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You can't talk about the Bible's understanding of human beings without dealing with the idea that we are made in God's image. This means we have a deep connection to God, and must treat ourselves and others with dignity and value. It also means we are built to reflect God in the world, "imaging" his character and love. This part of God's image was ruined by sin, but in Jesus Christ—the true image of God—we can be remade into what we are meant to be.  Application Questions:  1. What about being made in the image of God can change the way you look at yourself?  2. What about being made in the image of God can change the way you look at others?  3. How does Jesus Christ show us what it means to image God?  4. How does Jesus Christ repair you so you can image God in your life? What would that look like this week?

If humans are just an accident then we do not have purpose, identity, or value. But Scripture tells us that God personally forms and designs mankind. We no longer have to fight and claw for our purpose, identity, and value—He has given us purpose, identity, and value by His grace. Application Questions:  1. How does God's design of mankind impact our purpose, identity, and value? 2. What practical ways can you acknowledge and appreciate your design by God? 3. Do you see ways that you are trying to earn your purpose or prove your worth? 4. What does it mean to receive purpose, identity, and value as a gift of grace? 5. How does God's power in creation give you hope and confidence about being a new creation in Christ?

Underneath the most pressing issues in our city and our own lives is the question "what is a human?" Without clear answers, we don't know who we are or how we should live. In the book of Genesis, we find the origin story for humanity. More than any other approach, this story makes sense of our world and our own hearts. It also points us forward to the story of redemption in Jesus Christ. Application Questions:  1. What story guides your life? How does the story in Genesis compare with that story?  2. How have you seen the beauty and glory of human beings?  3. How have you seen the brokenness and sin of human beings?  4. What would change if you saw yourself as part of the story of creation, fall, and redemption in Jesus Christ?

On the edge of Jerusalem, Jesus' followers think he is days away from establishing a kingdom on the earth. Jesus adjusts their expectations with a story of a king who goes away to be crowned and returns later to reign over his kingdom. How his subjects view him in the meantime make them either servants or enemies, with drastically different fates upon his return. The difference between them comes down to how they think of the King.  Application Questions:  1. How do you respond when Jesus asserts his power and authority in your life?  2. What has God given you in your life to steward?  3. Why might you be excited to steward those things based on the parable Jesus tells?  4. How do you struggle with God's character? How does that struggle square with the evidence of God's goodness and love in creation and the cross?

Zacchaeus is a very rich man at the top of the food chain in ancient society. And yet we find him climbing a tree, encountering Jesus, and being transformed into someone who cares for the poor with joy. Everyone is looking for that kind of personal transformation. This story teaches us that we find it in "salvation," encountering Jesus in such a way that we aren't the same as we were. How can we experience that in our own lives? Application Questions:  1. How have you experienced a desire for more than this world can provide?  2. What ideas have you picked up about Jesus from other people? How do those compare to what you see of Jesus in scripture?  3. What is significant about the fact that Jesus is seeking out Zacchaeus before he changes his life? What does that tell you about God and the gospel?  4. How might Jesus being "inviting himself" into your life? What would it look like for you to respond to him?

One of the things Jesus encounters in his ministry is a spiritual blindness that keeps people from understanding his identity and his mission. It affects his enemies, his fans, and even his disciples. In this passage, we see the disciples are blind to what Jesus has come to do: die on the cross and rise from the grave. In the following story, we get a picture of what it looks like for use to be healed of our spiritual blindness, so we can see and savor the true Jesus in our own hearts and lives.  Application Questions:  1. How have you experienced spiritual blindness? What symptoms of it do you see in your life now?  2. Are there ways you are tempted to adjust God and what he says to fit your preferences?  3. What would it look like for you to pursue clearer sight of spiritual things by going to Jesus in faith?

In a famous passage, Jesus interacts with a rich and moral man who feels he is missing something. He shocks the man by asking him to sell all his possessions, and the man leaves sad. What do we learn from a passage like this? We all are looking for eternal life, and can't seem to get hold of it. We all have things that compete with Jesus for our love, and leave us sad. And by a miracle of God's grace, we can find eternal life in Jesus Christ, which leads to joy forever.  Application Questions:  1. How often do you think about eternal life? What emotions and thoughts in your daily life might be connected to a desire for eternal life?  2. What in your life might be competing with Jesus for your devotion and attention? How are those things leaving you sad? 3. How can the gospel begin to rewire your heart to be attached to Christ instead of those things?

