Pray: ask God to speak
Read Passage Aloud: Luke 11:1-13
Re-tell the passage in your own words

General Questions:
What do you like about the text?
What do you find challenging about the text?
What does it reveal about God?
What does it say to us?
Specific Questions:
1. Can you share a time when God seemed very near to you or when you found yourself praying in a deeper way? What if anything did you learn?
2. In this passage (v 1-4) Jesus says: when you pray say … Do you think Jesus means for you to say those exact words? Why/why not?
3.  Why does Jesus begin by honouring God’s name?
4. Of the three requests which is the one you pray most and which is the one you pray the least? Why?

Pray: ask God to speak
Read Passage Aloud: Luke 4:16-29
Re-tell the passage in your own words

General Questions:
What do you like about the text?
What do you find challenging about the text?
What does it reveal about God?
What does it say to us?
Specific Questions:

1. Jesus’ reception at his hometown quickly turns sour. Can you detect when the shift occurs and suggest why?
2. The critical claim Jesus makes is a quote from Isaiah. Read the two phrases: Isaiah 58:6 and 61:1-2. By referring to Isaiah, what claim is Jesus making about himself? Interestingly, Jesus omits Isaiah 61: 2b (the day of vengeance). Why do you think he does that?
3. The phrase: “the favourable year of the Lord” is suggestive of a concept known as the year of Jubilee. Read aloud what that year is about: Leviticus 25:1-13. This ‘return’ of land and ‘release’ of slaves every 50 years was to reset the entire Jewish community. Talk through the implications of this Jubilee. Do you like this idea or not? Why?
4. If you were to read Isaiah 58 you would soon realise that the Prophet was particularly critical of the way some Israelites were oppressing their fellow people. However, in the New Testament we tend to spiritualise these passages by suggesting that the “poor” refer to “poor in spirit” as being a pre-requisite to coming to faith. Whilst this latter idea has some merit, it fails to heed the reality of Luke’s challenge (and Isaiah’s). Why do you think people have spiritualized these “poor” passages?
5. Finally, Jesus announcement that God’s favour extends to the outsiders (like the widow from Sidon and Naaman the Syrian) draws a volatile response. The backdrop involves a political zeal that many in Nazareth would have been supportive of. That is, there existed a strong radical right-wing arm among the Jews that sought to bring God’s kingdom about through armed rebellion. For Jesus to suggest that God’s favour was for the very people many had determined to destroy struck a raw nerve. In light of our series Quietly-Loud, observe how Jesus challenged his home town neighbours and discuss how someone can maintain their convictions whilst posturing like Jesus.

Pray: ask God to speak
Read Passage Aloud: Luke 6:20-34
Re-tell the passage in your own words

General Questions:
What do you like about the text?
What do you find challenging about the text?
What does it reveal about God?
What does it say to us?
Specific Questions:
1. What comes to mind when you think of loving others quietly?
2. The passage speaks about when it is easy to love. When is it hard to love others?
3.  Read aloud the quote from Richard Beck “I think what we do is try to interrupt and disrupt the world –the principalities and powers- with love. This requires tactical imagination, improvisation and creativity. Artistically inserting ourselves into the gaps of the world the way Jesus did. Like a flower growing in a crack of a city sidewalk. Love is weak, but it interrupts the world with beauty, grace and mercy.”
4. What did it look like for Jesus to insert himself into the gaps of the world?

Pray: ask God to speak
Read Passage Aloud: Luke 8:1-18
Re-tell the passage in your own words

General Questions:
What do you like about the text?
What do you find challenging about the text?
What does it reveal about God?
What does it say to us?
Specific Questions:
It is important to frame this story with a question the disciples may have asked: Why isn’t everyone responding positively to God’s inbreaking power and invitation to follow you (Jesus)?

1. Take a moment to answer the question yourself. Why doesn’t everyone follow Jesus?
2. The parable of the sower might equally be called the parable of the soils. Describe the reasons Jesus gives for his good news being prevented from becoming fruitful. Notice how all of them have ‘heard’ the news but none directly blame the individual.
3. Being the fourth soil involves persevering. If there has been one factor that has shaken your fruitfulness the most in your life, what would that be?
4. Sometimes Christians can confuse their responsibilities. They can feel responsible for people being ‘saved’ yet clearly the emphasis in this story is in the process of scattering seeds that involve knowledge of the kingdom (i.e. God is becoming king on earth just as it is in heaven). So how does some go about scattering seeds and leaving the results up to God?

