Prayer
Because the primary goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together?
Opening Question
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”– Luke 16:19-31
If you could go back in time to tell your younger self one detail about your life right now, what would you tell them?
Lazarus & the Rich Man
In the sermon, Pastor Morgan pointed out that Lazarus is the only person in any of Jesus’s parables to be given a specific name. What significance does this create about Lazarus’s life? What does it show us about what God values in people?
The rich man orders Abraham to send Lazarus to him in hell to quench his thirst. How does his treatment of both Abraham and Lazarus indicate that he has not been changed or humbled? What does true repentance and spiritual growth require of us?
The name Lazarus means “He whom God helps,” and while Lazarus suffered in his life, he has been welcomed into eternal comfort. What does the story of Lazarus show us about suffering and comfort in the lives of people whom God helps? How can this story help us when we suffer in our lives?
Moses & the Prophets
The rich man insists that if his family had more information about judgment and hell, they would make better choices, but Abraham replies that they already have all the information they need to choose God’s will over their own.
What are your first impressions when you read Abraham’s response? How/where do you see God’s truth seeded in the world for humans to find?
When have you made a difficult choice to honor and obey God? Was there a particular scripture or truth that encouraged you at that time?
Is there an area of your life where you need to submit to God and possibly suffer or live less comfortably now? How can this group support and encourage you in that?
Read Romans 8:1-4 aloud (below). Is there a word or phrase that stands out to you as you read/listen? What hope or truth has God offered you today in this passage of scripture?
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh. God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
– Romans 8:1-4
Closing Thought
Share any prayer needs with one another in your final time together. Spend some time submitting these to God in prayer, trusting him to provide, heal, and rescue each one of us