Stories Jesus Told - Wheat & weeds
Stories Jesus Told - Wheat & weeds DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (page 1) SUGGESTED CONTEMPLATIVE DISCUSSION MODEL: What are you learning about God from this story?
What are you learning about yourself from the story?
What questions does this story bring up for you?
What is God doing in your heart lately?
What things do you feel are getting in the way from what God wants to do in you?
What is the biggest thing causing you concern these days? (something to pray about)
ORIGINAL DISCUSSION MODEL (pick 4-5 for discussion) Ask the group if their gardening/landscaping experiences reinforce the lessons of Jesus’ parable of the wheat and weeds?
As a group, read through both passages of Jesus telling the story and his explanation and ask the group to make their own observations. Matt 13:24-30, 36-43
Why do you think Jesus ends his explanation with he who has hears, let him hear? (13:43)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (page 2) Matt 13:29.What reason does the farmer give for not pulling the weeds up? In your opinion how is that good advice for the church today?
Why is patience and tolerance for unbelievers so difficult for the disciples and for Christians today?
In what ways can the lack of patience and tolerance affect the real wheat today?
How does the parable of wheat and weeds sync with Paul’s admonitions to protect the church from harm? See: Romans 16:17; Titus 3:10; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10; 2 Thessalonians 3:14, 15; 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 John 10-11
What concerns do you have about the story? Does the bible address any of those? How does the statement: Everybody’s welcome, because nobody’s perfect, and anything’s possible through God’s grace resonate with you?
How are you making the most of every opportunity to grow wheat today?
Leader’s Guide: Wheat & weeds Matthew 13:24-43 Sometimes a story is the only way to understand. Stories break through when facts, principles and creeds cannot. A story can help us understand things that cannot be understood by mere instruction - things like God, love, the world, or ourselves. We lose ourselves in stories, and every once in a while, we find ourselves – especially in The Stories Jesus Told. OUTLINE & SCRIPTURES Wheat And Weeds Observations: 1. The story hinges on the coexistence of wheat and weeds. 13:26 2. How the weeds came to be in the same field is also critical to the story. 13:25, 28 3. The surprise of the story is in the prescription for the situation. 13:28-30 How the disciples would hear the story: Jesus was addressing their intolerant, pre-judging attitude that was excluding people from the grace of God. 1. The disciples were concerned about the kind of people Jesus was attracting and were intolerant of people who were unworthy of grace. Luke 9:4950 2. The Pharisees were even more intolerant. Luke 18:11 3. They confused the idea of being “chosen” with being “choice.” A modern interpretation: 1. We don’t have the ABILITY to determine who should be excluded from the grace of God. Mark 13:32 The Bible does not tell us to go around deciding who the real Christians are, but it does tell us to examine ourselves. 2Cor 13:5; Ps 26:2 2. It’s not the TIME to determine who is worthy of the grace of God. 13:28, 30, 39, 43; 2Cor 5:10 3. It’s not our RESPONSIBILITY to determine who has truly received the grace of God. 13:25, 27, 30 This is the time to grow wheat, not pull weeds.
What are you learning about yourself from the story?
What questions does this story bring up for you?
What is God doing in your heart lately?
What things do you feel are getting in the way from what God wants to do in you?
What is the biggest thing causing you concern these days? (something to pray about)
ORIGINAL DISCUSSION MODEL (pick 4-5 for discussion) Ask the group if their gardening/landscaping experiences reinforce the lessons of Jesus’ parable of the wheat and weeds?
As a group, read through both passages of Jesus telling the story and his explanation and ask the group to make their own observations. Matt 13:24-30, 36-43
Why do you think Jesus ends his explanation with he who has hears, let him hear? (13:43)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (page 2) Matt 13:29.What reason does the farmer give for not pulling the weeds up? In your opinion how is that good advice for the church today?
Why is patience and tolerance for unbelievers so difficult for the disciples and for Christians today?
In what ways can the lack of patience and tolerance affect the real wheat today?
How does the parable of wheat and weeds sync with Paul’s admonitions to protect the church from harm? See: Romans 16:17; Titus 3:10; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10; 2 Thessalonians 3:14, 15; 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 John 10-11
What concerns do you have about the story? Does the bible address any of those? How does the statement: Everybody’s welcome, because nobody’s perfect, and anything’s possible through God’s grace resonate with you?
How are you making the most of every opportunity to grow wheat today?
Leader’s Guide: Wheat & weeds Matthew 13:24-43 Sometimes a story is the only way to understand. Stories break through when facts, principles and creeds cannot. A story can help us understand things that cannot be understood by mere instruction - things like God, love, the world, or ourselves. We lose ourselves in stories, and every once in a while, we find ourselves – especially in The Stories Jesus Told. OUTLINE & SCRIPTURES Wheat And Weeds Observations: 1. The story hinges on the coexistence of wheat and weeds. 13:26 2. How the weeds came to be in the same field is also critical to the story. 13:25, 28 3. The surprise of the story is in the prescription for the situation. 13:28-30 How the disciples would hear the story: Jesus was addressing their intolerant, pre-judging attitude that was excluding people from the grace of God. 1. The disciples were concerned about the kind of people Jesus was attracting and were intolerant of people who were unworthy of grace. Luke 9:4950 2. The Pharisees were even more intolerant. Luke 18:11 3. They confused the idea of being “chosen” with being “choice.” A modern interpretation: 1. We don’t have the ABILITY to determine who should be excluded from the grace of God. Mark 13:32 The Bible does not tell us to go around deciding who the real Christians are, but it does tell us to examine ourselves. 2Cor 13:5; Ps 26:2 2. It’s not the TIME to determine who is worthy of the grace of God. 13:28, 30, 39, 43; 2Cor 5:10 3. It’s not our RESPONSIBILITY to determine who has truly received the grace of God. 13:25, 27, 30 This is the time to grow wheat, not pull weeds.
