Fellowship Guide 11

Live It Loud - August 10, 2008

Reaching Out

Ice Breaking:

1. Name & Occupation/Major.

2. Favorite group activity besides softball.

Discussion:

1. In a group setting, do you tend to stay within the center of attention or do you tend to put forth effort to include those who are left out? Briefly describe your personality which motivates you toward your tendencies.

Scripture 1:

Matthew 9:9-13 – The Calling of Matthew

9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Observation & Reflection:

In the days of Jesus, tax collectors were hated by everyone because they were those who represented the government to collect taxes, but they would collect more than what was required of them, and then pocket the difference. Matthew was a tax collector. But Jesus had a meal with him.

Jesus sets many examples for us to Live It Loud by showing others that He plays the role of a doctor to heal the sick. He was a righteous man, and an honorable teacher, yet he chose to sit and socialize with tax collectors and "sinners” because he cared for them. He knew they needed guidance and therefore reached out to them.

Scripture 2:

Matthew 18:12-14 – The Parable of the Lost Sheep

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? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

Conclusion & Reflection:

When you thought about those who might be left out in your social circle, or those who might have wandered off like the single sheep, will you stay behind with the 98 sheep? Or will you Live It Loud by following Jesus' examples to care for them and reach out to them? Let's pray.