Discussion Guide May 9, 2021
ONE Message Series
Single to God’s Glory
Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
“Truly I tell you, “Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Luke 18:28-30
OPEN
What does love look like? Imagine a snapshot of love. What image comes to mind? Does the image change at all if the question is, “What does pure love look like?” Can you think of some specific places in the Bible that give a description of what love looks like? (John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 13) Think of a current image that demonstrates that kind of love.
NEXT
Consider this thought… “The fruit of love is joy. But the motivation of love is self-sacrifice.”
What do you think that means? Do you believe that this is true? Why or why not? Has this been your experience?
What does Jesus say are the two “greatest commands?” How might it change things if we found ourselves continually asking first, “How will this help me love and glorify God” and then secondly, “How will this position me to love those around me?” What if we asked those questions before we accepted a job, proposed marriage, decided to have children, etc.?
What if the answer to those questions either leads a person into a life of decided marital singleness or finds a person in a place of unintended marital singleness? Read Matthew 19:10-12. Is this a possibility? Is singleness a curse? Are singles second-class in the kingdom of God? Read also Isaiah 56:3-8. How does this challenge what you have typically thought about singleness?
Read 1 Corinthians 7:25-35. How does Paul describe singleness? According to Paul, how does singleness function as a vocation in the kingdom of God much like marriage, or parenthood might? How does the unique circumstance of singleness uniquely position a person to love God and others well according to Paul?
Read Luke 18:28-30 above. When Jesus says someone who has left spouse or children or family (or the future possibility of spouse or children or family) for the sake of the kingdom of God, what does it tangibly look like for that person to receive many times more in this life? How can the church family become the tangible fulfillment of that promise? What needs to change in our church for this to be true? What needs to change in your life for this to be true?
CLOSING
End your time in prayer for those who either by choice or by circumstance are living a life of singleness to the glory of God and ask God to help you support our singles in this vocation.