DEEPER Questions

Go through these questions in your LifeGroup or on your own to Dig Deeper into
Sunday's message

1. Rodney starts off this message by talking about all the rules the religious leaders in Jesus's day had for cleaning pots and cleaning their hands. What do you think the motivation behind these strict rules was (were they just being super hygienic or was it something more)? Can you think of some religious rules we still practice today? 

2. In response to their accusations that he's not following the rules correctly, Jesus tells the religious leaders this: "You bind heavy burdens on people who can't carry them." What do you think this statement means? Have there ever been religious rules/traditions that have been placed on you, or that you've placed on yourself? Why did these burdens eventually get too heavy to carry? 

3. "Outward change can't bring inward transformation." What does that statement mean to you? What sort of outward things do we often turn to to fix our inward brokenness? Discuss some examples with your group. 

4. Why do you think our kids and the younger generation have been leaving the church en mass over the last few years? Why does this generation reject the idea of "washing pots" or following a set of religious rules? Do you think there's a way to still reach them for the Gospel? 

5. No matter your faith tradition or the kind of church you grew up in, there were rules that trumped a relationship with Jesus. Talk about some of these rules and traditions from different denominations with your group (Catholics and Catechism, Protestants and Confirmation, Evangelicals and praying this prayer and going to events, etc.). Why are these rules we put in place harmful to the relationship we're trying to build with Jesus? 

6. What do you think the solution to our religion problem is? People are hurting in ways they never were before, but numbers in the church were going down long before COVID. Is there a way to get past religion and straight to a relationship with Jesus? 

DIG INTO Scripture

Read and meditate on Sunday's Scripture to find deeper meaning and connection to God

Mark 7:1-13

Traditions and Commandments

7 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,[a] holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.[b] And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.[c]) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)[d]— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

LEAVE THE BUILDING 

Take what you learned on Sunday and apply it to your life 

• Examine your own religious background. What traditions and rules did you grow up with (or are still in) that told you salvation was only attainable if you followed them well? 
• Religion washes hands, Jesus washes hearts was Rodney's only takeaway from this message. What do you think about that statement? Do you have a religion that simply washes hands, or are you pursuing an authentic relationship with Jesus? What's a step you can take in that relationship this week? 
• How can you show people Jesus in a hurting and broken world? What are some ways you can model that you're a Christian based on relationship, not rules? 

PICK UP A BOOK

Looking for another way to Dig Deeper into the Mark sermon series?
Read more about being a disciple of Jesus in Jeff Vanderstelt's awesome book, Saturate!

PURCHASE SATURATE

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