THE WESLEYAN WAY | Connection Group Discussion Guide | Week One 1 “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17
Connect (5 to 10 minutes)
Come together to build relationships through fellowship and sharing about this week’s worship. •
Take a few minutes to share your thoughts about worship this week. – What aspects of worship did or did not connect with you? – What story or illustration made an impact on you?
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What New Year’s Resolutions did you make for 2019? How are you doing with them?
Context (30 to 40 minutes)
Dig deeper into the videos and scripture for this week through questions and discussion. •
Before watching the DVD, go around the room and have everyone share their answer to this question: What is the Bible’s primary message?
Watch the video for this session on your DVD or online. •
This week, the question we are asking is “What is the Bible’s primary message?” What other questions do you have about the Christian life that you hope might be answered in this series?
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Arthur and Scott share about memorizing the Fruits of the Spirit as a way to measure their behavior. When have you memorized a part of scripture? – Why did you choose to memorize that particular passage, and what did it mean to you?
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Compare your answer to this week’s question, “What is the primary message of the Bible?” to Arthur’s answer. What is different? What is the same? – Is there anything about your answer you might change after watching this video?
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Scott and Arthur share that the way Wesley teaches us to read is through the “general tenor” of scripture. What do you think this means? – Why do you think this method of reading is important? – How does reading scripture through its general tenor change the meaning of different passages?
Some questions and content are from Scripture and the Wesleyan Way: A Bible Study on Real Christianity, Scott J. Jones and Arthur D. Jones (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2018). 1
Ask four group members to read the following passages to the group. – Matthew 13:31-33 (parables of mustard seed and yeast) – Mark 4:26-29 (parable of the seed growing in the ground) – Matthew 13:44-46 (parables of the treasure in the field and the pearl) – Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (the parable of the sower)
One of the key ways Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God is through parables, a simple story meant to illustrate important truths. Today we will be hearing several of these parables about the Kingdom of God.
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In these different parables, what is Jesus comparing the Kingdom of God to? – Which of these parables do you connect with most? Why?
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How are these scriptures different than what our own expectations for the Kingdom of God might be? – What surprises you about these parables describing the Kingdom? – Share about a time you have experienced the Kingdom of God breaking into your own life.
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Many times, it is easier to understand what will be absent from the Kingdom of God, rather than trying to imagine what it will be like. What will not be present in the Kingdom of God? – What does it mean to you that these things will no longer exist?
Call (10 minutes)
We believe that God not only shows us who God is but invites us to participate in God’s ministry by answering unique calls in our own lives. Join together in discovering how we can actively respond to scripture and God’s presence. •
Ask someone in the group to read Romans 14:17. – What do you hear about the Kingdom of God in this passage?
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Would you describe your current faith as a “religion of the heart”? Why or why not? – How can you begin to live more fully in righteousness and heartfelt faith this week?
Closing (5 minutes)
God calls us into community by sharing our joys and concerns together in prayer and supporting one another in our walks with Christ. As we share testimony and stories of our lives, let us listen to where God is working within our community and how we can build each other up in Christian love. • •
Romans 14:17 was one of the main scriptures used in John Wesley’s sermon, “The Way to the Kingdom.” In this sermon, he shared that the Kingdom, rather than being just a physical place, is also the state of a person’s soul. Wesley understood “meat and drink” to refer to the law of Moses. Wesley argues that the Kingdom of God must come from a religion of the heart.
Share joys and concerns with one another. Close in prayer, either by inviting a group member to pray or by using the prayer provided below.
Closing Prayer God of love, we confess that many times we do not do the difficult work of reading Your whole story. We do not spend our time hearing the stories of Christ, learning Your teachings and hearing the words of scripture for ourselves. We are sorry that we allow the distractions of the world to keep us from learning more of You. Inspire us to take the whole message of the Bible to heart today, so that we might learn more of Your Kingdom. Help us learn and tell Your story more fully this week. Amen.