QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU DIG DEEPER INTO THE MESSAGE:

Read Luke 9:43-50. The disciples seem to be a bit too full of themselves, perhaps just feeling ‘special’ because they were able to live with, walk with, and be discipled by Jesus, when everyone else was clamoring for His attention. Jesus puts a stop to their prideful discussion of ‘who is the greatest’ by showing them a child and saying that the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven is the ‘least’. Why is a child a good example of ‘the least’? What is it about a child’s demeanor that you think Jesus admires?

Pastor Michael stated that “Pride is simply an admission that I haven’t had a Kairos moment… that I haven’t seen God at all, while humility is the instant rightsizing of me that occurs with just one eyeful of His majesty.” There’s a lot in that statement. What do you think it means?

What do you think of the idea that when a person (specifically a Christian) is acting boastful or prideful they are basically waving a flag to the world that declares that they haven’t been hanging out with Jesus?

Pastor Michael spoke of some things that he ‘observes’ that remind him of the BIGG-NESS of God and the little-ness of him, things like; the stars, the mountains, mysterious things, even little tiny things like nanometers. What are some things that you’ve observed that have instantly resized you… reminded you of the huge-ness of our God?

Remember the rope example? What was the point of that example? Talk about it.

Read Colossians 3:17. Do you think it’s easier to live for Jesus and bring glory to His name (shine the spotlight on Him) if you of a certain profession? Is it easier if you are a pastor… or a plumber? Is it easier if you are a missionary or a mother? Is it easier if you are a worship-leader or a banker? How  can you do whatever it is you do in such a way as to reflect His character to the world around you?

Pastor Michael ended the message with a way for us to recognize when we’ve slipped back into the story of us, rather than living in the epic story Jesus is telling? He said there would be some signs. Talk about these 8 signs and discuss which ones you have struggled with personally:

• When I live like I’m privileged. In other words, when I start living acting like I deserve a certain outcome or a higher standard of life, I have failed to strike the fatal blow to self and am living like I actually have rights in this world apart from God.
• When I am demanding, insisting that God and others meet my needs on the timetable that I see fit.
• When I act pompous, thinking that I am somebody while only proving that I haven’t had a good look at God today.
• When I crumble under the pressure, declaring that the outcome of life rests squarely on my shoulders, not His.
• When I start protecting, marking turf as though it were actually mine and forgetting that everything I have comes first from above.
• When I crave the spotlight for myself, losing sight of the storyline and the one true Star. Every time I do this, I waste one of life’s fleeting chances to make my life truly count by amplifying Him.
• When I fail to celebrate the successes of others who are living for His fame, thinking that possibly we are on different teams when we actually share supporting roles in the same story. “I can never be disappointed by people… because my expectation is not in them, but the Lord.”
• When I dwell on feelings of being unloved, unnoticed, or insignificant, abandoning the miracle of knowing God on a first-name basis.