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Week of October 25
Small Group Questions
1. Discuss Jesus’ teaching about the inside and the outside of the cup. What does He mean when He says the outside of the cup is clean but the inside remains dirty?
2. Have you ever lived your Christian life attempting to look good to other people instead of just focusing on pleasing God? When you have played a role (external motivation) instead of living for God from your heart (internal motivation) what has the result been? Have you experienced emptiness, fear, dread, or loneliness as a result of playing a role to appease others?
3. What does not giving from an internal motivation of love indicate about the Pharisees’ hearts? Why does Jesus say, “You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone?”
4. Have you ever struggled with the area of tithing and giving? What are some barriers that have kept you from giving generously to the Lord? Have you ever given out of an external motivation instead of from the heart? Does not giving indicate a fear that God will not provide? Or that you actually possess the things in your life?
5. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law had been living by the external for so long that they had become “blind guides,” didn’t recognize Christ when He came, and even opposed the work of God. Has living by externals (or merely playing a role) caused you to deny God’s work or do damage to yourself or others?
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