PRODIGAL O G D THE. ALL SAINTS The Parish Church of Lindfield RECOVERING THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. Connect Group Studies Summer 2016

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1 THE PARABLE Luke 15:1-3, (New International Version) 1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. 3 Then Jesus told them this parable There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, Father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. 13 Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 When he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men. 20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. 25 Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 Your brother has come, he replied, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound. 28 The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, Look! All these years I ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him! 31 My son, the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. Page 12 ALL SAINTS The Parish Church of Lindfield Growing up into Christ - reaching out into the world PRODIGAL O Connect Group Studies Summer 2016 TIMOTHY KELLER THE G D RECOVERING THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH Page

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3 Study seven THE FEAST OF THE FATHER Chapter 7 1. How close is a great feast to your idea of heaven? (See p ) 2. How would we be different as individuals, Connect Groups and a church if we could almost taste the heavenly feast? How should it help our praying for family and friends who do not yet know God? 3. Do you agree with Martin Luther that religion is the default mode of the human heart (p.114)? In what ways can religion be an obstacle for us as we seek to obey Christ? (See page 115) Many people have found Tim Keller s The Prodigal God a really helpful and insightful book. The purpose of studying it is not to say we have done the book, but to marvel again or maybe even for the first time at the extravagant love of God. The following studies make regular reference to each chapter, so it is hugely beneficial to take some time by ourselves to read through the whole chapter before your group meets. The questions have been written to try and open up discussion, but need not be limiting. Engaging with what Jesus is saying through the parable, and what this means for our daily lives is the main thing. (Note: Some questions were taken or adapted from The Prodigal God Discussion Guide; others were based on suggestion from those at the Connect Group Leaders Meeting in March.) 4. [T]here is no way you will be able to grow spiritually apart from a deep involvement in a community of other believers. (p.125) Why is this true? (See page 127) What specific and practical steps can you take to help your Connect Group grow spiritually? 5. The gospel is not just the ABCs of the Christian life, but the A to Z of the Christian life. Our problems arise largely because we don t continually return to the gospel to work it in and live it out. (p.119). Discuss, pray and live! Around the time his book was published, Tim Keller preached a series of seven sermons on Luke 15, six of which are on this parable. They are all excellent, and the one on forgiveness (entitled, And Kissed Him ) is particularly helpful. They are free to download, and can be found at the website above. If you can t access them, please contact the Church Office and we will endeavour to make them available on another format. PLEASE NOTE: The page numbers cited throughout the sessions refer to the grey paperback edition of The Prodigal God pictured above (139 pages; ISBN ) Page 10 Page 3

4 Study one THE PEOPLE AROUND JESUS Chapter 1 Study six REDEFINING HOPE Chapter 6 1. If you have read the Introduction and Chapter One of The Prodigal God, what was new to you or had an effect on you? Did you read anything that raised questions in your mind? 2. Consider the audience to whom Jesus told this parable. Why can the traditional name of the parable be misleading? (See pages xiv and 7-9) 3. The original hearers were not melted into tears by this story but rather they were thunderstruck, offended and infuriated. Jesus purpose is not to warm our hearts but to shatter our categories. (p.10) In what ways has Keller s understanding of this parable shattered your categories? 4. How have you seen both religious and irreligious lifestyles lead to spiritual emptiness? Share examples. 5. Jesus teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Biblebelieving, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners doesn t have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did. If our churches aren t appealing to younger brothers, they must be more full of elder brothers than we d like to think. (p.15-16) Where would you put All Saints on the line below? Why? 1. What positive images come to mind when you hear the word home? 2. It is no coincidence that [Bible] story after [Bible] story contains the pattern of exile. The message of the Bible is that the human race is a band of exiles trying to come home. The parable of the prodigal son is about every one of us. (p.97-98) How does Keller s summary of creation and the Fall on pages help us understand why home is so powerful and yet so elusive for us? (p. 95) How prominent in your own experience is the idea that home is powerful but elusive? 3. On p , Keller outlines how, in many ways, Jesus became home-less so as to open a way to our true home. How does looking back to Jesus actions in the past, and forward to the glory of a future with him, give us hope in the present? 4. Think and pray about how you might encourage a Christian friend with the message of this chapter. How might you speak a message of hope meaningfully to a friend who is not yet a Christian? Appeals to younger brothers Appeals to elder brothers Page 4 Page 9

5 Study five THE TRUE ELDER BROTHER Chapter 5 Study two THE TWO LOST SONS Chapter 2 1. We will never find God unless he first seeks us. (p.75) Identify some Bible passages and/or Bible characters in which this can be seen. How has this been true in your own experience? 1. In chapter two, Keller explains a lot about the social and cultural setting of the parable. What was most helpful to you in deepening your understanding of this parable? 2. We must learn how to repent of the sin under all our other sins and under all our righteousness the sin of seeking to be our own Saviour and Lord. We must admit that we ve put our ultimate hope and trust in things other than God, and that in both our wrongdoing and right doing we have been seeking to get around God or get control of God in order to get hold of those things. (p.78) Are there any patterns of thought or behaviour that could help you to identify the sin under all your other sins? Share as appropriate. How can we help each other to dismantle that particular sin beneath the other sins? 3. Forgiveness always comes at a cost. (p.83) How can this truth be seen in the parable? In your own experience? 2. The younger brother believes he is no longer worthy to be called his father s son (verse 21). What does that tell us about his view of what it takes to be loved and accepted? Is this view prevalent today? 3. What was the younger son looking for in heading off to a distant country? What was the elder brother looking for in staying at home with his father? 4. There is no evil that the father s love cannot pardon and cover, there is no sin that is a match for his grace. (p.24) How can this be seen in the father s dealings with each of his sons? What might this look like in your life? 4. In what ways has Jesus our true elder brother got it right where the elder brother in the parable failed? (See pages 84-85) 5. If Jesus is our true elder brother, how should this affect our worship? Our service? Our obedience? Our view of the future? Page 8 Page 5

6 Study three REDEFINING SIN Chapter 3 Study four REDEFINING LOSTNESS Chapter 4 1. If you asked the average person on the street to define the word sin, what would they say? How does Jesus challenge this definition in the parable? 2. How are the younger and elder brother different? How are they alike? Use the diagram below to collect your thoughts. (see p.33-36) 1. In Luke 19:10, Jesus says he came to seek and to save the lost. What does it mean to be lost spiritually? As appropriate, share a time when you realised you were spiritually lost. 2. Identify some of the other elder brother characteristics that Keller discusses. (See p.49, 53, 55, 57, 62, 63) As appropriate, share with your group one that you find difficult. 3. How would the attitude of the elder brother make it harder for the younger brother to come home? How can we prevent this from happening at All Saints? (See p.66-67) 4. There are many genuine Christians who are elder brotherish (p.70) How can we help each other to avoid slipping back into ways of thinking and acting that are shown by the elder brother? Try and be specific and practical. 3. Where does the elder brother find his significance and happiness? Where do we tend to look for our significance and happiness? 4. Though the older son stayed at home, he was actually more distant from the father than his brother, because he was blind to his true condition. (p.47) Do you agree or disagree that being an elder brother is a more spiritually desperate condition than being a younger brother? Why? Page 6 Page 7