We first watched the locker room scene close to the end of the movie where Coach Gaines explains to his team what he means by “perfect.” He doesn’t believe it necessarily means winning. He says it means having the ability to look friends and family in the eye with the knowledge that you did everything possible, with a sense of love and joy. He believes having that clear conscience makes you perfect.
We then discussed the following questions:
• Do you agree with Coach Gaines’ definition of perfection? Why or why not?
• Where have you seen people in our society obsessed with perfection? (school, sports, business...)What kinds of things get labeled “perfect” (fashion related stuff, models, athletic accomplishments...)?
• Do you feel any pressure to be perfect? If so, in what area? How does this pressure affect you?
Read aloud Matthew 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor[h] and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
• Is Jesus’ command to be perfect like him impossible? Why or why not?
• What does he mean by being “perfect”? What advice does he give for becoming perfect?
• Are you trying to live out his advice in your own life? Why or why not? In what ways would it change your life if you tried to live out his advice?
• Why should we strive for perfection regardless of how hard it is? In what one area of your life, will you commit to strive for perfection?
• What's your definition of "grace"? (forgiveness, God's love, A gift from god that we receive when we should receive punishment.)
• Besides forgiveness, in what other ways does God show his grace? How have you seen grace given in someone else's life?
• In what ways have you experienced God's grace personally? Are you aware of God's grace every day? If not, what would help you increase your awareness?
We then did an object lesson dividing groups up and one group having to read some scripture through the bottom of drinking glasses.
Each group read Luke 7:36-50 . Those in Group #1 read with a drinking glass with the top of the glass down on the page—their job was to write what they imagined Simon was thinking as he watched the woman anoint Jesus. Those in Group #2 wrote what they imagined Jesus was thinking while the woman anointed him. And those in Group #3 wrote what the woman was thinking as she anointed Jesus.
Luke 7:36-50 (from the Message)- 36-39One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee's house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him."
40Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Oh? Tell me." 41-42"Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?" 43-47Simon answered, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most."
"That's right," said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, "Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal."
48Then he spoke to her: "I forgive your sins." 49That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: "Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!" 50He ignored them and said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."
The groups then shared what they thought and were then asked:
What’s the difference between the three accounts of the same incident?
Why do Simon and Jesus react differently?
(Maybe touch on why we may think it weird for what the woman did to Christ’s feet, it WAS CHRIST, so who is to say how we would act or have acted in such an encounter.)
Those in Group #1 were asked:
What was it like to read the passage through the glass?
How is that like the way Simon saw the woman in the story (unclear, kind of skewed/not focused)?
Simon was a Pharisee who thought he had to obey the law to please God. When he looked at the woman, he saw a sinner. It was as if he saw things distorted like through the drinking glass and that shifted his perspective toward condemnation. Jesus saw the woman for who she was, received her worship, and freely gave her forgiveness. The woman knew that she needed Jesus’ grace, and didn’t push it away.
We then talked about the following:
For some of us, it’s very difficult to receive grace—why is that?
What are the “glasses” we need to get rid of before we can receive the grace that God gives us in Jesus?
Like last week we had verses on grace and forgiveness for everyone to read out loud to get a firm grasp on how we are forgiven, and how we can be perfected through Christ.
Psalm 103:1-3- 1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
Matthew 5:23-24- 23So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God.
Matthew 18:23-35- 23-25"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.
"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt. "The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'
"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.
"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy."
Colossians 1:13-14- 13God rescued us from the dark power of Satan and brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son, who forgives our sins and sets us free.
1 John 1:9- But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.
Romans 7:15-25- 14-16I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
Romans 8:1-2- 1If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won't be punished. 2The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you [a] free from sin and death.
Ephesians 2:4-6- It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
Closing: The grace and forgiveness of Christ compared to the activity of throwing the q-tips the week before, would have closed the distance between the throwers and the 'mark...aka God.' Therefore, it would be much easier to hit their mark. Also, the last week we talked about sin, and now this week we have talked about perfection, and what that means to Christ, and how we can become perfect because of the grace that God has given us, a grace that was there before any of us were born and before we ever sinned. Before any of that, we were already forgiven. In accepting this gift of grace, there is work that we must do to live like people who have been forgiven and that are striving for perfection in Christ and not the world.
We will achieve perfection when we get to Heaven because of Christ. As Coach Gaines said about perfection: it means having the ability to look friends and family in the eye with the knowledge that you did everything possible, with a sense of love and joy. He believes having that clear conscience makes you perfect. That can also apply to us having the ability to look Christ in the eye with the knowledge that we did everything possible, with a sense of love and joy and that we have a clear conscience. Accepting grace allows that to happen.
We closed by having them QUIETLY go into the designated ‘prayer room’. We asked them to take the prayer time as a time of confession, a time of asking forgiveness, a time to be filled with Love from God to be shared with others, a time to do what it takes to strive for perfection.
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