November 30th

Introduction question: What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?
Read Luke 4:31-37 as a group, and then by yourselves.

31 Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee. On the Sabbath day he began to teach the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man controlled by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice. 34 "Ha!" he said. "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God!" 35 "Be quiet!" Jesus said firmly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down in front of everybody. And it came out without hurting him. 36 All the people were amazed. They said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits. And they come out!" 37 The news about Jesus spread throughout the whole area.

Word list:
Sabbath - Saturday, the day of rest for the Jewish people for the past 3500 years.
synagogue - the place where the Jewish people met (and still meet today) to worship God.
demon / evil spirit - an angel who was kicked out of heaven in the past and thrown down earth.
Nazareth - the town where Jesus grew up.

Discussion questions:
1. Do you believe there are demons or evil spirits in the world today? Explain.
2. What can we learn about demons from this story?
3. Who was speaking in verse 34, the man or the demon?
4. Why do you think Jesus wanted the demon to be quiet?
5. What can we learn about Jesus from this story?