Walk The Talk Discussion Sheet
The Gospel of Luke-A Year With Jesus:
Luke 3:1-20
Week of January 15, 2012

Embracing Broken People (talking about ourselves):

• 1. Luke begins by setting John's ministry in a very specific historical time. If you could live in any time in history, when would it be? Would you be more excited to travel to a time in the past or to a time in the future?

• 2. When you think about John the Baptist, what comes to your mind? How do you think you would have responded to John if you were a first century Jew?

• 3. Talk about a time that someone called you a name. (Don't hurt other people's feelings or reputation by sharing who did it.) How did you react to this? What would you say to someone you admired if you made an effort to go out of your way to visit them and they called you a snake? (See Luke 3:7)

Equipping With God's Word (into the text):

• 4. When a king was coming to tour an area of the land under his control, he would send a courier ahead to tell the people to prepare the roads. (A modern example would be how Washington DC prepares itself for a Presidential Inauguration.) Luke 3:3-6 and Isaiah 40:1-5 says this is John's role. How did John fulfill his role as the bridge between Old Testament Prophet and the coming of the Savior?

• 5. John lived in the desert, where the landscape was covered with dry brushwood and tinder. Sometimes a wildfire would break out and snakes would scatter from their cover away from the hot flames. Knowing this, why do you think John calls those scattered from their comfort in Jerusalem and surrounding towns snakes? Was it John's role to make people feel comfortable, or prepare them for what was ahead?

• 6. John says in Luke 3:8 : "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." A variety of people ask John what they should do in response to his words. John gives three answers to three different groups of people. How do you think he might answer the "what should we do" question if we asked it today? What are some ways that you have produced fruit in keeping with repentance? (Note especially here that all of John's recommendations bring benefits to other people.)

• 7. Luke 3:15 says "The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ." Talk about a time when you were "waiting expectantly" for something. Do you enjoy waiting? When was the list time you wondered about something?

Empowering Life Transformation  (how what we've talked about will change who I am):

• 8. When we think of John, we often think of someone preaching only the law to people. How does Luke 3:18 correct that idea? Why is it important that we hear both Law and Gospel each week in worship?

• 9. It's clear from verses 19-20 that John was willing to share the truth, even if it was costly to him personally. Talk about an experience where someone shared the truth, even if it was costly to him. (If you need some conversation starters Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela would be some examples.)

• 10. Close your time in prayer, thanking God for people who have the courage to say what needs to be said, regardless of personal cost or how popular their words might be. (List three of those people below before you begin to pray...)