252 – Luke 17: How Do I Grow in My Faith?
The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase
our faith.” The Lord answered, “If
you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry
tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!” LUKE 17:5-6 NLT
To grow in my faith I must…
Grow
in my understanding of God’s hatred of sin
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin,
but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone
hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves! If another
believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven
times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” LUKE 17:1-4 NLT
Grow
in my attitude about serving Jesus
“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master
say, ‘Come in and eat with me?’ No,
he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then
you can eat later.’ And does the
master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me
you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” LUKE 17:7-10 NLT
Grow
in my desire celebrate what Jesus has done for me
As Jesus continued on toward
Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers
stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go
show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their
leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was
healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking
him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God
except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go.
Your faith has healed you.” LUKE 17:11-19
NLT
Grow
in my relationship with Jesus
One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”
Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or
‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” Then
he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day
when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son
of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the
sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man
comes. But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly
and be rejected by this generation. “When the Son of Man returns, it
will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and
parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood
came and destroyed them all. “And the world will be as it
was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and
drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire
and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up
to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day a person out on the deck of a roof
must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not
return home. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you cling to your life, you will lose it,
and if you let your life go, you will save it. That night two people will be asleep in one
bed; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour together at
the mill; one will be taken, the other left.” “Where
will this happen, Lord?” the disciples asked. Jesus replied, “Just as the
gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate
that the end is near.” LUKE 17:20-37 NLT
Community Group Discussion Questions