Jesus tells a parable that hits at the heart of the human experience. Comparison feels like an innate part of being human. We are constantly trying to figure out how we measure up and how we might justify our own actions (or our own existence). But Jesus shows us that comparison is a trap, and that true freedom and confidence can only be found in trusting him with the confident trust of a child. Application Questions:  1. What are ways you find yourself comparing yourself to others? 2. How have you found the self-righteousness of comparison to leave you empty and insecure? 3. What keeps you from the simple, regular admission that you are a sinner desperately in need of God's mercy? 4. What characteristics of child-ish-ness to you still need to grow out of? 5. What characteristics of child-like-ness do you need to hold onto or recapture?

What do we do when we are overwhelmed by injustice? How do we cope and where do we turn when it seems like there is no answer to our pleas to God to make things right? Jesus tells a parable that gives us simple and powerful guidance for these big questions and reminds us of not only his power, but his compassionate kindness to us while we wait for justice to come. Application Questions:  1. What personal injustices burden your soul? 2. What injustices in the world burden your soul? 3. How do you typically cope with the weight of that burden? 4. Why can we trust that God is just and will ultimately bring justice? 5. How does the invitation to prayer bring peace to our season of waiting?

Jesus teaches us to pray, "Your kingdom come," and we get a sense of what that means in this passage. When the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God will come, he says it is right in front of them. Because he is the King, his person and ministry shows them what the kingdom is like: freedom from sin, suffering, and death. He tells his disciples that he came into the world in humility, to suffer and die on our behalf. But later he will come to judge all evil and wickedness, bringing his Kingdom in its fullness. We live in between his two comings, which means we should hold things in this world loosely and find our identity and treasure in him.  Application Questions:  1. What about Jesus' time on earth makes you want his kingdom to come?  2. Why does it matter that Jesus comes not once, but twice? Why do we need both?  3. How can you hold onto things loosely, so that you are ready for the future?

Jesus, on the way to Jerusalem, teaches His followers the marks of true faith: Forgiveness, Humility, and Worship. Application Questions:  1. What are the differences between the world's forgiveness and the Bible's forgiveness? 2. Why is forgiveness so hard? Why is that necessary for understanding the gospel? 3. How can you seek reconciliation in your life? 4. What would it look like to cultivate the heart of a servant in your life? 5. How can you spend more time praising than complaining?

Jesus is always teaching on the kingdom of God, and in this passage he talks with the Pharisees about what gets you into the kingdom—and what can keep you out of it. What you need, Jesus says, is to be justified by God. In other words, you can't make a name for yourself as a way of entering God's kingdom, you need God to give you a name. When he does, it lasts forever, and it changes your life here and now.  Application Questions:  1. What are some ways in your life you are looking to "make a name" for yourself?  2. What does it look like to receive a name from God instead of making one for yourself?  3. Are there ways you are tempted to ignore or adjust God's Word?  4. How can Jesus giving you a name, through his death and resurrection, create a generous spirit in you now?

Jesus makes it clear that following him will impact your whole life, including how you handle your money. Using a story about a dishonest manager shrewdly investing in his own future, he teaches his disciples to think about how they use their money in light of eternity. We find a way of relating to the resources in our lives that is unique and radical: we view ourselves as stewards, not owner; we invest in eternity, not just this life; and we use money instead of worshiping it.  Application Questions:  1. Do you view yourself as a manager of God's resources, or as an owner? How does that manifest itself in your life?  2. How often is eternity a part of your thought process when it comes to money? Why do you think that is?  3. Why does Jesus connect money and worship? How have you seen that in your own life?  4. How does grace and the gospel release you from the hold money and resources have on you? How can you apply that this week?

In one of Jesus' most famous parables, we learn what makes Christianity so radical among other religions and philosophies. Jesus teaches that God is not distant and withdrawn but seeks after lost and broken people. In a surprising turn, it is not just the prodigal son who is lost. The outwardly obedient older brother is also lost. Both need the grace and love of the Father to draw them into the feast of his love. When we find that love looking for us in Jesus Christ, we too can be brought home to our Father in heaven. Application Questions:  1. How do these stories strike you? Do they line up with your ideas about God and yourself?  2. Do you relate more to the younger brother or to the older brother in the story?  3. How can this parable put your heart at ease about what God is really like, and lead you to accept his grace?

The cost of discipleship is high, and Jesus uses harsh language to communicate it. But underneath the harsh words, we find healthy reminders of the supremacy of Christ and our souls' deepest desires being met in him and his kingdom.  Application Questions:  1. Do Jesus' words about hating your loved ones offend you?  2. How often do you consider Jesus' call to bear your own cross in following him?  3. What things are holding or threatening to hold too high a place in your life?  4. In what ways can your walk with God be more salty?