1. What is the bedrock truth (stated by Peter) upon which Jesus said that His church would be built and would forever prevail? 2. While it was still a year away, why was it so significant for Jesus to already be predicting His death and His resurrection? 3. As Jesus was explaining the steep costs of following Him, why do you think…

1. What were the Pharisees doing that caused Jesus to call them out as “Hypocrites”? 2. Since Jesus teaches us that evil thoughts, words and deeds proceed from our hearts, what should we do to protect our hearts from such? 3. While the Jewish leadership (who should have been the first to believe in Jesus) was rejecting Jesus, what was astounding about…

1. What do we learn about faithfulness to the Lord and His message from John the Baptist? 2. While Jesus was deeply saddened by the news of the murder of His dear friend, John the Baptist, why did He still take time to feed the multitude? 3. What can we learn about the presence, the pity and the power of Jesus from…

1. While some might incorrectly look at parables as childish stories, what was Jesus’ stated reason for teaching the people in parables? 2. Knowing that the “kingdom” of which Jesus spoke is another word for His “church,” how did Jesus depict how valuable His church should be to us? 3. While some might disparage the need to be in Jesus’ church, how…

1. How would you characterize the manner in which Jesus responded to those who had ill intentions toward Him in their thoughts and questions? 2. What warning does Jesus give about the origin of our words and the grave consequences that our words can bring upon us? 3. What message was Jesus trying to impress upon His hearers as He talked about…

1. By quoting from Isaiah to answer John’s inquiry, how did Jesus answer for everyone’s benefit (including ours) the clear evidence that proved He was “the Coming One”? 2. While Jesus says that there was no one greater than John, what did He then say to explain how anyone can become greater than John? 3. What is it about Jesus’ invitation at…

1. From the hundreds of disciples that Jesus had, why do you think He selected a small handful (i.e., twelve) to be His closest workers (i.e., His apostles)? 2. If you were to summarize all that Jesus told His twelve apostles, what would you say was their primary task on this limited commission? 3. What did Jesus tell His disciples (with the…

1. Among all the miracles that Jesus did, why would it be such a big deal for Him to (1) forgive a man of his sins and (2) raise someone from the dead? 2. Why was it such a big deal that Jesus selected a tax collector to be one of His apostles? How would something like that be viewed today? 3.…