Before leaving His disciples, Jesus gave them one commandment to obey and a great mission to accomplish. His Great Commandment was to love God and love others. THE SECRET OF His Great Commission was to go into all the world to make disciples. These verses are among His most often repeated LOVING EVERYONE, words. At Southside, we believe a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will ALWAYS SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 build a great church. If we are going to follow Jesus, we must do both. Join us for part two of Tightrope where we will consider the important tension that exists between these two directives and the dangers of doing one without the other.
PASSAGE: Matthew 22:37-40 and Matthew 28:18-20
CORE VALUE: We believe a great commitment to the ______and the ______will build a great church.
Great Commandment Great Commission Great Commission Great Commission Great Commandment Great Commandment
______, ______!
BALANCE CHECK: The Great Commission ------The Great Commandment
Questions: Do your actions, attitudes, and relationships reflect the love of Jesus to everyone, always? Are you actively sharing the gospel and involved in making disciples?
DAILY READINGS: Day 1: Matthew 22 Day 5: John 15 Day 2: Matthew 28 Day 6: 1 Corinthians 13 Day 3: Luke 9 and 10 Day 7: 1 Corinthians 15 Day 4: 1 John 3 and 4 SUGGESTED RESOURCES: Books: Radical, by David Platt Don't Waste Your Life, by John Piper
Sermon Series (ssbc.org/sermon-archive/series/): Love Well (2017) Love Letters (2019) SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS We are in a series called Tightrope. In our worship gatherings we are focused on our church’s core values and how those values provide clarity in times of uncertainty. Last Sunday’s sermon focused on the importance of being biblically grounded and gospel-centered. Today we are going to continue to explore that topic as it relates to understanding the difference between our essential and non-essential beliefs. HANGOUT [WARMING UP TO THE TOPIC]: 1.Imagine you are flying an airplane and are told that you must lighten the plane or crash. How would you decide what stays and what gets tossed? What is essential to keep in that situation? Is it possible that something could be important,but determined to be not essential? Give some examples.
2. Are there essential beliefs related to following Jesus (being a Christian)? If so, what are they? How do you determine what those essential beliefs are? Why might it be important to distinguish between essential and non- essential beliefs?
HEAR [LISTENING TO GOD THROUGH SCRIPTURE]: 3. There were 613 Jewish laws that good Jews were expected to keep. On many occasions, Jesus seems to bring clarity by focusing His followers on the essential elements. Read the following passages and discuss what Jesus indicated as essential in each passage: Read Mark 10:17-22. Read Matthew 22: 34-40. Read Luke 12:4-9.
4. Many people call the Apostle Paul the church’s first great theologian. He also seems to identify essential Christian beliefs. Read the following passages and answer the questions after each: Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. What does Paul identify “as of first importance”? How does Paul support his claim?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. What argument does Paul seem to be addressing in this passage? Based on Paul’s words, how important is belief in Jesus’ resurrection?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-26. What does Paul say must be true if, in fact, Jesus has been raised from the dead? How important is the resurrection to you personally?
5. Obviously,Paul was writing after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. How does his emphasis on Jesus’ resurrection “as of first importance” relate to those things Jesus also held up as essential?
6. Being biblically grounded can seem like an overwhelming goal. How might understanding this one essential element of the Gospel (the resurrection of Jesus) help you read, understand, and interpret the entire Bible?
HUDDLE [MAKING IT PERSONAL AND PRAYING TOGETHER - IN HUDDLES]: 7. A recent study of evangelical Christians revealed that 25% of them do not believe in the literal resurrection of Jesus. If the survey is accurate, what would the implications be for the church? What is our responsibility? Talk about it, invite accountability, and take time to pray.