Two Men Enter, One Man Leave

In one paragraph

This service was the third week Tribe has spent in Matthew 12, following Jesus and his disciples through the grain fields and into the synagogue on the Sabbath. Brian built on the running theme that being with Jesus sets us free from the constraints of an old religious wineskin, pressing deeper into why the Pharisees responded to that freedom with a plot to kill him. The congregation worked...

Read together

1. Matthew 12:1-14 primary passage read aloud at the opening, covering the disciples eating grain on the Sabbath and the healing of the man with the deformed hand
2. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 read to explain why the fragrance of Christ is perceived as life by those being saved and as death by those who are perishing
3. James 4:2-7 read before communion to address scheming, jealousy, friendship with the world, and God giving grace to the humble
4. Proverbs partially quoted, there is a way that seems right to man, but the sentence was cut off before completion
5. Galatians 2:20 paraphrased, I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, used in the two men enter one man leave illustration

What was said

• Before you walk through the door after a hard day, sit in the driveway for a moment and ask Jesus to be a good husband, father, or friend through you instead of trying to muscle through on your own.
• Pick one situation this week where you normally rely on willpower and instead pray a simple 'Help me, Lord' before you step into it.
• If you have unconfessed sin or a grudge sitting on your heart, take a few minutes alone this week to name it before God and receive his forgiveness.
• Write down one area of your life where you have been watching from a distance, seeing what God is doing but not tasting it, and ask him to help you move from observer to participant.
• If something is weighing on you, fill out the prayer card on your seat and leave it in the box, or reach out to someone in the Tribe fam and ask them to pray with you.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about how rule-following apart from a heart connection with Jesus actually puts distance between us and God rather than earning us right standing with him. Where have you seen that pattern show up in your own life?
2. Several people in the room pointed out that the Pharisees could see everything Jesus was doing but never tasted it, while the disciples were close enough to actually experience him. What is the difference between observing Jesus from a distance and actually tasting and seeing that he is good, and what has moved you from one to the other?
3. Brian described the message of Jesus as something that lands one of two ways, either as the fragrance of life or the fragrance of death, with no neutral middle ground. How do you respond to that, and can you think of a time when the gospel smelled like death to you before it smelled like life?
4. Brian used the image of a husband pulling into the driveway, wrung out after work, and choosing between muscling through on his own versus asking the Holy Spirit to be a good husband and father through him. What does that kind of daily surrender actually look like for you in a practical situation you are facing right now?
5. James chapter four says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, and Brian connected that directly to the Pharisees not wanting to relinquish their power and control. Where in your life might you be holding on to control in a way that is keeping you from receiving more of God's grace?