About This Guide: This weekly groups guide, “Life to the Full,” is designed as a companion to our Eastertide / Pentecost 2022 teaching series, fostering discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting. Join a group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.
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Teaching Text: Luke 24:13-36
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
“What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Disappointment
Hope
Presence
Take a moment of silence and think about these questions:
Name the worries and distractions you may have right now.
Tell God how they worry you and ask him to lift the burden they are off your shoulders. Entrust the most significant parts of your life to him.
Confess any hopelessness and invite him to bring hope.
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
Disappointment - Life and God have failed me THE RECOVERY OF HOPE (Road to Emmaus)
The disciples of Jesus, their disappointment and their hope
Our lives as disciples of Jesus; our disappointment and our hope
Noticing threads of hope in my life
Even when it seems like nothing is happening, God is working on our behalf.
If you are reading or hearing this, it is not a coincidence– God wants to speak specifically to you.
In the TEXT: These incredibly faithful women have told the disciples and the disciples… didn’t believe them. Can you imagine? Your friend tells you that an angelic figure descended from heaven and told you something and you’re like, but did you see him?
They are waiting for Messiah to come (Emmanuel, God with us, a mighty warrior who saves). They are expecting this Messiah to deal with their oppressors. And to establish a kingdom, like the one they had under King David, except this one will never end.
The new age has started, and it doesn’t look like they thought it would, but God did exactly what he promised–he sent Messiah.
But we are still living in the reality of this already, but not yet kingdom.
On the one hand we have these very big promises and there are no asterisks: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIV
And on the other, we have some challenging truths: “In this world you will have trouble...” John 16:33b NIV
If we live long enough, we will all find ourselves on the road to Emmaus, walking disappointedly away from the place where Jesus told us to go.
And what can we expect?
And even in our disappointment, he demonstrates his faithfulness, in going after the two.
He gives them a jesus-colored lens through which to view the story they are living out
We can expect a revelation that will continually lead us into peace and joy and hope.
Jesus is revealed to them in the breaking of the bread and it causes them to turn around and moves them toward hope
When Jesus is revealed, our hope find ground upon which to be established.
What is hope?
The Greek word translated hope means desiring some good and confidently expecting to obtain it.
Why do we need hope? “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 NKJV
If we are not hoping, then our faith isn’t doing any work.
If we are not Hoping then our faith is not at work.
If there is no good that we are confidently looking forward to, then our faith is not being used to give substance to anything. Hope is how we exercise the muscle of our faith.
Recovering hope:
Examine yourself
Choose to believe
Remember (the story that God is telling has been good and it will be good)
Tell the truth
Where have you lost hope or given up? What parts of God’s Kingdom promises do you struggle to believe? What makes you doubt?
Love
Read these notes and discuss the questions below:
Spiritual practices for this series: Gratitude and Generosity
During this series we will explore and practice together aspects of these two practices. It begins within our own hearts, cultivating Gratitude in our own hearts, yet it does not stop there but ultimately overflows and results in the practice of acts of generosity.
Gratitude: Our world tells us incessantly how much we lack. Every ad, social media and our hearts alone are huge contributors to us believing a narrative that we dont have enough and that God has not been faithful.
Make a list of 10 things in your life you are grateful for.
Mention them all to God in a expression of that gratitude.
Generosity: Often we say or subconsciously believe that we don't have enough to be generous with, and that It will leave me lacking if I am generous. Our world then convinces us to hoard, to hold on, to self preserve.
The Kingdom of God is different from this. King Solomon describes the way the kingdom of God works in this way: “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.” Proverbs 11:24
As an Act of Faith: Look at that list of blessings in your life and see if there is any way you can use any of those to bless others. This might bring fear or anxiety to you as you need those thing. Here are a few thoughts:
You were given those things in the first place. They are gifts.
When we are generous we share in the nature of God
God is far more generous than we can ever be.
There is great joy in letting go of things we try hold onto.
Pray for one another in the group.
