"Unless you embrace by faith the Gospel, you can't show the kind of gratitude that you owe to God."

–Dr. Ligon Duncan  

Young Professionals Retreat

Shoutout to the Young Professionals who had their annual retreat at Lake Waubesa Bible Camp! While YP is always a place of fun, belonging and community, this weekend was packed with HOPE. This retreat, the YPers dug into what biblical hope really is, how we can hold onto Christ our true Hope and how we can hold one another up in hope in hard times. Small groups were filled with meaningful discussion, reflection and times of prayer. Please continue to pray for our YP group as they continue to grow and be strengthened in the hope of Jesus.  

LUKE: Cost of Discipleship

Luke 17:11-19

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We’re diving back into the Gospel of Luke. After nine chapters introducing us to Jesus and His call, Luke now takes us with Him on the road to Jerusalem (Luke 9-19). Along the way, we’ll hear some of Jesus’ most famous teachings and stories, as He shows us what it truly costs to follow Him and why following Him is worth everything.

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The Big Idea

(What is the author's point?)

Faith in Jesus leads to powerful change and humble praise!

Why It Matters

(Why is this relevant to us?)

One of the greatest virtues in this world is gratitude. As followers of Christ, we should embody gratefulness in a society that seems lacking thereof. Every good gift comes from our God, who deserves all our praise! These gifts of God can come by unlikely means and through unlikely people. In high school, I met a gentleman named Frank on a mission trip to Texas after Hurricane Harvey hit. Frank, along with his wife, served at a small Vietnamese church. He was humble in appearance and served as the church’s janitor. He was an unlikely person who turned out to be a gift to all of us on the trip. He embodied gratefulness! Frank shared story after story about God at work in his life. God saved him multiple times while serving in the Vietnam War. He met his wife during the war, and God brought them to serve at this small church in Houston. He understood everything in his life was a gift from God. This challenged all of us high schoolers to open our eyes to God at work. May God increase our faith to have a greater awareness of His work. May our increased faith bring powerful change and humble praise.

Good to Know

(What are some helpful insights into this passage?)

Verse 11– Jesus is passing along between Samaria and Galilee. Jesus stops to do ministry in these backwater, undesirable regions. 

Verse 12 – Lepers were societal outcasts due to various skin diseases. They formed their own communities outside of villages. From a distance, they could see Jesus. No doubt the ministry of Jesus had been spoken to every corner of society, even those rejected by society. 

Verse 13 – Having heard whispers of Jesus’ ministry, they cried out. This cry is different than the cry in the Old Testament; they were supposed to cry out that they were unclean. Instead, they ask Jesus for “mercy.” Not healing. Their only hope was the mercy of our Lord. Often, the mercy of our Lord goes beyond what we can imagine and can lead to healing.

Verse 14 – Jesus does not touch them nor declare that they are healed. Instead, He tells the lepers to visit the priests. This goes back to Leviticus, when lepers were healed, they visited the priest for a “clean bill of health.” As they walked into the town that rejected them for their disease, they were healed.

Verse 15 – Only one of the lepers returns to Jesus and gives Him praise! This leper understood the mercy that was imparted upon him by Jesus.

Verse 16 – Praises of Jesus come from unlikely places and unlikely people. In the leper colony, there is no division of Jews and Samaritans; they live as one. Out of 10 lepers, it is the Samaritan who gives Jesus His due praise. This no doubt foreshadows the rejection of Jerusalem and the inclusion of Samaritians in Acts. 

Verses 17-18 – Jesus uses these rhetorical questions to drive home the point. Each of us has received the mercy of our Lord. We should respond with grateful praise for what He has done! The deeper our understanding of God’s mercy and goodness, the greater our worship of Him will be!

Verse 19 – Your faith has made you well! The ten lepers were healed from their diseases, but only one found true salvation. The outsider, Samaritan, leper, found salvation from the greatest sickness of all, sin! The Gospel of Jesus finds its way to unlikely people and unlikely places.

Group Guide

Following the series with your group? 

• Start with some icebreaker questions.
• Read the passage together before you dive in. 
• Share any insights from the message. Use the questions below to get your conversation started.

Conversation Starters

1. What is something that you can praise God for?

2. Is there something that you have taken for granted that is a gift from God?

3. How do faith and gratefulness go hand in hand? 

4. Where do you see the Gospel at work in unlikely places or unlikely people?

Prayer

Give thanks to God for all the good things He has done!

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