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The Coming of the Kingdom
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
Luke 17:20-37 (ESV)
CG Discussion Questions:
1. What are the key distractions that have turned your attention away from the Lord? How can Jesus’ Second Coming be a distraction to us in our journey of transformation into the likeness of Christ and discuss what Jesus meant in saying that the Kingdom of God is already here.
(Luke 17:20-37; Ephesians 2:4-7)
2. While our physical senses are important for us to experience God, explain why it is not a good measurement of our spiritual maturity and how we can get confused with the supernatural and the spectacular? From the lesson where Thomas only believed Jesus’ resurrection after seeing the pierced marks on His body, discuss why it is more blessed when we are not moved by our senses but by our faith.
(John 20:29)
3. How would you define superstition and why does it give a false sense that we are in control of what happens? Have you fallen into traps of Christian superstition, including reasons or outcomes for doing your quiet time with God, tithe or serve in ministry for more transactional blessings?