Sermon Discussion Guide - Not in Church (August 2nd, 2026)

Recap

We opened The Empty Chair in Luke 19, and the first thing we learn about Zacchaeus isn't that he was short — it's that he was the chief tax collector, a man who got rich collecting Rome's taxes off his own neighbors, considered unclean and shut out of worship. He was the last man in Jericho anyone expected to care about God, and yet he threw away his dignity to run and climb a tree just to glimpse Jesus. The crowd saw a crook making a fool of himself; Jesus saw a man seeking, stopped, called him by name, and then invited Himself to dinner before Zacchaeus changed a single thing — relationship before repentance, the same order God used with us. And the ones who complained weren't the sinners; it was the church crowd. Most people who aren't in church don't feel too sinful for it — they feel too invisible for it.

Looking Back

Keep this section to 10–15 minutes.

• Care
• Who noticed you at a time when you felt invisible? What did they do? Then go around the room: how is everyone really doing this week?
• Accountability
• Last week in Finishing Well (2 Samuel 7) we set goals about handing a plan over to God and pouring into someone younger. What did you write down? Did you do it?
• Who wants to tell us what happened when you took that step?

Looking Up

Invite the Holy Spirit (before anyone opens a Bible)

• Stop and pray out loud together before you read a word. Leader, pray something like this, then ask two or three others to pray as well — everyone practices, not just you.
• Say it out loud to your group: we come to Scripture expecting God to speak to us personally. That expectation is a skill — it grows every week you practice it.
• Setting the Scene (read this to the group before you read the passage)
• Jericho was a wealthy customs town on a major trade route, which made it a prime posting for tax collectors. Zacchaeus wasn't a low-level clerk — he was the chief tax collector, the man over the other collectors, who got rich by working for Rome and taking a cut off his own neighbors. Rome was an occupying power that pillaged and terrorized, and Zacchaeus signed up to help. That made him a traitor, not just a cheat: considered unclean, ranked with swine, cut off from social and religious life, and in practice unwelcome at worship. Two more things a first-century crowd would have caught instantly — dignified grown men did not run in public, and only children climbed trees. So when a rich, powerful man does both in the same afternoon, everyone watching knows exactly how much dignity he just threw away. Jesus is passing through on His final journey to Jerusalem and the cross.
• Now read Luke 19:1–10 aloud together — twice, slowly. The first time, just listen. The second time, ask everyone to note the one word, phrase, or verse that stands out to them.
• 1. HIGHLIGHT — What stands out?
• Which word or verse stood out to you? Just say it out loud. Then tell us why you think it caught your attention.
• 2. EXPLAIN — What does it mean?
• In verses 3–4, what does Zacchaeus do to get a look at Jesus? What does that tell you about what he wanted?
• Read verse 5 again. What is the first thing Jesus does? What does He never bring up?
• Look at verse 7. Who is upset that Jesus went to Zacchaeus's house? Why does that matter for people like us, who are already in church?
• 3. APPLY — What does it mean for me?
• The crowd saw a lost cause. Jesus saw a man looking for God. Who have you quietly decided is not interested in God? Say the name out loud if you can.
• Verse 10 says Jesus came to look for lost people. When has God come looking for you? Tell us about it.
• Some of us feel like Zacchaeus tonight. Jesus knew everything about him and still went to his house. Be honest — what makes that hard to believe about yourself?
• 4. RESPOND — What will I do?
• Read Romans 5:8 along with verses 8–10. Zacchaeus gave his money away after Jesus came to his house, not before. What does God want you to believe about how He came to you? Where do you expect people to clean up their lives before they can get close to God?
• Additional passages: Luke 15:1–7; Luke 5:29–32; Psalm 139:1–6.

Looking Ahead

Training

• Get in pairs and practice inviting someone out loud. Say the actual words you would use. It only takes fifteen seconds. Say it twice, then switch.
• Try this in pairs. One person plays a neighbor who mentions something hard going on in their life. The other person just listens and cares. Don't bring up church or a Bible verse. Then talk about how that felt.
• Setting Goals
• Write one name down tonight — the "not in church" person who came to mind during the message — and put it somewhere you'll see it daily: your Bible, your mirror, your dash.
• Pray for that name every day this week, that God is already seeking them and would use you to help them see it.
• Make one “no”-agenda move in the next 24 hours — send the text, schedule the meal, learn the neighbor's name. One step, no agenda, before tomorrow ends.
• Pray together
• Confession: where have we written people off, assumed disinterest, or grumbled that someone else got grace instead of being amazed that we did?
• Dependence: Holy Spirit, open our eyes to the people seeking around us and give us courage to notice, to move first, and to ask.
• Intercession: pray by name, out loud, for the person on each group member's card — and for anyone in this room who feels like Zacchaeus tonight.