Clearly we still hurt when we and/or our dreams are broken! So if the brokenness is the same, how is the grief to be any different? That’s where the last word in the verse comes into play. No, we don’t get an exemption from the hurt. But those of us who know and believe the way of Jesus have something more powerful to assist us even (no, especially) when we hurt. We have hope. Not fingers-crossed-behind-my-back hope. But hope that the death of a dream is not the end. Hope that what the dream was always about is still alive… because Jesus is alive. And the dream was never about anything else.

And so this day consider the very actions of Jesus himself as he prepared his disciples for his death in Luke 22:13-27.

Hopefully these questions will get us thinking:

1. Generally speaking, what are some of the benefits of preparation?
2. What happens when we don’t prepare well?
3. What do you think the location had to do with the preparation (v.1)?
4. From a spiritual perspective, what is fasting (v.2)? You may want to hit the commentary link below for help.
5. What was Jesus’ main weapon to fight the temptations of Satan (vv.3-10)?
6. What does the answer to #5 mean to us as we fight Satan?
7. What is the significance of the timing of Satan’s temptation?
8. Though there were certainly large crowds who followed Jesus (vv.24-25), Jesus invested most of his time with a few. Why?
9. Why do you think Jesus selected ordinary people to be his disciples?
10. How is spiritual preparation different than any other type of preparation?
11. What are other ways (not mentioned here) that we can prepare ourselves spiritually?
12. What role can accountability play in spiritual preparation?

If you’d like to dig a little deeper, follow the link to this commentary… Matthew 4.

May these questions take us to the depth of the text and help it make sense to us:

1. What are some of the collective (even sometimes divergent) Christian ideas about baptism?
2. Which is more important the message or the messenger… why?
3. How was John “preparing the way” for Jesus?
4. In what ways can we also do the same for other people today?
5. What do you make of John’s treatment of the sitting “religious leaders” of the day (vv. 7-10)?
6. How (if at all) do we translate John’s handling to modern day religious leaders?
7. What is your understanding of the differences between the baptism that John offered vs. what Jesus would bring (vv.11-12)?
8. Play the part of John… what’s going through your head when Jesus asks you to baptize him?
9. Why do you think Jesus submitted himself to be baptized by John?
10. So… now… what do you see as the significance of baptism? Why is it important?
11. What can the value of baptism be to someone who is an onlooker?

Finally, as a reflection question… if you have not been baptized in this manner, will you prayerfully consider the impact it might have on your own story as well as the story of others if you were to be baptized with these things that we’ve studied in mind?

If you’d like to dig a little deeper, follow the link to this commentary… Matthew 3.

The BIG IDEA question for this week is “How do the first two chapters of Matthew speak to the larger question of what it means to follow Jesus?”

For some of us we already have boldness to deliver the message of Good News to people. We may just need an adjustment in our attitude as we present. The text talks about having sincerity in our delivery and having a sense of “fearful responsibility”. Wow! That speaks.

For others we may need to do the difficult work of assessing our motive in bringing people the message. Is it merely born of duty? Do I share the gospel primarily because I’m supposed to do it? The text reminds us that it ought to be the love of Christ that compels us to be messengers. There is no way we can keep from telling because of the way in which we’ve experienced the love of God.

Next we consider the message itself. Without the gospel there is no important message for us to carry. The gospel is our very purpose for being messengers. In fact as followers of Jesus this is the only message we are called to carry. Therefore we must know it well, remind ourselves of its impact on us often, and constantly seek ways to better communicate it to others.

Finally, we are hit with the enormous theological proposition of reconciliation. Simply put it is God restoring things (people in this case) to the way they were meant to be associated. More particularly, God deeply desires to restore man’s relationship to Him… there is nothing He loves more. As messengers this is our high and holy calling. It’s the goal, if you will. We carry this message of good news with the hope that others will believe and begin to follow Jesus… and in so doing, be reconciled to God.

If you’d like to dig a little deeper follow the link to this commentary… 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.

