Drop Your Rocks

Goals for this Week’s Study:

  • Review Sunday Morning’s Sermon.
  • Challenge people to “drop their rocks!” Encourage group members to sign up to be baptized if they’ve never been before. Next Sunday (May 1st) we will be having a baptism at the new church property. It’s going to be awesome!
  • Encourage people in your group to invite people back to Week 4 of No Perfect People Allowed. Remember to tell everyone to wear their NPPA t-shirts if they have one. (If they didn’t get one, tell them not to worry about it).

Getting Started: Open your group with prayer.

Throughout this series we have been challenged with the idea that God wants to take our mess and turn it into a message that He can use to help others begin to follow Jesus. This realization creates a paradigm shift in our minds that will enable you to receive God’s grace in a way you never have before. However, sometimes we have issues extending that grace to others.

DISCUSS: Have you ever been in a situation where you were critical of someone for doing something you later realized you do as well?

Examples (to get people talking):

  • Judging someone for being late…
  • Being critical of leaders who have to make a tough decision
  • Driving poorly...
  • Parents with young kids in restaurants, grocery stores, etc. (before you had kids)

Study Questions:

Pastor Daniel made the statement that Christians today have been labeled as “whistle blowers” comparing us to referees at a ball game.

1. Do you feel like this is an accurate representation of “the Church” as a whole in today’s society? Explain. Ask if anyone wants to share an experience when they’ve either blown the whistle, or had the whistle blown at them.

2. Why do we feel that it is our responsibility to point out sin in other people?

When you’ve been guilty of calling someone out for something you do yourself, Pastor Daniel said you have attributed what “they” do to their character and blame what you do on circumstances.

For example, when a coworker is late to work or for a deadline you say it’s because they have no respect for authority. However, when you’re late you have 100 things/people to blame (other than yourself) and you rationalize why you were late. Ultimately, you have judged them and given grace to yourself. 

3. What do people call someone who says one thing and does another? Hypocrite

Scripture:

Below you will find the scripture Pastor Daniel used on Sunday. You can use it as a reference or to read through together for deeper study of God’s Word.

John 8:1–11

1Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 4“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” 6They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11“No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

4. Who were the “whistle blowers” in Jesus’ day? Pharisees

5. How did Jesus’ “ministry style” differ from that of the Pharisees?

6. What does the following statement mean to you: “The right thing, done the wrong way, is wrong.”

7. If we are NOT supposed to “blow the whistle” then what should we do?

  1. Drop your rocks
  2. Extend grace
  3. Never get over what Jesus did for you on the cross.
  4. Stop judging and start loving!
  5. PRAY – it’s hard to throw rocks from you knees!

8. Why is all of this so important? Look at John 8:7–11. Because all of her accusers dropped their rocks, she was able to meet Jesus!!

Final Thoughts:

  • It’s not about making a point; it’s about making a difference!
  • Are you loving like Jesus loves you? Does He throw rocks at you?
  • If you believe that you are better than someone else, then you are taking credit for what the grace of God has produced in you.
  • We all deserve to be stoned!
  • People, ministry, and our church is messy! We are a group of broken people who by God’s grace are being put back together. We have cracks, scars, and blemishes but we are forgiven!

9. Is there anything else that stood out to anyone from this past Sunday’s message?

PRAY!

Group Questions Summary:

1. Have you ever been in a situation where you were critical of someone for doing something you later realized you do as well?

Examples (to get people talking):

  • Judging someone for being late…
  • Being critical of leaders who have to make a tough decision
  • Driving poorly...
  • Parents with young kids in restaurants, grocery stores, etc. (before you had kids)

2. Do you feel like this is an accurate representation of “the Church” as a whole in today’s society? Explain. Ask if anyone wants to share an experience when they’ve either blown the whistle, or had the whistle blown at them.

3. Why do we feel that it is our responsibility to point out sin in other people?

4. What do people call someone who says one thing and does another? Hypocrite

5. Who were the “whistle blowers” in Jesus’ day? Pharisees

6. How did Jesus’ “ministry style” differ from that of the Pharisees?

7. What does the following statement mean to you: “The right thing, done the wrong way, is wrong.”

8. If we are NOT supposed to “blow the whistle” then what should we do?

  1. Drop your rocks
  2. Extend grace
  3. Never get over what Jesus did for you on the cross.
  4. Stop judging and start loving!
  5. PRAY – it’s hard to throw rocks from you knees!

9. Why is all of this so important? Look at John 8:7–11. Because all of her accusers dropped their rocks, she was able to meet Jesus!!

10. Is there anything else that stood out to anyone from this past Sunday’s message?

Adam Eldridge