Sermon-Based Small Group

The sermon-based small group meets on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. at the church. Each week, we discuss the previous Sunday’s sermon and related life application questions. Everyone is welcome!

Sermon summary - 11/1/26

When a lawyer asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest, he is really asking: what is the first thing I need to know? Jesus gives him two answers that belong together. Love God with everything you have. And love your neighbor the same way you love yourself. According to Jesus, every other command in scripture hangs on these two.

Jesus says to love God with your heart, which includes more than just the good feelings. It includes grief, anger, confusion, all of it brought to God rather than kept separate from him. He says to love God with your soul, the whole of who you are, including the part of you that makes choices independent of your heart and mind. And he says to love God with your mind, which means to draw near to God as you learn, reason, and seek understanding.

The second commandment puts love of neighbor and love of self in the same sentence, and is intentionally placed after the first commandment. Loving God well is what positions us to love others and ourselves in a fuller and healthier way. And the reverse tends to be true too: as we know ourselves better, and as we are better equipped to love other people, and our love for God grows. These three things are meant to work together, and growing in all of them is what it looks like to become more like Jesus over time.

Love is not a rule to follow — it's the law of reality, and learning to love God, self, and neighbor well is what it means to grow.

Discussion questions

1. What's something you love that you didn't expect to love, something that grew on you over time?

2. When you think about the word "love," what comes to mind first? A feeling, a choice, or something else?

3. Jesus says to love God with all your heart, including the sorrowful and angry parts. What would it look like to bring those parts to God rather than keeping them separate?

4. What does it mean to love God with your mind? Is there an area of study, curiosity, or work where you could engage your thinking as an act of worship?

5. Jesus links loving your neighbor with loving yourself. Do you find one easier than the other? Why do you think that is?

6. Spiritual formation has long been described as the knowledge of God, knowledge of self, and knowledge of others, connected to love. Which of those three feels most underdeveloped in your life right now?

7. What is one thing you could do this week to love God with a part of yourself you have been holding back?

8. What is one way in which you could love another person well this week?