Bible Study “Faith & Discipleship”
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
Slaves? Well, probably not any of us. Each of us, however, has clear duties to perform. Jesus points out that it is not a big deal to simply do our duty. Our choice is whether we grumble and whine or whether we do our work with gratitude and in faith.
We have two stories today: one about patience and one about whether to grumble or not.
Opening Prayer: Thank you, God, that you are patient with us as we figure out what you want us to do. Amen.
Please open your Bibles to Luke 17:5-10 and read or read the scriptures below.
Luke 17:5-10
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
Reflection Questions:
Questions: Verses 5-6
- Why are the disciples crying out to Jesus to "increase their faith?" (We are not sure, but here are some possibilities: they have become so aware of who Jesus is that they want to be more like him and feel inadequate, they think faith is something someone can just zap you with.)
- What do you think of Jesus' answer? (Do they think Jesus really meant that if you have faith you can zap trees into the ocean? Why? Why not?)
- Why do you think Jesus used the mustard seed as the example of size of faith? (A mustard seed was one of the smallest seeds the disciples would have seen, but it grows to be a big bush.)
- What helps a tiny seed grow? (Water, good soil, even some fertilizer)
- What helps a person's faith to grow? (Paying attention to it, being with people who also have faith, doing the work you have been given to do.)
- What else do you think helps a person's faith to grow? (Patience)
Questions: Verses 7-10
- Since none of us are slaves, how could this story also be for us? (We have work to do and doing our work is not a big deal. It is what we are expected to do.)
- In what ways might verse 10 be hyperbole (an exaggeration)? Do we think Jesus really wants us to call ourselves "worthless?" If not, what might this mean? (Not making a big deal out of doing our job.)
Do you think it takes patience to do the work we have been given to do. Why? Why not?
Click here for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on url)
Pentecost 17C Luke 17:5-10 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqPKk44wCbU
Object Lesson of Faith (Luke 17:5-10) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUmXCdcJHyo
Song
Whisper A Prayer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TskT_MzjSs
Activities:
Journal: (Try and keep a journal for each Sunday for a year) write or draw in your journals: write your impressions of the story. Consider writing about “Here are some things I can do to help that I really enjoy doing”.
Faith Banner: Cut a long piece of felt or cloth or even a long rectangle poster board and write FAITH with markers going down the left side. Make an acrostic on the word FAITH.
F-antastic
A-dventuredd
I-n
T-rusting
H-im
Decorate the banner with stickers or sequins, etc for a wall hanging
Seeded Faith: – You need a piece of construction paper, glue and small seeds. Write FAITH with glue and then sprinkle the seeds on the glue, to decorate the FAITH word. Then write words or phrases from the Bible verses today around the FAITH word on the paper. You also could choose to write PRAYER with the seeds
Mustard Seed Faith Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/mustard_seed_faith_crossword.htm?fromSermonId=224
Mustard Seed Faith Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/mustard_seed_faith_decoder.htm?fromSermonId=224
Word Search: https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/4104670/faith-and-discipleship/
Prayer: Help us, God, to have faith and patience. Amen.
