November 10, 2024

Parables of the Kingdom

IS GOD GOING TO TOSS YOU OR KEEP YOU?
Icebreakers:

1. Do you like seafood? If so what kind do you like?
2. What's the strangest kind of fish or sea creature you've ever caught or eaten?

Discussion:
Review the Parable of the Net in Matthew 13:47-50. 

1. In verse 47, Jesus says, "the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish."
   1. What do you know or recall from Sunday's message about the type of net in this parable and how its different from other kinds of nets used for fishing?
   2. What's the significance of equating the kingdom of heaven with this kind of net?
2. In verse 48, Jesus says, they "collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away." Then explains the meaning of this in verses 49 and 50.
   1. What do you know or recall from Sunday's message about the type of fish that are considered good or bad and why they would be kept or tossed?
   2. What does Jesus mean by the "end of the age"?
   3. What does Jesus mean by the "blazing furnace"?
   4. What's the meaning of "weeping and gnashing of teeth"?
   5. What's the significance of equating this kind of sorting at the end of the age?

Application:

1. How can we, in the kingdom of heaven here and now, cast a wide net?
2. In what ways do we tend to limit the wideness of the kingdom's reach?
3. What fish do you think you are? At the end of the age, is God going to keep you or toss you?

Prayer
Take time to ask for personal prayer requests and pray for each other.