Sermon Discussion Guide - When People Wound You

What is one good thing and one hard thing from your week?

Leader: before you move on, pray for one another. If your group needs a reset first, read Psalm 103:1-5 out loud together and thank God for what he has already forgiven.

Accountability

Last Sunday was our 20th Anniversary, and we heard where God is taking this church. What part of that stuck with you?

We were told to bless and multiply right where God planted us. Did you take a step on that this week? Tell us how it went, even if it went nowhere.

Leader: ask this warmly. The point is help, not a report card. Anniversary Sunday was a big-picture message, so some people will not have a step written down. That is fine. Let them talk about what they heard instead.

We are not here for information. We are here because God speaks, and we are expecting him to speak tonight.

Leader: pray this out loud first, then ask two or three others to pray too. Use your own words if you want.

Setting the Scene (read this to the group before you read the passage)

Jesus is teaching his disciples about how to treat each other when someone in the group sins. Peter interrupts with a question about limits. He asks if seven times is enough, and he thinks he is being generous, because the teachers of his day argued that three times was plenty. Jesus blows the number up and then tells a story. In that story, a talent was a staggering amount of money, more than a working man could earn in several lifetimes. A hundred denarii was real money, but a person could actually pay it back. Everyone listening would have caught the difference instantly.

Now read Matthew 18:21-35 aloud together, slowly. Ask everyone to note the one word, phrase, or verse that stands out to them.

HIGHLIGHT

Which word or verse stood out to you? Say it out loud, then tell us why you think it caught your attention.

EXPLAIN

In verses 21 and 22, what does Peter offer, and how does Jesus answer him?

In verses 23 through 27, what does the servant ask for, and what does the king actually give him?

In verses 28 through 30, what does that same servant do to the man who owed him a little?

In verses 31 through 35, what does the king call him, and where does he end up?

APPLY

Who came to mind when we read that?

Where do you see yourself in the story, the king or the servant?

The message said unforgiveness spreads into other parts of your life. Where has it shown up in yours?

Leader: give people a moment to process before anyone answers. Let the quiet sit. You can re-read verse 27 slowly while they think. Nobody has to answer out loud.

RESPOND

You have been forgiven a debt you could not pay. What is one honest thing you want to say back to God about that right now?

Leader: this one stays in the room tonight. Out loud or in the quiet, either is fine.

Write it, do not say it. Ask everyone to write down the name of one person they need to release, and nobody has to read theirs to the room.

Leader: this is a heavy week, so we are not asking everyone to practice out loud. Tell them plainly that no one will collect it and no one will have to read it.

Setting Goals

Ask everyone to write down one step they can take before you meet again. It should come straight out of what they just said to God. Nobody has to read it out loud.

Full step: say the words out loud in prayer this week. "Because of the forgiveness given to me through Jesus, I forgive ______."

Smaller step: if you are not there yet, ask God to make you willing. That is a real prayer and it counts.

Leader: put it somewhere you will see it again. We will come back to it next week, gently. If it has not happened yet, that is okay and nobody is behind.

Pray together

Confess where you have been holding a debt over someone.

Ask the Holy Spirit for help with the step you just wrote down.

Pray for one other person in this room by name.

Leader: say only as much as you want to say out loud. During the week, pray for your group by name, and reach out privately to anyone who got quiet tonight.