What Does Jesus Want Us to Know?

 A. What did Jesus come to reveal?
• Jesus came to reveal that God is a Father who loves us.
• The brokenness in the world and in our personal lives
impact our view of fatherhood.

B. How do we know God the Father?
• Jesus and his example.
“If you know me, then you will also know my Father.”
JOHN 14:7
• Jesus reveals the Father’s love through his words
and actions.
“Jesus looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down
quickly, for today I must stay at your house.’ And Zacchaeus
came down quickly and received Him with joy...”
LUKE 19:5-6
» Jesus knows Zacchaeus by name.
» Zacchaeus is radically changed.

C. Characteristics of the Father’s Love
• The Father’s love is his initiative.
• The Father’s love is unconditional.
• The Father’s love is a free gift.
• The Father’s love is personal.
“The source of Christian joy is the certainty of being loved by God,
loved personally by our Creator, by the one who holds the entire
universe in His hands and loves each one of us and the whole
great human family with a passionate and faithful love, a love
greater than our infidelities and sins, a love which forgives.”
POPE BENEDICT XVI, JUNE 23, 2006

D.Modern Day Parable Video
Jesus claimed to be the Son of God who came on a mission to rescue
humanity and all of creation. This session we will look at what Jesus came
to reveal: that God is a Father who loves us. God’s love is his initiative,
unconditional, free, and personal.

Unconditional Love YouTube 
​

        November 20, 2022             
Why Does Jesus Matter?

 
Our life is not accidental, nor is it created by chance. This session we will
look at who Jesus claimed to be, current opinions about who Jesus is, and
four things that set him apart.
 
A. Who is Jesus?
• There are many different opinions about who Jesus is.
• Is there something about Jesus that sets him apart?
B. What sets Jesus apart?
• Witness of his enduring cultural impact.
• Witness of those who knew him and lived with him, recorded
in the four Gospels.
»» Jesus’ authority over nature: calming the storm on the sea.
(Mark 4:35-41)
 
»» Jesus’ authority to forgive sins: forgiving the paralyzed man.
(Mark 2:1-12)
 
»» Jesus’ power to raise the dead: raising Lazarus from the
dead. (John 11:1-45)
 
»» See “What are the Gospels and Are They Reliable?” .
 
• Witness and testimony of Jesus himself.
»» Jesus claimed he was one with God. No other significant
religious figure (Buddha, Moses, Mohammed) claimed this.
                                                                                          “The Father and I are one.”
                                                                                                               JOHN 10:30
 
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing
that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a
great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That
is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man
and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral
teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man
who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil
of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and
is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.”
                                                                                   C.S. LEWIS, MERE CHRISTIANITY
• Witness of changed lives.
 
C. Who do you say that I am?
• We must answer the most important question Jesus ever
asked his followers:
                                                                                   “Who do you say that I am?”
                                                                                    MATTHEW 16:15
 
 
 
 
 
Why Does Jesus Matter Discussion Questions
 
1. What was a significant point in Fr. Erik’s talk for you?
 
2. What do you think about the “man on the street” interviews?
Which of the opinions sound like something your friends or
family might say?
 
3. Imagine someone approached you on the street and asked,
“Who do you believe Jesus is?” What would your answer be?
 
4. What do you think Jesus was saying about himself when he
calmed the storm on the sea?
 
5. What do you think Jesus was saying about himself when he
forgave the sins of the paralytic?
 
6. What do you think Jesus was showing about himself when he
raised Lazarus from the dead?
 
7. What do you think of the argument C.S. Lewis presented?
 
8. Does Jesus have an impact on your daily life?
• If he does, describe some of the ways he influences you.
• If he does not, what might you do to let him?

October 23,2022
​What is the Meaning of Life

Many people do not take the time to consider the meaning of their life.
Have you? It is not possible to utilize something to its full potential until you understand why it was created. Is life an accident or intentional? Could the meaning of life be found not in a way of thinking, but in a person?

A. Considering the meaning of life
    *  Have you taken time to reflect on the meaning of your life?
     * Life circumstances or world events can awaken us to the
        meaning of our existence.
                 »» Subjective Warning Signs
                 »» Inevitability of Death  
                      "I get confused when I look around at the world and see everybody
                       running around… Yet no one is trying to figure out what is the
                       cause of death and what happens when you die? That to me is the
                       only thing really of importance and the rest is all secondary.”
                                                                            GEORGE HARRISON, THE BEATLES

B. Understanding the purpose of life
      * We can’t fully understand something until we figure out why
         it exists.
                 "There are only two ways in which anything can come to be. Either
                  it’s intentional or accidental: that is, either someone intended it or it
                  merely chanced. The thing that is intentional has a purpose; accidents
                  have no purpose. Humanity, like other things, must either be an
                  accident and so purposeless, or else have been made with intent.”
                                                                               FRANK SHEED, A MAP OF LIFE
         * We need a change in our worldview to understand the
            purpose of life.

C. God’s purpose for you
      * God created us for relationship with himself.
                                                                  "I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
                                                                                                          JOHN 14:6
     * We find our purpose in Jesus Christ.
                                      "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
                                        knock and the door will be opened to you.”
                                                                                                    MATTHEW 7:7-8



​1. What was a significant point from Dave’s talk for you?
2. Imagine that someone approached you on the street and asked,
“What is the meaning of life?” How would you answer—in what
or where do you find meaning?
3. Frank Sheed says that there are only two ways in which
anything can come to be: either it is accidental or intentional.
What do you think about your life—is it accidental or intentional?
4. Are there events in your life or in the world that have made you
stop and consider the meaning of life?
5. Do you know someone who has made you think about the
meaning of life? What did they say or do?
6. Has anything in this discussion made you want to change your
answer to “What is the meaning of life?”
​
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