One Way Jesus
This week, Pastor Charles Lee will be preaching out of Matthew 19:16-22 dealing with the young rich ruler. This is a sobering passage and ultimately, you cannot get to heaven your way; it must be under God's terms. Pastor Charles will seek to show the following three points:
Wanting eternal life is understandable
Bad news is necessary for the good news to make sense
Heart of complete surrender is necessary for e-life
Discussion Questions:
Given a choice between Heaven and Hell, can you think of anyone who would choose Hell? What do you think Heaven will be like? Share. What aspect of Heaven do you most look forward to the most? Share and discuss. Discuss the eternal nature of Heaven and Hell. How does that make you feel?
Read Matt 19:16-22. In light of the text, why do you think the young rich ruler wanted eternal life? Discuss. Do you think it's possible to want eternal life (the destination) but not eternal life (the relationship with God)? Share.
Reread vs 17-20. Jesus pointed the young rich ruler to some of the 10 Commandments. Why do you think He did that? Discuss. Do you think the young rich ruler "really" kept all the laws that Jesus mentioned? Share and discuss. God said the wages of sin is death. The severity of the punishment reflects the seriousness of the crime. Take a moment to remind one another of how wretched sin is to God.
Look at Jesus' response in verses 21-22. What did Jesus see in this man's heart that made Him respond that way? Discuss. Do you think it's possible that we can be blind to the true conditions of our hearts? In what way do you think people struggle with self-righteousness? Discuss.
Read Mark 10:23-25. The young rich ruler could not surrender His wealth (idol) to God and went away sad. What are some things we might have in our lives that would be hard to give to God to follow Him? Share. Do you think its possible that it is the very thing that could be keeping us from being a true disciple of Jesus Christ? Share. How can we encourage each other to surrender all to follow Jesus. Discuss.
The young rich ruler went away sad. He did not get eternal life. Is it possible that there are many who wants eternal life but will not get it because they want it under "their terms" and not God's way? Do you think this is a rarity or something that's common? Discuss.
Jesus did not make it easy for this young rich ruler to follow Him. Do you think we make it too easy in our day? And how did Jesus show grace and mercy to this young rich ruler? Discuss.
