challenge. We will read it as a group again today before we close out, so you can already mark today off as a success.

 

 

BIBLE ENGAGEMENT—LUKE 6:12-16

Intro—This section of scripture is not a part of the “Sermon On The Plain” but leads right up to it. At One Life we have a core value that says: “We do life in groups and teams because Jesus did.” Luke 6:12-16 is a picture of who Jesus invited onto His “team” and believe it or not, it can guide us as we navigate culture, politics and relationships.

 

LUKE 6:12-16 – The Twelve Apostles

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

 

  1. What stands out to you about this text?

 

 

GROUP ACTIVITY: WHO ARE WE?

Intro: The political scene in Jesus day was pretty volatile. Within a relatively short time the Jews had foreign invaders come in and take them over. Then, after years of uprising, they were given their freedom. Then, they had a civil war. Finally, the Romans came in and took them over . . . which, is what the political scene was in Jesus’ time. All of this left the Jews asking, “What is our identity in this culture?” Different fractions answered this question in different ways.

 

Either in groups of two or as one large group, grab your phones and look up each sect or “party.” Jot down some notes to get a better picture of the political climate of Jesus’s day and a better picture of who was on His “team.” If available, try to find each sects relationship with the Roman empire.

 

  1. Sadducees:

 

  1. Pharisees:

 

  1. Essenes:

 

  1. Zealots (Might need to look up 1st Century Zealots):

 

  1. Jewish Tax Collector (Not a sect but an interesting sub-group that is important to the text):

 

 

FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS:  

  1. Looking back at the text from today (Luke 6:12-16), when Jesus called his disciples, did they all belong to the same political party? What makes you say that? (Hint: Look at Matthew and Simon)

 

Jesus called disciples from ACROSS the political spectrum. A quick look at Luke 6 also shows that Jesus called disciples BEYOND their political affiliation. Ultimately though, Jesus didn’t political party supporters, Jesus called DISCIPLES. The word for disciples here can be translated to “apprentice,” or “ambassador.” The disciples were Jesus’s ambassadors and apprentices.

 

  1. Read Luke 6:17-19. Why did the crowds come to seek out Jesus? How is that different than why the “disciples” were there?

 

  1. Take this same idea and Fast forward it 2000 years, do both the “crowds” and “disciples” still exist? What does it look like to be in each of those groups today?

 

CROWDS:

 

DISCIPLES:

 

 

  1. One marker of a disciple/apprentice/ambassador is that THE fundamental characteristic of their identity is that they are a follower of Jesus.

 

What fights for the primary position of your identity? (ex., mother/father, success, job, etc)

 

  1. How do you think our culture answers the question, “What is the primary marker of a person’s identity?” Or another way of saying it is, how does our culture generally define who a person is? What are the top three markers?

 

6.       Respond to the following quote. What do you think it means? “Many come to Jesus as a counselor, few come to Jesus as a king.”

 

 

 

CLOSE BY READING THE SERMON ON THE PLAIN IN LUKE 6:17-36