Announcements
- Women’s Bible Study: Starting this Tuesday, our women will be gathering weekly to study Genesis 12-50! The study will gather weekly on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 – 9:00pm starting May 14th and ending July 16th. Signs ups are open and on the app!
- Ice Cream Churn-off: Dust off your best ice cream recipes because this summer we will have our first ever ice cream churn-off. Let’s compete and see who has the best homemade ice cream! Join us on May 19th at 5:00 pm at the Festival Gardens for pizza, lawn games, volleyball, and the best ice cream competition you’ve ever attended. (Non-dairy options are welcome) Signs ups are open and on the app!
- Summer Service Times: We will be going back to our 2 services for summer (9:30am, and 11:00am) next weekend, so mark your calendars.
Objectives
- Recognizing the authority of Christ over all consequences of sin.
- Discussing ways in which we can imitate Jesus’ inclusivity (the unclean, gentile, woman, etc)
Key Passages
Matthew 8:5-17
Summary
The Sermon on The Mount in chapters 5-7 were a holistic summary of Jesus’ teaching ministry in which he described the nature of His Kingdom of Heaven and its citizen’s righteousness. Now in chapters 8-9, he proclaims his righteousness and power over the consequences of sin by healing others.
In Matthew 8:5- 13, Jesus heals the servant of a Roman Centurion, because of the Centurion’s unmatched faith in Jesus’ authority over illness. The Centurion believes that Jesus can heal his servant by his words alone.
In Matthew 8:14-17 Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever by touching her hand. This lead to others bringing their demon-possed friends to him to be healed that night. Jesus cast out their demons through the authority of his word.
The author explains that all of these healings revealed Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s words, “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
Sample Questions
Feel free to use or reword the questions below that you think will be most helpful to meet the objectives above. Remember, these questions should ultimately cultivate discussion of ways to respond to or apply what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us through Scripture.
- Like the centurion, who trusted Jesus prior to him healing his servant, how can we trust in Jesus prior to him proving himself to be faithful?
- Jesus’ miraculous healings revealed more than just his care for physical suffering but also revealed His authority to save people from the consequences of sin in general. Speak to a time where you personally saw Christ heal a type of brokenness, whether in your own life or someone else’s.
- What things can you do to continually remind yourself and others to ask God for restoration and healing in these areas?
- Is there someone you are being called to help in the process of healing?
- How does faith in the resurrection empowers you to love others, even when it’s hard?
Sample Responses
Either in smaller groups or as a whole GC:
- Spend a majority of time praying for healing. This might include confession from sin struggles or intercession for people you know. Either way, use this prayer as an opportunity to triumphantly worship God’s role as the ultimate Healer of all pain, suffering, sin and death!