These questions should help us press in to discover the true nature of redemption:

1. Redemption is not a word we use all that often. How would you define it?
2. Of the following which is your favorite synonym for redemption and why?
save | repurchase | ransom | deliver
3. Be Boaz… what are you thinking (before reading this final chapter)?
4. Be Ruth… what are you thinking (before reading this final chapter)?
5. Honest first reaction… what were you initially thinking when you read verse 4?
6. May have to dig a little deeper for this one… who were the elders & why were they invited to come?
7. What strikes you about the detail of the elders wish in vv.11-12?
8. To what degree does the understatement in vv.13-17 magnify the reality of the redemption?
9. We’ve mentioned this elsewhere… what is the value of genealogy?
10. What lessons have you learned from Ruth about God’s provision?
11. What has spoken to you most about the nature of redemption?

If you’d like to dig a little deeper follow the link to this commentary… Ruth 4.

Let’s ask some questions to help us grasp the significance of this moment at the threshing floor:

1. From your own point of reference, give an example of refining (food, gold, etc.). Describe the process.
2. In what way do our previous experiences prepare us for “refining moments”?
3. How had Ruth’s previous experiences prepared her for the moment she is about to encounter?
4. In what way(s) do vv.1-6 demonstrate Ruth’s continuing honor of Naomi?
5. Considering our cultural disconnect, what things in vv.7-15 strikes you as strange?
6. Do you find Ruth’s actions appropriate or scandalous? Why?
7. Even with our built-in disconnect, what things in vv.7-15 are beautiful about this interaction?
8. How does this portion of Scripture compare to the violence of much of the Old Testament?
9. Just for fun… what two universal truths are highlighted in vv.7&18?
10. What do you think… is the location of this story ironic or intentional?
11. How is our willingness to be open to the Spirit’s leading highlighted in the details of this story?

If you’d like to dig a little deeper follow the link to this commentary… Ruth 3.

Let’s ask some questions to better understand the nature of grace:

1. How would you define grace?
2. What makes grace so difficult to understand?
3. What would you say is the opposite of grace?
4. To the best of your understanding, how were wheat harvesters ranked (vv. 3-8)?
5. So what does this cultural reality imply about Ruth’s attitude in vv. 1-3?
6. vv. 8-17 give us the particulars of Boaz’s kindness. What part speaks most to you… and why?
7. How is Boaz’s treatment of Ruth very similar to the way in which Jesus treats us?
8. What strikes you about the exchange between Ruth & Naomi in vv. 18-22?
9. What could grace look like in a modern context?
10. How do you know when it is the “appropriate time” to extend grace to someone?
11. What makes it difficult to extend grace?
12. What is the connection between how we give grace & how we receive it?

If you’d like to dig a little deeper follow the link to this commentary… Ruth 2.

This story, however, begins amidst tragedy. A famine. The death of a patriarch. Then the death of two sons/husbands. Not exactly the place you would expect a beautiful story of provision to begin. The most refreshing part of the way this story begins is its honesty. Life is not always harps and flowers. Sometimes life brings unexpected things that we never could have planned for emotionally.

But isn’t that more realistic to our life experience? What if God’s plan all along was to take us farther than we planned to go because we encounter Him in the midst of something we never could have expected. I think that the heart of this story. Not that God navigates us around tragedy… but through it.

Let’s answer some questions that the events of the text cause us to consider:

1. To broaden the term shipwreck beyond its nautical definition here, what kinds of things would you include?
2. What are some of the inherent differences between shipwrecks that I cause and ones that just happen to me?
3. What is it about shipwrecks that make them feel so… well, permanent?
4. Initially why did Paul think they were about to be shipwrecked?
5. How does his reality translate to our own shipwreck-able realities (in terms of recognizing imminent danger)?
6. In the moments preceding the shipwreck, how would you describe Paul’s mixture of practical and spiritual?
7. At times in our lives things seem to go from bad to worse. Do you think this is more perception or reality? Why?
8. What is most amazing to you about God’s provision in 28:1-16?
9. In what ways are the final verses (28:17-31) a fitting end to this long journey?
10. As general or specific as you care to get… what hope do followers of Jesus have to offer to shipwrecked people?

If you’d like to dig a little deeper follow the link to this commentary… Acts 27-28.