The Story & Way of Jesus: New Wine Requires New Wineskins (10.18.21)
Processing and responding to the Sunday sermon
Opening Prayer
After the group welcomes one another, have one person open in prayer and then take 2-3 minutes of silence. As you sit in silence, ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart in love toward God and your group mates.
New Wine in New Wineskins
On Sunday, Pastor Kevin Cooke preached from Mark 2:18-22 where the Pharisees were questioning Jesus about why His disciples were not fasting and John’s disciples were.
Jesus answered this question with a question, (which Jesus is so very good at doing), in verses 18-20, and then went on in verses 21-22 talking about sewing a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, and trying to put new wine into old wineskins.
In Pastor Kevin’s sermon he shares about how this latter section of the passage highlights the process of change in a follower of Jesus. Why does new wine has to go into new wineskins.
This week’s guide will provide space to dig in further, prayerfully process, and then discuss the sermon.
Reflection and Discussion
Read aloud Mark 2:18-22, and then prayerfully and silently reflect on the passage and these questions.
- What does “new wine” mean to you right now in your life? How do you know that there is something new going on that you are making room for?
- Where are you noticing in your life and heart that there may be an “old wineskin” that would hinder your capacity to be enlarged and grow?
- How are you co-laboring and cooperating with the Lord and His Holy Spirit in allowing those areas to be made new, reframed, removed or set free?
- Where do you look expectantly in the future (hope) to see and experience new wine and a new wineskin?
After silently reflecting, take these thoughts into a time of group discussion.
- What came up for you during the prayer reflection time? What would you like to share with the group?
- Dreaming out loud together, what would it look like to be a community that embraces change in a way that reflects Isaiah 61:3
“…provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
Closing Intercession
Pray for your group, our church, our city, and our world.