May 23

Jesus' Mission

Passage:

Matthew 10:16-33

Main Idea:

Jesus’ Mission

Lean In

Purpose: Introduce the topic and get the group talking.

1. What is one of your favorite things about American Culture?  (Food, Sports, Celebrations, History, etc.)

Look Down

Purpose: Observe the passage and interact with the text.

This week we’re looking at Matthew 10, specifically verses 16-33. In this passage, Jesus is sending out his disciples to share the Gospel (the good news of the Kingdom) and to minister to the surrounding world. As he’s preparing them to go, he gives them warnings and instructions for how to approach their mission. 

2. Read Matthew 10:16-33. What do you see Jesus preparing the disciples for?

3. In this passage, what guidance does Jesus give the disciples in light of what they will face? 

Look Out

Purpose: Connect observations in God’s Word with observations in our world today.

4. How does the experience of persecution of Christians in America compare and contrast with that of Jesus’ disciples and/or with Christians in other parts of the world? (I.e. India, Iran, etc. ) 


5. What sort of responses to the Gospel (not just to Christian culture) have you personally encountered? 



Look In

Purpose: Internalize God’s Word and apply the truth to your personal life.

As disciples of Jesus, we are invited by Jesus to do the same things that he did. These instructions and warnings are for us just as much as they were for the disciples in Jesus’ time.


6. How do we be ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves’ when facing opposition or even indifference? 


7. Re-read vv. 19-20. Jesus says don’t be anxious when sharing your faith because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will speak through you. How does knowing God’s word and being in prayer drive out fear and prepare us for these moments? 


8. What do you fear more than God and His judgment?

Live it Out

Purpose: Spend time listening for God’s direction and guidance as you seek to live out the truths of this passage in your everyday life.

9. Re-read vv 32-33.  Everyone Jesus called, He called publicly. There is really no such thing as a “secret” Christian, it’s an oxymoron. If arrested for the crime of following Jesus and tried in a court of law, would the charges be dismissed for a lack of evidence? Consider this question in a time of individual prayer and confession.

10. “What Christ is to you on earth, that you will be to Christ in heaven. If he is dear and precious to you, you will be dear and precious to him. If you thought everything of him, he will think everything of you.” - Charles Spurgeon

Spend some time in your groups praying for each person’s mission and the evidence of Christ in their lives.

Lean In

Purpose: Introduce the topic and get the group talking.

1. What is one of your favorite things about American Culture?  (Food, Sports, Celebrations, History, etc.)  

This question is designed to be a light and fun starter to get the group conversation going.

Look Down

Purpose: Observe the passage and interact with the text.

This week we’re looking at Matthew 10, specifically verses 16-33. In this passage, Jesus is sending out his disciples to share the Gospel (the good news of the Kingdom) and to minister to the surrounding world. As he’s preparing them to go, he gives them warnings and instructions for how to approach their mission. 


2. Read Matthew 10:16-33. What do you see Jesus preparing the disciples for?


  • Betrayal, torture, incarceration, persecution, hatred, warning regarding servants of the enemy, fear, anxiety and acknowledging alignment with Jesus.


3. In this passage, what guidance does Jesus give the disciples in light of what they will face? 


  • Be as wise as serpents, innocent as doves (be wise about sin, but innocent of it)(this topic will be discussed further in question 6)
  • Be willing to shake the dust off your feet (leave a community that rejects the good news)
  • How do we do this in our culture today? 
  • Trust in God to help you avoid being fearful or anxious (this topic will be discussed in question 7)
  • Fear God, not man (this topic will be discussed in question 8)

Look Out

Purpose: Connect observations in God’s Word with observations in our world today.

4. How does the experience of persecution of Christians in America compare and contrast with that of Jesus’ disciples and/or with Christians in other parts of the world? (I.e. India, Iran, etc. ) 


  • People might mention censoring or limits in terms religious freedom, which may or may not be actual persecution 
  • Be sure to differentiate between persecution for your faith by authorities and powers that are anti-Jesus, versus not getting your way or not having your views, preferences, or politics be embraced by the majority.  


5. What sort of responses to the Gospel (not just to Christian culture) have you personally encountered? 


  • Contention?
  • Openness?
  • Indifference?

Look In

Purpose: Internalize God’s Word and apply the truth to your personal life.

As disciples of Jesus, we are invited by Jesus to do the same things that he did. These instructions and warnings are for us just as much as they were for the disciples in Jesus’ time.


6. How do we be ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves’ when facing opposition or even indifference? 


“In the apostolic age of Christianity, how harmoniously were these qualities displayed! Instead of the fanatical thirst for martyrdom, to which a later age gave birth, there was a manly combination of unflinching zeal and calm discretion, before which nothing was able to stand.” David Brown

  • We are to possess a willingness to fight and wisdom to know when not to.

7. Re-read vv. 19-20. Jesus says don’t be anxious when sharing your faith because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will speak through you. How does knowing God’s word and being in prayer drive out fear and prepare us for these moments? 


  • Being in God’s word and praying consistently helps us to not quench the Spirit.
  • Jeremiah 23:28-29 “Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” 
  • Acts 4:31 “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

8. What do you fear more than God and His judgment?


  • Fear for our reputation, saying the wrong thing, mis-representing Jesus, of being labeled - bigot, hater and so on, death, suffering?
  • “There is no cure for the fear of man like the fear of God.” Spurgeon
  • Man can only kill the body and we need not fear this because for the disciple, "To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). We should fear the one who is able to take both body and soul and cast it into hell.
  • “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” Psalm 56:3-4


Live it Out

Purpose: Spend time listening for God’s direction and guidance as you seek to live out the truths of this passage in your everyday life.

9. Re-read vv 32-33.  Everyone Jesus called, He called publicly. There is really no such thing as a “secret” Christian, it’s an oxymoron. If arrested for the crime of following Jesus and tried in a court of law, would the charges be dismissed for a lack of evidence? Consider this question in a time of individual prayer and confession.


10. “What Christ is to you on earth, that you will be to Christ in heaven. If he is dear and precious to you, you will be dear and precious to him. If you thought everything of him, he will think everything of you.” - Charles Spurgeon


Spend some time in your groups praying for each person’s mission and the evidence of Christ in their lives.