Smell Something

In one paragraph

This week Brian picked up where last week's conversation left off, returning to Matthew 12 to look at the same scene from a different angle. Where last week focused on the freedom the disciples were walking in, this week the message pressed into the harder question: why did the exact same encounter with Jesus produce such violently opposite reactions? Brian started by laying out how much the...

Read together

1. Luke 3:21-22 Brian reads over Ian at baptism, God declares his beloved son
2. Matthew 12:1-14 central text read aloud, disciples picking grain and healing of withered hand
3. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 fragrance of Christ perceived differently by those being saved versus those perishing
4. Ephesians 6:12 Jake references rulers and principalities, spiritual battle behind the Pharisees
5. Hosea 6:6 congregation member connects it to Matthew 12:7, God desires love and knowledge over sacrifice
6. Matthew 21:44 anyone who stumbles on the stone is broken, anyone it falls on is crushed, only two options
7. Luke 21:1-4 Connor reads the poor widow giving two coins, God looks at the heart not the outward amount

What was said

• Pick up one of the books or podcasts Brian shared on the slide last week and spend time with it this week.
• Bring a connect card home and fill out a prayer request for someone in your life who is intellectually close to faith but has not yet made that heart-level surrender.
• Sit with Matthew 12:1-14 on your own and ask yourself honestly which group you look more like right now, the disciples or the Pharisees, and take that answer to Jesus in prayer.
• If you raised your hand or stood up during the invitation, find Lanisha or another member of the prayer team this week and let them pray with you in person.
• Take a moment each day this week to soften your heart toward Jesus, as Brian put it, by listening for his voice and telling him you are open to his leadership.

Talk about it

1. Brian pointed out that the disciples and the Pharisees shared at least five things in common during those two encounters with Jesus, yet walked away completely differently. What do you think made the difference, and where do you see yourself in that comparison?
2. Brian described the disciples as admitting their poverty by gleaning the edges of the field, while the Pharisees saw the same situation and protested. What does it look like in your own life to admit your poverty before Jesus rather than defend your position?
3. Second Corinthians 2:14-16 describes the message of Jesus as a fragrance that smells like life to some and like death to others. Have you ever noticed your own reaction to something Jesus said shifting over time, and what do you think drove that shift?
4. Brian said that a neutral or indifferent response to Jesus is not actually a third option, and that dismissing or making excuses for not following him puts a person in the same category as the Pharisees who conspired against him. How does that land with you, and is there an area of your life where you have been treating Jesus as optional rather than as Lord?
5. Matthew 21:44 describes two outcomes, being broken by falling on the rock or being crushed when it falls on you, and Brian said there is no third option hidden in that verse. What has it cost you, or what do you think it would cost you, to fall on that rock and let Jesus rebuild your life?