The Rich Man and Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon Notes

1) The Great Disparity in This Life, 19-21

2) The Great Chasm in The Life to Come, 22-26

3) The Great Prophet Who Came Back to Life, 27-31

Reflection questions:

1. What was Asaph jealous of in Psalm 73? (See especially vv.1-3) What had Asaph forgotten? See vv. 16-17, 23-24.

2. When it says that Lazarus is carried to Abraham’s side (or bosom), is that comforting, confusing, or something else to you? Before you answer, read Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16 about Abraham’s faith and his future.

3. Why did Jesus say it was so important to listen to Moses and the Prophets? See John 5:46-47; Luke 24:25-27, 44-45. (Also, for more regarding miraculous signs, see 1 Cor. 1:22-25)

Our Heavenly Father Who Wants to Give Us Good Gifts

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon Notes:

1) The Pattern: Pray like this, vv. 1-4

2) The Reason: Because your father loves to hear the voice of prayer, vv. 5-8

3) The Plea: Ask, Seek and Knock, vv. 9-10

4) The Reason: Because your father loves to give good gifts, vv. 11-13

Reflection questions: 

1.       Do you ever use the Lord’s Prayer to guide your prayer time? Why or why not? Do you think it’s too hard to pray like this? If so, google “Martin Luther, A Simple Way to Pray,” a prayer guide that includes the Lord’s Prayer, which Luther wrote when his barber asked him for advice on prayer. (If you get lucky, you might find a free copy online)

2.       Do you “play” at prayer, or are you persistent? Is there anything in your life that you’ve stopped praying for, because you think God is not going to answer the way you want? Do you (or anyone you know) have a story about a long-time prayer request that God finally answered? 

3.       How you approach your Father when you pray? Like a miser, who might give you something good once in a while if he really feels like? Or like a Prodigal Father (Luke 15:20ff) who runs to meet his runaway son while he is still far off, like a father “who is able and ready to help us?” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q100)  

Messengers on Mission

Luke 10:1-16

Sermon Notes

1. Messengers sent to declare news, not advice 

2. Focused and committed to their mission.

3. Coming in humility and weakness, compelled by the needs of the crowd

4. Delivering a warning, often ignored and rejected

Reflection Questions

1. What are some ways you struggle with being a Messenger? How do you feel you might come off to others? or what are some fears you have with proclaiming the gospel?

2. What are some ways we can get off track and distracted from the mission God gave us?

3. How have you seen message sharing done poorly? What were they getting wrong about how they shared?

4. Why do you think that some reject this message, reject the gospel?

5. How can we have peace even though some people reject the message (and even the messenger)?