Pray: ask God to speak
Read Passage Aloud: Luke 12:1-34
Re-tell the passage in your own words

General Questions:
What do you like about the text?
What do you find challenging about the text?
What does it reveal about God?
What does it say to us?
Specific Questions:

1. There seems to be an amalgamation of three stories. Can you name them? In a nutshell describe what each is about.
2. What is the advice Jesus gives when standing before the synagogue rulers and authorities? How might this advice be applied in your setting?
3. The second story is about a farmer and storing up grain. What is it about assets that generates a false sense of security? 
4. Read verses 32-34. If you think that redistributing of your resources and laying a foundation in heaven sounds like “works,” you would be right. Living the kingdom life involves seeing wealth through a completely different lens. Describe that lens and how it challenges your thinking.

Pray: ask God to speak
Read Passage Aloud: Luke 19:1-10
Re-tell the passage in your own words

General Questions:
What do you like about the text?
What do you find challenging about the text?
What does it reveal about God?
What does it say to us?
Specific Questions:

1. Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd to get a glimpse of Jesus, he climbed a tree to get a view. What do you love about this part of the story? 
2. When Jesus noticed Zacchaeus in the tree he stopped and changed his plans. What does this say about Jesus and was it what the crowd would have been expecting?
3. Jesus was not afraid that his proximity to Zacchaeus would result in personal compromise or contamination. Jesus knew who he was. Discuss. 
4. Jesus was able to change his plans in response to God's promptings. How can we be more available to live this way?

Pray: ask God to speak
Read Passage Aloud: Luke 20:45-21:4
Re-tell the passage in your own words

General Questions:
What do you like about the text?
What do you find challenging about the text?
What does it reveal about God?
What does it say to us?
Specific Questions:

1. How do you feel about the story? What emotions does it bring up? Heard it a million times? or Feeling a fresh insight and view of the story? 
2. What was he trying to get his followers to understand by verse 4? "All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
3. Read 2 Cor 8:12-14. How would the world around us look different if we thought of generosity in this way? 
4. There are things in the world and our lives that make living this way difficult. "When we help people they don't seem to change." Or "poverty will always be a problem no matter what we do. There will always be a poor widow." 
5. Consider the funds that are accessed from the New Community Partnership fund and the needs they are used to meet. Why is it important for us as a gathered church family to have this fund? 
6. Read Phil 2:7. What is God asking you to do differently in your life as a response to the fact that God gave up all the riches of heaven for us.

Pray: ask God to speak
Read Passage Aloud: Luke 22:7-38
Re-tell the passage in your own words

General Questions:
What do you like about the text?
What do you find challenging about the text?
What does it reveal about God?
What does it say to us?
Specific Questions:

• Icebreaker:  Share about a memorable meal that you’ve participated in.  What made it so memorable?
• What do you know about the Passover – If you’d like to, refer back to Exodus 12:1-28 and the first Passover  OR  if people in your group were at the Passover Seder on Sunday evening, reflect on any insights they gained.
• Jesus reinterprets the meal. What new meaning does he give to the bread and the cup of wine?
• In v 31-34 Jesus predicts that Peter will deny that he knows him.  When do you find it hard to be open about your allegiance to Jesus?
• In v 35-38 Jesus tells his disciples to prepare for tough times ahead.  They seem to take him literally when he suggests they buy a sword. What do you make of these verses? (maybe look at 22:48-51 as a sequel).
• This may be an evening when your group could share communion together.

Pray: ask God to speak
Read Passage Aloud: Genesis 3:1-13
Re-tell the passage in your own words

General Questions:
What do you like about the text?
What do you find challenging about the text?
What does it reveal about God?
What does it say to us?
Specific Questions:

• Where have you observed and felt the cultural tension between the words: conservative and progressive?
• Read Genesis 3:1-13. Without getting bogged-down in conversation about the details, what portrait does this narrative paint about humans? Do you agree with this characterization? Why/why not. (if you have time you could also read Genesis 4:1-16 and ask the same question)
• The Bible suggests that humans are of enormous value to God but also corrupted by a power called sin. How can we hold these two ideas without concluding that we are not of worth, nor completely rotten?
• Read Romans 8:1-5. Again, try not to get lost in the detail. God has provided the solution to our problem by condemning sin (on the cross) and sending the Spirit into our hearts. How then, do we ‘set our minds on the Spirit’ so we may live more like God