Message: For Anyone Weary
Speaker: Greg Holder
Group Leaders- Check in with your members. Prayer needs,etc. Pray either before or after your study/discussion.
Have someone read aloud Matthew 11:28-30. Together unpack this verse. Highlight and comment on keywords that stand out to you. What sounds appealing? Confusing?
Assign the remaining passages to different people to read aloud at times when they apply to your discussion.
- What does weariness mean to you?
- What do you think was wearying and burdening the Jewish people at that time?
- What is currently weighing you down?
According to the Matt 11 passage- what is Jesus telling us to do with our weariness?
- In the service, Pastor Greg showed us how a yoke worked, and how the ancient Israelites would have understood the yoke metaphor of "taking on the yoke of Torah, or the yoke of the rabbi." Key word: Submission.
- While it's true that most of us are not plowing a field with oxen anymore, we are often still "yoked" to something. What's a yoke in your life?
- What could it look like to trade your current yoke for Jesus' "easy and light" yoke? The rest Jesus talks about?
- Have someone read the quote from La Crae. Discuss. How does this fit with the concept of surrender?
- In light of the concept of surrender, how would you explain to someone outside of the church, the difference between subscribing to a creed, a series of beliefs, and making those statements personal?
Pastor Greg used the illustration of a chair to explain the idea of trust and surrender. Grab a chair as your prop and either demonstrate the illustration for the group or ask if anyone in the group is comfortable demonstrating the illustration for the group.
Leaders- if appropriate, this could be a good time to share where each person is in their relationship with Christ- have you "sat in the chair?" "talked about the 'chair' but not fully trusted (sat in)the chair?
Close the group in praying for one another, -- what is the next best step to take in your relationship with Jesus?
"If you don't know you're lost, you can't be led. And if you can't be honest, you can't be healed. Before I could be rescued, I needed to realize I was stranded."
La Crae
Read
Matthew 11:28-30
Matthew 9:36
Matthew 23:4
1 Peter 2:24
Romans 10:9-10
Reflect
Have I personally "sat in the chair?"
What is my next step of faith?
What does it look like to take on Jesus' yoke?
Do
Share with the group how you see God leading you.
Pray together to encourage each other.
Consider attending the Baptism Service together as a group, on Sunday June 25