“Your Hope Is Too Small” (Mark 12:35-44)
YOUR HOPE IS TOO SMALL
(Mark 12:35-44)
INTRODUCTION: Have we become complacent in hope?
I. HOPE IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST.
II. HOPE IN THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST.
III. HOPE IN THE COMPLETED WORK OF CHRIST.
Questions for Family Review/Discussion:
- On a scale of 1-10, how content are you generally speaking? When do you find yourself in greater contentment? Lesser contentment?
- What’s the difference between contentment and complacency?
- What were most of the Jews of Jesus’ day hoping for out of the Messiah? What should they have been hoping for?
- Which were the “Lords” mentioned in Psalm 110: “The Lord said to my Lord?” Why was this statement by David difficult to understand?
- Read Ephesians 3:20-21. How does this suggest that we also may have set our hope in Christ too low?
- What do you think would make your life remarkably better? How does this dovetail (if at all) with God’s sending Jesus?
- Should the Jews have been listening to the scribes? Why or why not? (See Matthew 23:1-3)
- Why should the Jews have not followed the way the scribes lived? Why do you think pride is so easy to spot in others and so hard to see in ourselves?
- If Jesus was “not what he appeared,” was he being hypocritical? Explain.
- Jesus commended the widow’s small offering. What should be the standard for our offerings?
- What is the point of vss. 41-44 beyond a lesson in our giving to the church?
- All along, the message has assumed that their hope was too small, but also that our hope is too small. In what areas do you need to pray for greater hope?