1. Read Matthew 5.1-12 incarnationally. Where do you find yourself in this text?
2. Where have you experienced mercy most recently?
3. Describe the last time you extended mercy?
4. What’s the difference between justice and mercy?
5. Read and reflect on Titus 3.4-5; 1 Peer 1.3-4; Ephesians 2.4-5. How does Scripture describe God’s character?
6. For some, it is hard to believe God to be merciful. Many see God as judgmental, even angry. How do are you currently experiencing God’s mercy? Give a practical example.
7. How does receiving God’s mercy enable you to be merciful?
8. Read the story referenced on Sunday in Luke 7.36-50. The story includes this statement. “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
9. What does this truth look like in your life? How, and why are you motivated to forgive? Do you forgive little or much? How so?
10. “Mercy has the power to change the world. God’s mercy has the power to change the world, and your world.” Do you agree with this statement? How are you seeing this truth at work in your life?
11. Read Matthew 6.14-15. What is the implication of these words of Jesus? Where is this truth most difficult for you to live out today?
12. What’s the difference between a person who is “meek” and one who is “merciful.”
13. On Sunday we watched a scene from the movie Les Miserables. What’s another scene that helps you see the power of mercy at work? What’s the most personal story of mercy at work in your own life?
14. Read Psalm 103 and give God praise for His mercy and grace.
