ON CAMPUS
Route 22 Challenge
Small Group Questions
Alternate Route // Week 4: Baptism of Jesus
ICEBREAKER
Pastor Mike shared his experience meeting major league baseball players at Fantasy Camp. Have you ever met someone famous? What were they like? Did did your impression of them affect you in any way?
DISCUSSSION QUESTIONS
1. Read Matthew 3:13. What significance does it have that Jesus came very low-key, under-the-radar, just like everyone else, to be baptized by John in the Jordan River?
2. Discuss the quote from N.T. Wright: “Then we get Jesus. “A baby with a price on his head. A Jesus who comes and stands humbly before John, asking for baptism… A Jesus who seems to be identifying himself, not with a God who sweeps all before him in judgment, but with the people who are themselves facing that judgment and needing to repent.” (N.T. Wright)
3. Read Matthew 3:14-15. How would you feel if you were John the Baptist? What do you think Jesus meant in his response to John? How might your baptism be connected to the “fulfilling [of] all righteousness” in your life?
4. Read Matthew 3:16-17. Scholars believe that God was speaking words He spoke through the ancient prophets (c.f. Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1.) Drawing on these Old Testament Jewish scriptures, Matthew introduces Jesus as God’s Son, the Messiah, albeit a much different one that most—then and now—expect. In particular, Isaiah talks about the Messiah as a Suffering Servant. Discuss how the following statement about Jesus applies to those seeking to follow Him: “Jesus is chosen to be King; but His throne is a Cross. He’s destined to be a conqueror, but His weapon is a suffering love.”
5. Pastor Mike gave five aspects of The Invitation of Baptism. Which of the five do you take most for granted? Which of the five is most challenging to you?
· Identifies you with Jesus
· Includes you in God’s family
· Initiates you into God’s kingdom
· Anoints you with the Holy Spirit
· Equips you for ministry
6. Read Acts 2:38-39. What do you remember about your baptism? Do you look back on it as a symbolic event, a significant event, or other?
7. As a result of this message and study, how will you respond this week? If you haven’t been baptized, will you take a step toward baptism by signing up? If you have been baptized, how will you remember and reclaim it?
Small Group Questions
Alternate Route // Week 4: Baptism of Jesus
ICEBREAKER
Pastor Mike shared his experience meeting major league baseball players at Fantasy Camp. Have you ever met someone famous? What were they like? Did did your impression of them affect you in any way?
DISCUSSSION QUESTIONS
1. Read Matthew 3:13. What significance does it have that Jesus came very low-key, under-the-radar, just like everyone else, to be baptized by John in the Jordan River?
2. Discuss the quote from N.T. Wright: “Then we get Jesus. “A baby with a price on his head. A Jesus who comes and stands humbly before John, asking for baptism… A Jesus who seems to be identifying himself, not with a God who sweeps all before him in judgment, but with the people who are themselves facing that judgment and needing to repent.” (N.T. Wright)
3. Read Matthew 3:14-15. How would you feel if you were John the Baptist? What do you think Jesus meant in his response to John? How might your baptism be connected to the “fulfilling [of] all righteousness” in your life?
4. Read Matthew 3:16-17. Scholars believe that God was speaking words He spoke through the ancient prophets (c.f. Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1.) Drawing on these Old Testament Jewish scriptures, Matthew introduces Jesus as God’s Son, the Messiah, albeit a much different one that most—then and now—expect. In particular, Isaiah talks about the Messiah as a Suffering Servant. Discuss how the following statement about Jesus applies to those seeking to follow Him: “Jesus is chosen to be King; but His throne is a Cross. He’s destined to be a conqueror, but His weapon is a suffering love.”
5. Pastor Mike gave five aspects of The Invitation of Baptism. Which of the five do you take most for granted? Which of the five is most challenging to you?
· Identifies you with Jesus
· Includes you in God’s family
· Initiates you into God’s kingdom
· Anoints you with the Holy Spirit
· Equips you for ministry
6. Read Acts 2:38-39. What do you remember about your baptism? Do you look back on it as a symbolic event, a significant event, or other?
7. As a result of this message and study, how will you respond this week? If you haven’t been baptized, will you take a step toward baptism by signing up? If you have been baptized, how will you remember and reclaim it?