To Begin:

Who do you think is the most influential person in the world currently? Who do they have the most influence over, and why?

Summarise in your own words: what have we looked at so far in Bible Studies and Bible Talks from Mattthew?

Read: Matthew 18:1–14 (NIV)

¹ At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

⁶ “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. ⁷ Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! ⁸ If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

¹² “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ¹⁴ In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

Questions:

Context

1. Who is Jesus speaking to here with this teaching?

Observation:

2. What is going on in this passage?

3. What is surprising or confronting about what Jesus says here?

4. Jesus uses a lot of images in these verses to get his point across. What are these images, and what do we learn from them?

Verses:	Image	What we learn?
2-5	____	____
6	____	____
7-9	____	____
12-14	____	____

Meaning:

5. Break into pairs. How would you divide up this passage? What are the main ideas, and how do they connect together?

6. What do we learn about God and his heart in this passage? How does this connect to the Great Commission at the end of Matthew?

Application:

7. Verses 1-5 stress the importance of humility among Jesus followers. Why is this counter-cultural in our world? Where do you find it hardest to be humble?

8. In our world we can easily think that our main goal in life is to be self-sufficient and not need to be dependent on anybody else. What does it look like to approach God humbly in every day life as a Christian?

9. There is a warning here about causing other believers to stumble. In what areas might you be in danger of doing this? What should you do if you realise this has become a problem?

10. God is delighted when a wandering sheep returns to his flock and wants his people to be saved! Do we have this heart for other people? How could you grow this love for others?

Prayer:

Pray 2-for-2 (pray for two friends who are not Christians for two minutes)

Pray for humility among ES students and that this will be seen by others

That we would all have God’s heart to see others saved