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We Are Unprofitable Servants I. Study Text: Luke 17:1-10 II. Theme: People often thinks more about their rights than about their opportunities of service. Unselfishness, compassion, and seeking the highest good of others interferes with self promotion. Even when we do well, we can always look at Jesus and see that we are unprofitable servants compared to Him. III. Study and Application of the lesson: Luke 17:1-10 1. Jesus said it was inevitable that his disciples would encounter stumbling blocks [temptations to sin]. What warning did Jesus also give (verse 1)? 2. If a disciple had to choose between being a stumbling block [temptation to sin] who caused a lowly person to stumble [commit sin] or having a millstone tied to his neck and thrown into a lake, which should he choose (verse 2)? a. What is a millstone? b. If your neck is tied to a millstone, and that stone is thrown into the lake, what happens to you? c. What lesson should we learn about the seriousness of being the source of the temptation that causes a "little one" (a person who would struggle with the temptation) to stumble? 3. How did Jesus stress the fact that every disciple must accept moral responsibility for others as well as for himself or herself?(verse 3)? a. If a fellow disciple sins against you, what is your responsibility? b. If he [or she] repents, what is your responsibility? c. If he [or she] sins against you seven times in a single day, and each time comes to you stating that he [or she] repents what are you to do? d. Why would you be willing to forgive this frequently? e. How many times a day do you think that God forgives you? f. How many times during a month do you think God forgives you of the same kind of mistake because you repeatedly stumble over the same temptation? 4. How did the apostles respond to Jesus' instruction (verse 5)? 5. If the apostles' faith was as large as a tiny mustard seed, what could they do (verse 6)? Remember the request they just made of Jesus. What would this indicate about the size of their faith? What comparison would you make between your faith and the apostles' faith? 6. According to verses :6-10, how or why do you think serving others will increase your own faith? 7. What would a master not say to his servant [slave] when the servant [slave] returned to the house after spending his day plowing a field or tending sheep (verse 7)? 8. What would a master say to a servant [slave] who had just returned from a hard day's work (verse 8)? a. When would the servant [slave] eat? b. Would the master thank him for what he did (verse 9)? Why? 9. If an apostle fulfilled every command from God exactly as God wanted each command obeyed, what should the apostle say (verse 10)? Why should he say, think, and feel that response? IV. Conclusion: It is impossible for a Christian to do more for God than he should do. It is impossible for a Christian to do as much for God as God has done for him. It is impossible for a Christian to do too much for God. The objective of the Christian is to serve God's will and purposes. Never is the Christian's objective to manipulate God into serving his or her will and purposes. This is the wonderful thing
about serving the will and purposes of God: it will always make us a better
person. The more completely we serve God's
will and purposes, the better servant we become. The result: we become better
spouses, parents, neighbors, friends, and people. |