THREE THINGS TO KNOW
DON’T MISS THIS
Easter is coming up. Have you considered inviting someone to join you for one of our weekend services? Start praying about who God might have you invite.
GROUP VALUES
In small groups, we really believe in investing in others. Has your group served together recently? If not, discuss together ways you might do so in the next month. Serving others doesn’t need to be through an organized program—maybe someone in your own neighborhood could use a helping hand. Discuss together how you can show the love of Jesus to someone, and make a plan to work together.
GROW AS A LEADER
We value you and want to support and encourage you as a leader. We’d like to meet with you at least a couple of times a year to spend quality one-on-one time together. We also love to hear from you about how your group is going. Consider emailing your small groups pastor this week to check-in and set up a time to meet.
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Welcome to the third week of our series, Missing the Point. This week’s conversation centers around Jesus’ direct words toward the ungrateful and stubborn attitude of the Jewish leaders, and how God is getting ready to provide another type of way into His kingdom.
Share a light-hearted story of a time when you refused to do what you were told? What happened? Have some fun with this question.
Have someone read Matthew 21:33-46 aloud, then recap this story. Who do the different characters of this parable represent?
THE GENEROUS OWNER
Looking back to the Old Testament, how had God “hooked up” the Israelites and prepared them for success when they entered the Promised Land years before this story?
How had the religious leaders of Jesus’ day forgotten this, and how were they abusing their power?
In what ways were the religious leaders showing contempt and lack of gratefulness to God in the role they had been given to shepherd the Jewish community?
How can gratefulness shift our mindset toward God, and how we treat others?
THE REBELLIOUS RENTERS
What action would you expect the landowner to take when he hears the news about what the renters did to his servants? What does he do instead?
How do the religious leaders respond to being told what to do? Why are they so threatened by Jesus?
Do you think that most people view God’s instructions for us as negative or positive? Why do you think that?
Why do you think it’s so hard for us today to handle being told what to do when we feel like “our turf” is being threatened?
THE RECKLESS RESPONSE
What was the landowner’s hope in sending his son to the vineyard? What actually happened?
In what ways are we like the tenants who refused to give the landowner what was his and acted harshly instead?
How does Jesus’ work on the cross offer us amnesty for our sins?
THE REJECTED STONE
At the end of the parable, Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22. Read this together as a group. What does it mean that rejected Jesus is now the cornerstone?
What is the new building Jesus is hinting at?
We get the opportunity to be part of God’s new plan of salvation and share this with others. How does knowing this make you feel? How can your group pray for you in this?
WRAP UP
Take some time to spend in prayer together as a group. Is there anyone in your group who needs to respond to God’s gift of grace offered through Jesus? Thank God for what he has given us by offering his son in our place, for extending us his forgiveness and love instead of what we deserve.
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