Sermon Discussion Guide 6-14-26

Sermon Discussion Guide
The Ten Commandments | You Shall Not Murder | Exodus 20:13

Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve encountered God this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon?
• What insights did you gain?
• What questions did it raise?

Exodus 20:13 | Why is murder wrong?

• Discuss how different “worldviews” would answer the question: why does a human being have value? How does a Christian answer this question?
• The image of God is stamped on every person, including the frail, the elderly, the terminally ill, and the unborn. Where in our culture do you see that image being denied or diminished? Where do you find it hardest to affirm?

Matthew 5:21-22 | Contempt

• Do you see the difference between anger and contempt? How are they related? How are they different?
• Our world is full of contempt. When we normalize contempt, we shouldn't be surprised when it takes root in us. Where has contempt snuck into your life without you naming it as such? What does it look like for you (a short fuse, an inability to forgive, cutting people out, the way you talk about someone behind their back)?

Matthew 5:23-26 | Two Kinds of People

• Reflect on these words from Dallas Willard, "Now just think of what the quality of life and character must be in a person who would routinely interrupt sacred rituals to pursue reconciliation with a fellow human being. What kind of thought life, what feeling tones and moods, what habits of body and mind, what kinds of deliberations and choices would you find in such a person? When you answer these questions, you have a vision of the true righteousness that is at home in God's kingdom of power and love." (The Divine Conspiracy)
  Take some time to answer the rhetorical questions he raises about what this kind of person is like. 
• What are some practices, habits, and thoughts that you would need to change in order to become the kind of person Jesus is describing?

Jesus Left the Altar

• Jesus is the kind of person who would drop what he’s doing to search for the lost. He left the throne room of heaven to be reconciled with us. How does the gospel shape how we should think about other image-bearers? 

Closing Prayer