11 May
2025

I am the Lord’s Servant

Passage: John 15:18-23; 16:1-4

“If you want to know what this world is like, look what it did to him…. He gave himself to healing people and to instructing them. He went about doing good. What was the response of the world? It hated him, it persecuted him, it rejected him. It chose a murderer before him. It crucified him, it killed him. And there on the cross he exposed the world for what it is.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Sermon Outline:

  1. Reality of conflict
  2. Reasons for conflict
  3. Ways to receive conflict

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

How do you typically handle conflict? What helps you handle conflict well?

Read John 15:18-16:4. What does this passage show you about God’s character and about being his follower? What challenges, encourages, or sparks questions for you in this passage?

The point is made more than once in this section: if you are Jesus’s disciple you will be hated and persecuted. Note where Jesus points to the reality of conflict in this passage, as well as where he calls his disciples to remember this truth. Why is it important for Jesus’s followers to know and remember there will be conflict, hate, persecution?
The Roman Catholic church did a study on five stages of persecution:
  • stereotyping (all Christians are superstitious, hypocritical, repressed, sexists)
  • vilifying (Christians are against human dignity, opposed to science, homophobic, intolerant)
  • marginalizing (Christianity is harmful so faith must be kept private, excluded from education, social media, politics)
  • criminalizing (punish or compel you to do what the state wants)
  • hard persecuting (Christians must be removed and punished for their behavior).

In what ways have you experienced any of these stages? Why or why not have you faced conflict for following Jesus?

How can you learn about Christians around the world who are experiencing persecution you are not facing? Why would this be worth our time? How can we support Christians who are experiencing persecution?

There is conflict with the world because of our allegiance to Jesus. Mary responded to Jesus’s arrival by saying, “I am the Lord’s servant” and we are invited to respond in the same posture. But there are other forces that can be compelling and attempt to divide our loyalty. Henri Nouwen, the late professor and catholic priest, wrote: “If being busy is a good thing, then I must be busy. If having money is a sign of real freedom, then I must claim my money. If knowing many people proves my importance, I will have to make the necessary contacts. The compulsion manifests itself in the lurking fear of failure and the steady urge to prevent this by gathering more of the same – more work, more money, more friends.” In this season of life, where are you aware of your allegiance to Jesus being weakened or threatened? Consider these diagnostic questions:
  • What do I feel I cannot survive or function without?
  • Where do I spend my time and money with the least amount of effort?
  • Which biblical commands am I most reluctant to obey?
  • What things anger me the most?

As brothers and sisters in Christ, part of the Covenant church family, how can we encourage one another in facing persecution? Consider what it looks like to not be a victim, to not be a jerk, and to not be surprised when we experience conflict for following Jesus.

What people are living examples for us in how to respond to conflict/persecution?

What from this passage and this discussion is something you want to put into practice or be more aware of this week?

PRAYER

Share with your group how they can be praying for you: what is weighing on you from this past week? What are you praising God for from this past week?

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”