Jesus, Monarch (part 3): Dispatches from the Kingdom

TO START

Parables are a little like codes or riddles. They take work to figure out. See if your group can figure out the riddles (answers at the bottom of the guide):

  1. What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?

  2. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?

  3. David's father has three sons : Snap, Crackle and _____ ?

  4. A doctor and a bus driver are both in love with the same woman, an attractive girl named Sarah. The bus driver had to go on a long bus trip that would last a week. Before he left, he gave Sarah seven apples. Why?

  5. Mr. and Mrs. Mustard have six daughters and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the Mustard family?

TO DISCUSS

This week we looked at a parable. What do you know about parables? Do you like them? Are they confusing? Interesting? Why do you think Jesus used parables?

This week’s parable is found in Matthew 25:1-13. Go ahead and read it together again.

What questions do you have? What’s interesting? What’s confusing?

Logan said the main point of this parable was this message: Jesus is coming back! Be ready!

  • Do you often think about Jesus coming back? Do you feel like your life revolves around the return of Jesus?

  • What would it look like to live lives that were intentionally, actively waiting on the King?

  • If you knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow, what would you do? What wouldn’t you do that you’d be planning to do?

Do you think there’s a chance you’re sleepwalking through life a bit? What signs do you see that might be pointing that way? What could your small group do to help you wake up?

What four ways of growing complacent did we discuss in the message Sunday? (exhaustion, overindulgence, numbing, lack of disruption). Each of these patterns is sinful. Did you find any of those surprising to be on a list of sins?

In order to be ready, Logan suggested we do four things:

  • Rest

  • Pray

  • Meditate

  • Disrupt Rhythms

Which of those comes most naturally? Which comes hardest?

What does it look like to practice each of these?

Do you have experience learning to do one of these things? Share with the group.

TO READ

Consider another waiting parable, this one also in Matthew 25 (verses 14 to 19).

Decode the parable: Who is the master? Who are the servants? What do the talents (or bags of gold) represent?

What do you learn about waiting for Jesus from the parable? What should life here be like in light of the life to come?

TO PRAY

This week pray asking Jesus to come back. Tell Him reasons why you want Him to return.





Riddle answers:

  1. A penny

  2. The letter m

  3. David

  4. To keep the doctor away

  5. 9--one brother total.

Guest User