What kind of people does your church attract/retain?
What kind of people would not be attracted to your church?
What kind of people would you like to attract to your church?
What kind of people would you like to dissuade from attending your church?

What do you think the characteristics were of the kind of people the “king” in the parable of the wedding feast was angry at and why?
Why in the parable do you think both good and bad people were allowed in? Do you think churches should be for both saved and unsaved people?
What do you think it means that “many are called, but few are chosen”?

The first trap is set by the Herodians. The Herodians asked Jesus if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. If Jesus said yes, that they should pay taxes to Caesar, the Jewish people, who mostly hated Roman rule, would turn against Jesus for supporting a regime they hated. And if Jesus said no, that they shouldn’t pay taxes to Caesar, he would be declaring himself a rebel and an enemy of the state, which would result in the crushing of his movement.

Why do you think Jesus called the Herodians hypocrites? Are we ever guilty of supporting political systems/people only when policies move in our favor?
What are things that we rightly owe our earthly leaders/government?
What are the things we ought to give over to God?

Do you think that your favorite government leader or political party is the political party that Jesus would be a part of? Do you view your political party as God’s political party? Do you think that people in the other political party couldn’t possibly be Christian because of their political beliefs?
What happens when Christians put their security in their political system/leaders?

Can you actually “vote the Bible”? Is “separation of Church and State” a wise proposition?

How does a Christian balance active participation in the government/political system and personal devotion to Jesus Christ?

Verse 23-32: The Sadducees set the second trap for Jesus. The Sadducees didn’t believe in a resurrection, that this life was all that there is. One way that they tried to prove that an afterlife was incompatible with God’s teaching was through this riddle.

What do you think your relationships will be like in heaven between you and your spouse, children, friends, enemies?

What are the attributes of someone who believes that this life is all there is? How would you live your life if you thought that this was all there is? How does an eternal perspective change how we live?

Do you have a healthy discipline around devoting time to reading scripture? How can a healthy/unhealthy discipline around scripture shape your world view?

Verse 34-39: This is the Pharisees’ Hail Mary for trapping Jesus. As any parent of teenagers knows, the more rules and regulations that exist, the more loopholes are created to justify our behavior. The lawyer was hoping Jesus would pick some particular law so he could rebut Jesus as to why he picked the wrong one.

Many of us would probably say that loving God with all of your heart, soul, and mind would be a pretty good candidate for the most important rule to follow. Do you think that loving your neighbor is equivalent to loving God? How does the Old Testament law depend on loving God and loving others?

Who do you think God rewards more, the person who broke the fewest of the ten commandments, or the person who tried to fulfill Jesus’ one command to love one another and He loved us?

If a behavior isn’t explicitly written out in the Bible as a sin, is it still a sin? How do you know?

Verse 41-45: The difference between an unhealthy and a healthy church is that one uses the Bible to justify its behavior while the other uses the Bible to modify its behavior.

What is one way in which you want to be conformed to be more like Christ in your life today?