Hey, just a reminder, on Sunday, March 14 we are NOT having our regular schedule!! We’re throwing a giant tailgate party at 11AM in the parking lot! I hope you are as excited as I am! Bring your lawn chairs and be ready to grill some lunch. (grill not included)
Now something serious…
Well, I hope Sunday’s message was at least a little bit interesting to you. It isn’t that often that a preacher will talk about sex like I did on Sunday, right? Sherry thought it might be awkward. (especially when she saw the large picture I was going to use.)
I didn’t want to drop the awkward bomb into your group this week, so instead of dealing with exactly the same topic, I thought we would re-look at the topic the Pharisees raise with Jesus. We looked at this passage on Sunday, and I thought we would dive a little deeper this week.
Let’s do something a little different this week… I want to start your conversation with this 12-minute teaching on this passage, then let you discuss afterward. Your group leader got a heads-up on this in their coaching video, so hopefully there is already a plan in place as to how to watch this video together…?
Okay, so take a minute and debrief that together. Did anything in that video strike a chord with you, or mix you up completely?
Moses’ concession: “something wrong with her.”
- Moses’ concession: “something wrong with her”
- Conservative vs Progressive views on divorce
- Men have all the rights
- Women nothing more than a commodity
- Divorce in the event of adultery
- Not an argument about God’s best, but about men’s rights?
In Jesus’ day, just like in our day, there are two visions of marriage.. Two different types of relationship. Maybe you can contrast a consumer relationship vs a covenant relationship.
Okay, this is an easy one.. Which type is a marriage relationship?
The big point here is that, according to Jesus, the TWO BECOME ONE. In other words, Jesus is saying that divorce should be as radical as amputating an arm or a leg.
So, how does God see me if I have been divorced?
Aren’t you grateful for the cross? I know I sure am. You may have made some terrible mistakes in a difficult past, but God loves to redeem all of us from our past.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 1:8-9 NLT
Tim Keller says “God is trying to say to all of us, ‘I love redeeming the worst situations. I love redeeming the hardest cases. Go ahead, try me.”