Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves

In one paragraph

Brian opened a new series of conversations by asking why the Pharisees, after watching Jesus heal a man's withered hand on the Sabbath, retreated and began plotting to kill him. The question was not rhetorical. He genuinely wanted the room to think it through together, and several people did, before he tied it to what he called the central truth of the series: for a life-giving relationship with...

Read together

1. Matthew 12:12-14 Jesus healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, leading the Pharisees to plot how to kill him
2. Romans 8:7 the carnal mind is hostile to God and cannot submit to his law, connected to the Pharisees' response to Jesus
3. Galatians 2:15-21 a man is not justified by observing the law but by faith in Christ, read aloud by a congregation member
4. Exodus 40:34-38 the cloud and glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle after it was constructed
5. Leviticus 1:1-17 instructions for burnt offerings from the herd, flock, and birds, read aloud by congregation members
6. Exodus 33:7-11 the tent of meeting set up outside the camp where anyone inquiring of the Lord would go, and God speaking to Moses face to face
7. Galatians 2:20 my old self has been crucified with Christ, used to illustrate the Thunderdome battle of the will

What was said

• Pick one specific situation in your life right now and, instead of letting it sit in isolation, consciously pray over it and ask God to overlay his goodness onto it.
• When something goes wrong this week and you feel the pull to handle it your own way, pause and ask yourself honestly which man is leaving the arena, you or Christ.
• Read Galatians chapter 2 verses 15 through 21 slowly, and sit with verse 20 long enough to name one area where your old self has not yet been crucified.
• If you sense the Holy Spirit nudging you about one specific thing, not a broad pile of failures but one thing, run toward it rather than away from it and talk to God about that single area.
• Fill out a connect card at the next gathering so you can be on the text blast and stay connected to what Tribe is doing.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about overlaying God's goodness over the circumstances of your life, the way an opaque projector shines through whatever is on top of it. What does that actually look like in a situation you are dealing with right now, and what makes it hard to do?
2. Several people offered reasons why the Pharisees responded to Jesus healing the man's hand by plotting to kill him, including wounded ego, defending what they saw as the established path to God, and demonic forces trying to stop the Messiah. Which of those resonates most with you, and why?
3. Romans 8:7 says the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God and cannot submit to his law. Brian connected that to the Pharisees, but where do you see that same hostility show up in your own life when Jesus challenges something you are holding onto?
4. Reading through Leviticus chapter one, the sacrificial system required a long, precise, costly process just to approach God. One person in the group noted that because of Jesus we no longer have to go through all of that, but that can also cause us to take our sin less seriously. Do you think that is true in your own life, and what would it look like to hold both the freedom and the weight at the same time?
5. Brian described the Thunderdome as the arena where your will and God's will cannot both walk out alive, and he drew a distinction between condemnation, which buries you in broad brush accusations, and conviction, which quietly pulls you toward one specific thing God wants to talk about. Is there something the Holy Spirit has been bringing up for you lately that fits that description of conviction?