The biographies of Jesus often contain clashes with highly religious folks. It would be easy to dismiss these stories as interesting historical tidbits, but God included them in His book to warn us: Without the gospel, we all become religious and opposed to Jesus. We will cover four of these encounters in the series The Gospel According to John and today is round two.
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MESSAGE STUDY NOTES (also as PDF download above)
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WARM UP
When you think of religious people, what immediately comes to mind? Why?
READ
John 7:10-24
KEY INSIGHTS
[Religiosity – any attempt to save or justify yourself]
Four Warnings:
1. Religiosity leads to majoring on minors
2. Religiosity leads to false accusations
3. Religiosity leads to self-centeredness
4. Religiosity leads to hypocrisy
“In essentials, unity
In non-essentials, freedom
In all things, love.”
– Rupertus Meldenius
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. If religiosity leads to majoring on minors, how can you tell what is major and what is minor?
2. In your own words, describe the connection between religiosity and making false accusations against others.
APPLICATION
How does the gospel message free us from any one of the signs of religiosity?
FOR MENTORING
How might you help a mentee who is struggling with being religious?
