Announcements
- The Well Training School- If you’re a college student and here for the summer!! We will have a class about studying scripture: What is it? How do we read it? How does it inform the way we interact with culture? Starting tomorrow evening at 7 pm here at The Well. You can sign up on the app or through the events page on our website!
- Men’s Prayer Breakfast- Men! Please join us on Tuesday, June 18th, upstairs at 6:30 am for our Men’s Prayer Breakfast. We will be sharing a meal and praying specifically over our church! Please sign up on the app or through the events page on our website so we know how much breakfast to provide.
- Who has a key?- If you have a key to our building, would you please fill out the form on our website? We’re updating our list and need to make sure we have everyone marked down.
Objectives
- Identifying the type of people that Jesus came to invite into the Kingdom of Heaven, and therefore the type of people we should invite into the Kingdom of Heaven.
- Discussing Jesus’ revealed character: merciful
- Fleeing from the way of the Pharisee’s denial of sinners and their denial of their own sin.
Key Passages
Matthew 9:9-13
Summary
The Sermon on The Mount in chapters 5-7 was 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 reveals by word and deed his authority over all things (especially over the consequences of sin). Not just through preaching and teaching, but now through signs and wonders, he is showing his fulfillment as the prophesied Jewish Messiah.
Similar to back in Matthew 8:18-22, Jesus is uniquely continuing to show his authority particularly over people in 9:9-13. In particular, Jesus’ calling of the tax collector Matthew to follow him leads to protest by the Pharisees to which Jesus responded by explaining what people he truly came to save- sinners in need of mercy and healing.
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.
- In what ways does this passage reveal who Jesus is?
- What is the root of the Pharisee’s approach to sinners?
- What are some of the dangers of falling into self-righteousness?
- What would it look like to share the mercy of Jesus with others in your day to day life?