Responsibility to Others

In one paragraph

Pastor Graham preached through a cluster of passages from Matthew 18, tracing what Scripture says about how believers are responsible for one another. He worked through five or six connected teachings that are usually read in isolation, showing that when you put them together they all press toward the same point: we owe something to the people around us, and that debt shapes everything from how we...

Read together

1. Psalm 107 opening call to worship, God satisfies the longing and hungry soul
2. Psalm 23 even through the darkest valley, God's presence and comfort
3. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Christ died for our sins, was buried, and raised on the third day
4. Matthew 18 main sermon text, lessons on responsibility to others
5. Matthew 18:1-4 disciples ask who is greatest, Jesus calls a child and teaches humility
6. Matthew 18:6 whoever causes a little one to sin, better a millstone around his neck
7. Matthew 18:7 woe to the world because of stumbling blocks, scandalon
8. Matthew 18:8-9 if hand, foot, or eye causes you to sin, cut it off
9. Matthew 5:29-30 parallel passage on eye and hand causing sin, specifically about lust
10. Matthew 18:10 do not look down on little ones, their angels see the Father's face
11. Matthew 18:12-14 parable of the shepherd leaving 99 to find one lost sheep
12. Matthew 18:15-17 if your brother sins, go to him privately, then with witnesses, then the church
13. Deuteronomy 19:15 on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter shall be confirmed
14. Matthew 18:18 whatever you bind or loose on earth shall be bound or loosed in heaven
15. Matthew 18:19-20 if two or three agree in prayer, it shall be done; where two or three gather in my name, I am there
16. Matthew 18:21-22 Peter asks how many times to forgive, Jesus says seventy-seven times
17. Matthew 18:23-35 parable of the unforgiving servant forgiven much but who choked his fellow slave
18. Romans 12:18 if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people
19. Isaiah 66 quoted by Mark, their worm does not die and the fire is not extinguished
20. Matthew 17:24-27 temple tax story, fish with a stater coin in its mouth to pay Peter and Jesus's tax
21. John 13:34-35 closing benediction, love one another as I have loved you, by this all will know you are my disciples

Talk about it

1. Pastor Graham talked about the disciples arguing over who was the greatest, and Jesus pointing to a child as the model for humility. Where do you see the drive to be 'the greatest' showing up in your own life, and what does it look like practically to trade that for a posture of serving?
2. Pastor Graham shared the story of getting metal in his eye, and the doctor telling him that the numbing drops help for now but inhibit healing. Are there pains or struggles in your life that you have been numbing rather than letting heal? What does it look like to stop numbing and let God do the harder work?
3. The Matthew 18 process is meant to restore a wandering brother or sister, not to condemn them. Pastor Graham said 'there ain't no mean like Christian mean.' What makes it so hard to go to someone privately and humbly when you see them heading toward sin, and what would it take to actually do it?
4. The parable of the unforgiving servant ties the forgiveness we receive to the forgiveness we extend. Pastor Graham pointed to the Lord's Prayer: 'forgive us our debts as we forgive those who trespass against us.' Is there someone you are currently finding it hard to forgive, and how does remembering what you yourself have been forgiven change the picture?
5. Jesus paid the temple tax even though He did not owe it, so as not to be a stumbling block. Pastor Graham asked whether there are times you might do something you are not required to do for the sake of keeping the body whole. Can you think of a situation like that in your own life right now?