Jesus the Good Shepherd Sunday School Lesson Topic Discussion

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Jesus the Good Shepherd Sunday School Lesson Topic Discussion

1.The people of Jesus' day had to deal with Pharisees as thieves and rubbers. Do the "thievesand robbers" that challenge your own spiritualvitality tend to be specific people or are theymore likely to be various temptations? How doyou counteract them?

All Christians have unseen treasures worthprotecting. These treasures include our reputa-tions, our friendships, and, ultimately, our spiri-tual destination. People and temptations candestroy these treasures, if we allow them to.We all know people who "drain our batteries"in a spiritual or an emotional sense. They're ex-hausting to be around! A certain balance isneeded: our task is to try to help them withoutbecoming spiritually contaminated in the process(Jude 23). Falling into temptation is more likelywhen fatigue levels are high.

2.Caller ID is a helpful invention! But per-haps you ignored important messages by notresponding to the ones marked "caller un-known." What was a time when you were con-fused about whether or not it was God who wastrying to speak to you through a circumstance orsituation? How did you sort things out?

Getting to know God's voice is a matter of stay-ing connected to Him. God definitely speaksthrough the pages of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16,17); we stay connected by reading His Word(Psalm 119:105).

We also recognize God's ability to channel ouractivities through open and closed doors of op-portunity. Recognizing which is which takesspiritual discernment. Having a godly conscienceis important (Hebrews 13:18), but an untrainedconscience is dangerous (1 Corinthians 8:7).

3. The people listening to Jesus were confusedby His figures of speech. What subjects in theBible still cause you confusion? How do you getabout getting help to clarify those issues?

We sometimes say we look forward to being inHeaven where Jesus can explain all things tee us.Until then we need to be able to sort through thetraditions, the cunning speakers with personalagendas, and the mistaken interpretations to de-termine what Jesus is truly expecting us to know.

This requires personal discipline in studying,cross-referencing interpretations with other re-lated teachings in the Scriptures, and prayer forunderstanding. Listening to respected speakersand reading commentaries can help. But thesewill not excuse us from the personal responsibil-ity we have for building our own understandingof God's Word. The old saying is important:"Read all the books upon the shelf, but do allyour thinking for yourself."

4.Christians often fill their lives to the brimwith activities and duties. Churches may bepartially responsible for this hyperactivity. Howis this different from what Jesus meant by hav-ing an abundant life? What corrections do youneed to make?

Some would suggest that our abundant lifecomes after we die, in eternity. But it shouldstart when we give ourselves to the Lord. Cuttingback on activities in order to have time to readthe Bible, pray, etc., can be difficult. In somechurches it seems that the only way to give upcertain long-held jobs is either to move or die!Feelings of guilt at the prospect of cutting backon activities can be a hindrance. Receiving coun-sel from a spiritually mature Christian may help.

5.Jesus distinguished between shepherds andhired hands. How do we use this distinction tohelp us discern between those who have goodand had motivations for being in leadershiproles in the church?

Examining the motives of others is tricky.Jesus cautions us about passing judgment (Mat-thew 7:1), but He also challenges us to discerngood teachers from bad through examining thefruit of their labors (Matthew 7:15-20). We haveall known of those who donate many hours tothe Lord and His church. They willingly puttheir own comfort or plans second. That's goodfruit!

Such people become an embodiment of whatChrist was trying to teach. Perhaps they don'teven wish to see themselves as "shepherds," buttheir example serves this purpose. They probablywill be the last to want attention, but they needto be commended for their efforts.

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