John 2:13-25
ICE BREAKER
What are you passionate about?
Share one of your passions with the group.
Share what it is about your passion that captures your heart.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- What do you really want out of life? Do you really want more of Christ? Do you really desire Christ and to be transformed into His character? Be honest: what do you really want? Dig deep. Write down your thoughts and share with the group.
- Reflect on the 6 values in the notes below. Ask yourself what are you zealous for today that is above your zeal for Christ and His kingdom? Then prayerfully reflect on these values and ask the Lord to nudge you toward an area that He would like you to grow in. Next, try to get practical: what can you do, on a consistent basis to avail yourself to growth and change in this area? Some of you may want to go back and focus on the first question above(What do you really want out of life? Do I really want more of Christ?) and reflect on what the Lord may be inviting you to cultivate in this area. One author gives us great encouragement on the journey as he speaks of the reality that the deepest desire in any believer’s heart is to know and enjoy Christ. Whether we feel it or not…whether we have been far from the Lord or not our deepest desire is to know and enjoy Christ.
- Share with the group one habit that has significantly changed your relationship with Christ for the good.
NOTES AND QUOTES
In chapter 2 John is describing the temple scene.
At the temple there is a place to buy animals for sacrifice.
There was some corruption involved in the buying and selling of animals for sacrifice.
This was creating obstacles for the people in their attempts to connect with God in the temple.
So, Jesus reacts to the corruption by making a whip of cords and overturning the tables of the money changers.
So, Jesus is actually hitting people and yelling at them and overturning tables.
This is a story that jolts us.
Christ is drawing our attention in order to make an important statement.
This temple mount is the one place where God chose to connect with His people.
So, when Jesus saw how people were being used and blocked from connection with His Father, He reacted with huge zeal.
Christ’s zeal for us to connect with the Father can also be seen in his sacrificial death on the cross–He will do anything to create connection with us.
Christ is the perfect lamb so we no longer need to go to the temple with a lamb to sacrifice.
When we use religion in a way that is hypocritical it absolutely reviles the heart of Jesus.
Why? Because religious hypocrisy disconnects people from the Father.
It is evil and it collides with His core His passion–a deep love relationship with you!
What tends to capture our passion?
Here’s a list of a few things that capture us: sports, fitness, beauty, pleasure, arts, convenience, wealth, people, prestige, and education.
We all have a zeal for something.
One way to discover our passion is to have something taken away and to observe our reaction.
For signs of misplaced zeal let’s look at our church’s core values:
Worship. Our worship can become empty. We may come to church but our heart is closed. Is my mind scattered without checking it?
Learning. We may drift to a place of asking: Why learn? Why would I spend time learning?
Or my learning may have the motive of being superior.
Giving. We can be sneaky. We can even try to fool ourselves with our giving.
Relate. We can be selective about who we relate with and how we relate. We arrange only to be with who we want to be with.
Serve. We can have a conditional mindset. We can put my personal convenience first. I have other things to do.
Reach. Our reach can be vague.
We don’t take the step to be clear with people about salvation through Christ. We may talk about God but leave it there.
Do I pray for opportunities to share Christ with unsaved people?
Our culture has a very dangerous view that says whatever you desire you need to go with. Don’t question it. Don’t try to change your passion.
Our culture says you don’t have to work at passion if it’s really a passion–just tap into your inner voice. This is false.
The truth is we can choose our zeal and we can foster zeal for Christ and for people.
Our life is made up of habits. We drive our car without even thinking. It is a habit.
We can create habits that take our zeal away from Christ and we can create habits that deepen our zeal for Christ.
So, how do we change a habit or how to start a habit?
We begin making a pattern. For example, we decide to go to church every week.
Anything good that is worth pursuing will be difficult.
