Reflection Questions: Luke 18:15-30

For the message, How to Enter the Kingdom given by Pastor John Ferguson
at New City Church of Calgary on November 20, 2016
These discussion questions are designed primarily to help you apply the message from the Scriptures
by helping you think through application to your personal life, your church life, and your citys life.
You can use these by yourself for reflection, or with your family or small group for discussion.
To review the sermon, go to NewCityChurch.ca/sermons
INTRODUCTION
Pray. Take a moment to pray asking God to guide you in reflecting upon the Scripture text.
Read the Scripture text: Luke 18:15-30
A summary of the sermon: Entering the kingdom of God is not about doing anything, but about receiving it humbly as a
gift. In order to receive it as a gift, Jesus calls us to give up anything and everything that is more important to us than his
kingdom. And the only way well be able to do that is if we desire it more than anything else.
Key Points:
The scene for Jesus encounter with the rich ruler shows us Jesus receiving little children to him and blessing them.
He then uses this as an opportunity to teach that we must receive the kingdom as a child or we will not enter it.
Children are dependent and trusting, and so we must be as well. He says in effect, Im calling you to become like
children, dependent and trusting, in order to enter the kingdom of God. You cant do anything apart from me. You
must depend on me; like a child you must trust in me.
This prompts the rich ruler to ask Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus points him to the law which the
ruler thinks he has kept perfectly. Jesus puts his finger on what is most important to the ruler, namely his riches. One
thing you still lack. Sell all you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow
me.
Jesus asked the ruler to give up one treasure (his own riches) in order to gain another treasure (the kingdom of God).
The ruler went away sad, because he was extremely rich.
Key Quotes:
Philip Ryken, To sell his possessions was not to add one more act of pious religion, but to subtract all the things that
were standing in the way of his entrance into heaven. It was not simply this asset or that asset that he needed to
divest. The man needed to eliminate everything in his life that was keeping him from giving his life to Jesus. In his
particular case, this meant giving away everything he had.
James KA Smith, You Are What You Love, Jesuss command to follow him is a command to align our loves and
longings with histo want what God wants, to desire what God desires, to hunger and thirst after God and crave a
world where he is all in alla vision encapsulated by the shorthand the kingdom of God. Jesus is a teacher who
doesnt just inform our intellect but forms our very loves. He isnt content to simply deposit new ideas into your mind;
he is after nothing less than your wants, your loves, your longings.
Bottom Line:
To enter the kingdom of God, we must desire the kingdom of God. For where our treasure is, there our heart will be
also.
QUESTIONS
1. How does this text speak to your life?
How are you challenged, convicted, encouraged, or surprised by this text?

 How would you answer the question, What kind of me is God calling me to be?

2. How does this text speak to us as a church community?

What would it look like for us a church community if we are to live out this text in our city? IOW, how would others
know that we prize Christs kingdom?

What would we need to change? What would we need to repent of?

3. How does this text speak to our city?
What kind of new life / future in Christ is this text calling our city to experience?
How would Calgary look radically different if everybody believed what Jesus describes in this passage?

CONCLUSION QUESTION
What is the one thing you want to take away from this study to remember or to make a change in your life?

PRAYER
What are some ways you can turn what you are learning into prayer? List them as bullet points.
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