Descending to Greatness, part 3: Less Is More

#1 Watch or Listen To "Descending To Greatness (Part 3): Less Is More"

Consider this Sunday morning’s lesson. You can listen here: http://bit.ly/1gCDfNL

Or watch here [video will be posted by Monday each week]: www.vimeo.com/rrcoc

What stuck out to you as interesting?

Did you encounter any challenging or re-orienting truth?

 

#2 Just Can’t Wait To Be Great

Is it wrong to seek greatness? 

Consider Romans 2:7--"To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life."

  • What are some unhealthy ways of seeking “glory, honor and immortality”?
  • How does God suggest we seek “glory, honor and immortality”?

Proverbs 22:4 reads, “Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.”

  • Have you seen or experienced this to be true? 
  • Is it ever not true?

In I Peter 5:6 we read that if we’ll be humble God will lift us up “in due time.” Do you feel like you’re waiting for God to lift you up? Tell your group about it.

  • How’s it going? Is waiting easy or hard? 
  • What can you do while you’re waiting to make the time pass more bearably?

 

#3 Least Of All

Read Luke 9:46-48.

What does Jesus mean by this statement: “It is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest”?

How do we try to be the least? Offer some practical examples. What does it look like at work? At home? As a parent? As a neighbor?

Is it selfish to try to be the least with hopes of being greatest?

 

#4 Capital G

Describe someone you think is “Great” (capital G). You might make a list together as a group. What makes that person/those people great?

 

#5 Hearing Voices

Consider the following thoughts on greatness from culture:

  • This Nike commercial: http://yhoo.it/1Em0AvD
  • This Playstation commercial: http://yhoo.it/1BFYK7R
  • These words from Will Smith (with video of Michael Jordan playing basketball): http://yhoo.it/1AFat2N
  • While we won’t include any lyrics, it’s worth noting that several popular rap songs titled “Greatness” are about personal talent, wealth, status, sex and ambition.

What is greatness according to these voices? What’s good and what’s bogus?

You might also consider the following quotes. Do any of them ring true?

  • “Doing what needs to be done may not make you happy, but it will make you great.” -George Bernard Shaw
  • “Your greatness is revealed not by the lights that shine upon you, but by the light that shines within you.” -Ray Davis
  • “Our Christian destiny is, in fact, a great one: but we cannot achieve greatness unless we lose all interest in being great. For our own idea of greatness is illusory, and if we pay too much attention to it we will be lured out of the peace and stability of the being God gave us, and seek to live in a myth we have created for ourselves. And when we are truly ourselves we lose most of the futile self-consciousness that keeps us constantly comparing ourselves with others in order to see how big we are.” -Thomas Merton 
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