Convoluted Conversations

Convoluted Conversations
(for the week of February 28, 2021)
PDF file at bottom
 
This Week’s Scripture: Mark 8:31-38
 
Key Idea from Sermon
 
To follow Jesus is a challenge to take on transformation, which involves “taking up your cross and following Jesus.”
 
Starter Questions from Pastor Phillip

1. Read Mark 8:31-38 and answer the following questions.  

• Why did Peter rebuke Jesus? What can we learn from this exchange?

 

• Why was it important for Jesus to go to the Cross?

 

• What did Jesus mean when he told us to “take up our crosses?”

 

• How does “taking up your cross” and following Jesus lead to life-change?

 
For Further Discussion 

2. After traveling with Jesus for three years, believing they were part of something extraordinary and world-changing, how do you think the disciples felt after hearing Jesus’ words in verse 31? Why?  
 

3. In verse 32 Peter began to rebuke Jesus. Can you imagine? Jesus then put Peter in his place with some pretty hard words. What do you think Jesus meant by telling Peter he did not have in mind the concerns of God but merely human concerns?  
 

4. Can you think of a time recently when your concerns were more like Peter’s, than God’s? If you feel comfortable doing so, share your experience and thoughts with your group.  
 

5. Why do we often find it easier to react to life-events through the lens of a temporal (“merely human”) perspective rather than God’s eternal perspective?  
 

6. What would having an eternal perspective even look like in an ordinary day for you? What impact would it have? How might that impact in your life serve as a witness for Christ in the lives of your friends, family, or coworkers?  
 

7. What are some spiritual habits you have put in place to help you maintain God’s eternal perspective during the various experiences of your life?  
 

8. Read verses 34. Put in your own words what Jesus meant by each phrase of his “discipleship description.”
 

• Deny yourself –

 

• Take up your cross –

 

• Follow Jesus –

 

9. Even though we are saved by grace and have the Holy Spirit living inside us, to guide and empower us, in what ways have you found following Jesus hard to consistently live out?  
 

10. What are some specific ways the members of your group can encourage you to put into practice what Jesus says about denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following him?  
 

11. Share prayer requests and spend a few minutes praying for one another if you feel comfortable doing so.  
 
 
May you richly experience the presence of the Lord this week!!!
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