January 29, 2023

allisonkickham
Jan 30, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Feb 7, 2023

Message Series: Hello Neighbor

Week 2

Group Check in:

How is it with your soul?
Prayer Request? Praises?
How has God shown up in your life this week?

Icebreaker:

What does it mean to be a good neighbor?

Overview:

What’s this message about?
The lawyer in the story wanted to define the word neighbor in such a way that he could not be found blameworthy. If his neighbor was someone he could choose, then he’d be ok. By asking Jesus to define the word neighbor, this man was looking for a loophole. Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan to answer his question.
The Samaritan went out of his way to help. He took the time to stop and he used his resources at his disposal.
Jesus assumed that his audience would be able to love those nearest to them, their literal neighbors, the people most like them, who shared the same heritage and geography. In telling the parable, Jesus was stretching their concept of a neighbor to include even people from a group they didn’t like.
When we insist we’re neighbors with everybody, often we end up being neighbors with nobody.

Discussion Questions:

Define mercy and how did the Samaritan demonstrate mercy to the injured man?
What “neighbors” has God placed in your path that you would rather avoid?
How have you shown mercy to the poor and marginalized in our society lately?
Does your schedule and finances have enough margin/flexibility to be available to help others when needs arise? If not, what changes could you make?
If Jesus wants us to love our neighbor, then we have to get started now. Even if loving our neighbor seems like an overwhelmingly large task, we have to start somewhere. Where do you start? What can you do this week to get started?

Chart Questions:

We want to move down the line in our relationships with our neighbors.

1. Stranger 2. Acquaintance 3. Relationships.

The way to begin is to simply know their names. The chart below should serve as a map of your actual neighborhood. You can write down names as you learn them. The point of this exercise isn’t to bring shame; it’s to move the Great Commandment from a theory into a real-world context.

Question 1: Let’s start with the basics. Do you know your neighbors' names? Only 10% of Americans can answer this question. Can you name your 8 closest neighbors?
Question 2: Beyond knowing your neighbors’ names, could you say something about them that you couldn’t tell by standing in their driveway? Only 3% of Americans can answer this question. Examples: Grew up in Idaho, is a lawyer, plays golf, is from Ethiopia, had a father in WWII.
Question 3: Let’s dig a little deeper….Could you say something meaningful about who they are? What they want in life? Less than 1% can answer this question. Examples: Career plans, dreams of starting a family or anything to do with their purpose in life. What would they say about God, what do they fear?