Walking With God: Past - Present - Future Week Three

Bridging the Gap

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on our Scripture passage by reading Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Leviticus 19:18, and Mark 12:29-31 (printed below) and discuss the questions from the Scripture and Sermon as a way to begin a conversation. 

Deut. 6:4    “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. ⁵ And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. ⁶ And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. ⁷ Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. ⁸ Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. ⁹ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Lev. 19:18    “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Mark 12:29    Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. ³⁰ And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Questions for Consideration:

1. Why do you think God is so intent on his people loving him with our whole heart, soul and mind?
2. How does our love for God effect our love for others? How does our love for others effect our love of God?
3. How did Jesus reflect his love? What does that mean for us?

As you meet this week, we encourage you to also take time to open yourselves up as a group and dialog on the following Wesley Challenge question: Is Jesus real to me? (Pages 19-22 in The Wesley Challenge)