Unmerited
Hidden Things Series
Luke 18:9-14
September 10 and 11, 2011

Getting Started

1. Have you ever met someone who was confident in their own righteousness? What was it like to be around them?

2. We sometimes feel compelled to try and do things to earn approval from God. Talk about a time when you felt like you were doing something primarily to gain God’s approval. What was the experience like?

3. Have you ever known someone who was a complete reprobate, but then humbled themselves and became a follower of Jesus? Share this person’s story (if appropriate) and explain what it was like to watch the change in their life.

Going Deeper

4. What do you think it means to humble yourself before God? What does this look like?

5. If relationship with God is a gift of grace from God, then why would anyone ever do good things? If you choose to do nothing, or worse, do bad things, what happens to your relationship with God? Are you still justified before God? Why or why not?

6. Why was the Pharisee not justified? Why would God reject someone’s worship?

7. Read Amos 5:22 to get a picture of what God thinks about worship offered as ritual, but coming from a heart full of lousy motives. How do we balance faith and works in our lives? What does a life of worship look like?