Food for Thought

Downtown Church sermon from February 14, 2010 by David Mathews.  This is part of our series called Our Radical Response to God.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 1: Download the MP3

Part 2: Download the MP3

Small Group Questions

Pendulum Swings
As you begin your Small Group this week …  “Have you ever … ?”
1. … been so hungry that you would eat anything? So … what did you eat?
2. … had a hero? Who was it and what made them a hero to you?
3. … experienced God calming a storm in your life? Share what happened.

1. LEARN TOGETHER:  Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

2. READ:   Hebrews 7:18-19; 22-25; 8:6-13; 9:11-15
The book of Hebrews clearly teaches the New Covenant is vastly superior to the old covenant. From these passages discuss why and how the New Covenant is superior to the Old; What do you believe is the most significant difference and why?

3.   READ:  John 5: 1-15 – Jesus heals a man who has been an invalid for 38 years.  Discuss
this passage. Some questions to consider: Why did Jesus ask him if he wanted to get well? How much faith did the man have in Jesus? Why didn‟t Jesus tell him who had healed him? What did Jesus mean when He said, “Stop sinning or something worse might happen to you”?

4. In John 6, Jesus claims to be “the bread of life.”
6:41: The Jews began to grumble when He said that He was the bread that came down from heaven.
6:51-58:   He tells them more than once that anyone who follows Him must eat his flesh and drink his blood.
6:66: Why did many of them turn back and no longer follow Him?
What does “eating the flesh and drinking his blood‟ mean to us today? Is Jesus taking about the Lord’s Supper? In what ways, if any, does this thought add meaning to the Lord’s Supper?

5. READ:  John 6:67 – Jesus asks the 12 if they wanted to leave him also. Discuss Peter’s
response in the following verses: Why did Peter stay? Have you ever been tempted to leave Jesus? Why have you decided to stay?

6. Jesus states at the end of this chapter that Judas was a devil (6:70-71). Take time to discuss the
difference between Peter and Judas. Why did Peter come back to Jesus? Why did Judas take his own life?