Parables, Women, & Gifts: Week Three Follow-Up
For the month of May, students have chosen between three separate series options for YBF: Parables of Jesus, Women in Scripture, and Spiritual Gifts. See below for a quick look at week three lessons from each series.
Parables of Jesus: Pearls and Treasure
This Sunday we focused on "value" parables, specifically the field/treasure/pearl parables (Matt. 13:44-46). Along the way, we also ended up reading and discussing some other parables that speak about value (building a tower, even the prodigal son). Throughout the series, we have seen that these parables are meant to make us think deeply about a topic, not necessarily to resolve in a discussion. What does it mean that Kingdom of God is precious and valuable? What does Jesus want us to contemplate in terms of its cost and our response?
Questions for discussion:
- What is valuable to you, what makes something seem valuable?
- What is valuable about following Jesus? Why do it?
- What does it look like when some thing or endeavor is so valuable that it makes everything else seem worthless?
Women in Scripture: Jesus anointed by sinful woman
Our group studied Luke's Gospel's account of the sinful woman who sits at Jesus' feet and anoints him with oil (Luke 7:36-50). This account takes place at the home of Simon (a Pharisee) and as we read the words, we see Jesus contrasting the responses of the sinful woman and Simon. Jesus shares with Simon that even though the woman's sins were great, she showed great love.
We discussed the courage of the woman to crash a dinner party, bring an expensive gift, and weep at the feet of Jesus, especially knowing how she may have been viewed because of her sin. We wondered what the woman must have heard about Jesus to approach Him in this way. We also took some time to compare and contrast the responses of the woman and Simon to Jesus. Finally, we talked about the theme that when we understand how much we are forgiven and loved, we are able to love Jesus and others in greater ways.
Questions for discussion:
- What are some practical steps we can take to love and serve God and others in light of understanding and discovering how much we are loved and forgiven?
Spiritual Gifts: Our Unique Gifts
After taking our inventories, we delved in more specifically to see what our spiritual gifts can look like. Through our conversation, the students decided they want to learn how their gifts matter in a non spiritual way (like how can that be used outside the church). What does shepherding look like outside church? This next week, we will talk about their gifts how how they can use them and also how to develop their lessor gifts.
Questions for discussion:
- How do our gifts and passions make us uniquely valuable in the Kingdom of God?
- How can our spiritual gifts be used in different contexts?