NT260 ⢠Set 12
Discussion & Heart Check Questions
Small group discussion questions and accountability tools designed to help disciples grow in their love for God, connect with others, serve others, and share the gospel.
These questions were created to accompany the NT260 Discipleship Journal, but they can also be used by any small group, discipleship group, family, Sunday School class, one-on-one discipleship relationship, or individual studying Luke 12â16.
This Setâs Big Idea
Jesus calls His followers to live with undivided heartsâtrusting the Father, seeking His kingdom, receiving the lost with grace, and using everything entrusted to them in light of eternity.
As you read, watch how Jesus warns against hypocrisy, greed, worry, pride, empty religion, and the love of money while calling His followers toward courage, repentance, humility, compassion, faithful stewardship, and joyful participation in God’s mission to seek the lost.
How to Use These Questions
These questions are a guideânot a script. Leaders do not need to work through every question. Instead, prayerfully choose the questions that best fit your group’s conversation and spiritual needs.
The goal is not simply to gain more biblical knowledge, but to understand God’s Word, encourage one another, practice honest accountability, and take meaningful steps of obedience together.
Suggested Small Group Meeting Flow
Connect with one another and celebrate how you’ve seen God at work throughout the week.
Pray together and invite the Holy Spirit to teach, convict, encourage, and transform your hearts through His Word.
Share observations and applications from this week’s NT260 journal readings.
Work through selected discussion questions together. Focus on understanding the passage before jumping to application.
Use the Heart Check questions to encourage honest accountability, prayer, and practical obedience.
Share prayer requests and close by praying specifically for one another.
Leader Tips
- Don’t feel pressured to answer every question. Choose the ones that best fit your group’s conversation.
- Keep the discussion centered on Jesus rather than allowing it to become merely a conversation about behavior or morality.
- Allow time for observation before application. Ask participants what they noticed in the text before asking what they should do.
- Encourage everyone to participate, but never pressure someone to share beyond their comfort level.
- Remember that passages about money, worry, generosity, and stewardship often touch sensitive areas. Lead with grace rather than guilt.
- When discussing the parables, help the group identify the main point Jesus is making rather than assigning symbolic meaning to every detail.
- Leave enough time for the Heart Check and prayer. Transformation often happens there, not simply during the discussion.
This Setâs Readings
- Luke 12 â Trust the Father, Seek His Kingdom, and Live Ready for Christ’s Return
- Luke 13 â Repent While There Is Time and Enter God’s Kingdom Through Humble Faith
- Luke 14 â Humility, Hospitality, Counting the Cost, and True Discipleship
- Luke 15 â The Father’s Joy in Seeking and Receiving the Lost
- Luke 16 â Faithful Stewardship, Eternal Priorities, and the Danger of Loving Money
NT260 ⢠Set 12
Small Group Discussion Questions
These questions are designed to help your group observe the text carefully, understand what Jesus is teaching, and apply His Word to everyday life. You do not need to answer every questionâchoose the ones that best serve your group’s conversation.
Icebreaker
If you suddenly had an entire free day with no responsibilities, how would you most naturally spend it? What does your answer reveal about what you value most?
Digging Into the Text
- Luke 12 opens with Jesus warning His disciples about hypocrisy. Why do you think hidden sins and hidden motives concerned Jesus so much?
- Jesus repeatedly tells His followers not to fear people but to fear God instead. How does fearing God actually free us from many other fears?
- The rich fool believed he finally had enough. What assumptions was he making about life, security, and the future?
- Jesus immediately follows the parable of the rich fool with His teaching about worry. Why do you think Luke intentionally places these two teachings together?
- According to Jesus, what is the difference between living in worry and seeking first God’s kingdom?
- Throughout Luke 12 Jesus repeatedly emphasizes readiness. What does faithful readiness actually look like in everyday life?
- When people ask Jesus about tragic events in Luke 13, He redirects the conversation toward repentance. Why do we often prefer asking “Why did this happen?” instead of “What is God calling me to do?”
- What does the parable of the barren fig tree teach about both God’s patience and His expectation that our lives bear fruit?
- Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath despite criticism. What does this reveal about God’s priorities compared to those of the religious leaders?
- In Luke 14, Jesus observes guests competing for places of honor. Why is the desire for recognition still such a powerful temptation today?
- Jesus tells His host to invite those who cannot repay him. How does kingdom generosity differ from generosity that expects something in return?
- Why do the invited guests in the Parable of the Great Banquet make excuses? Which excuse feels most relatable in our culture today?
- Jesus tells potential disciples to count the cost before following Him. Why is it important to understand both the blessings and the cost of discipleship?
- Luke records three parables about lost things in chapter 15. What repeated themes connect the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son?
- The younger brother and the older brother appear very different. In what ways are both sons spiritually lost?
- Which character in Luke 15 do you think is easiest to identify with? Why?
- Why do you think Luke places the stories of God’s joy over repentant sinners immediately before Jesus’ teaching about money and stewardship in Luke 16?
- What principles about stewardship can we learn from the dishonest manager, even though Jesus is clearly not praising dishonesty?
- Jesus says, “No servant can serve two masters.” What are some modern examples of trying to serve both God and something else?
- The rich man ignored Lazarus every day. What does this story teach about the danger of becoming comfortable with the suffering around us?
- Throughout Luke 12â16, what repeated contrasts do you see between trust and worry, humility and pride, generosity and greed, grace and self-righteousness, or eternal priorities and temporary comfort?
- Looking across the entire set, which teaching of Jesus do you think American Christians most need to hear today? Why?
Leader Transition
Before moving into the Heart Check questions, remind your group that Jesus did not teach these truths merely to inform people but to transform them. Encourage everyone to prayerfully consider not only what they learned from Luke 12â16, but how God is inviting them to trust Him more fully, reorder their priorities, and live with eternity in view.
Leader Note
Although Luke 12â16 contains a variety of teachings and parables, Jesus is addressing one central question throughout these chapters:
What rules your heart?
Again and again, Jesus exposes the competing loyalties that keep people from wholeheartedly following Him. Some trust wealth instead of the Father. Others worry instead of seeking God’s kingdom. Religious leaders pursue honor while neglecting compassion. The older brother values performance over grace. The rich man enjoys luxury while ignoring the suffering at his own gate. Each account reveals that outward behavior ultimately flows from inward worship.
At the same time, Jesus continually points His listeners toward a better way. He invites them to trust their heavenly Father instead of living in fear, to pursue eternal treasure instead of temporary possessions, to welcome those who cannot repay them, to celebrate when sinners repent, and to steward every resource with eternity in view.
Help your group see that these chapters are not primarily about money, hospitality, or worry. They are about the condition of the heart. Every discussion should eventually lead back to the same question:
Whoâor whatâis sitting on the throne of my heart?
The goal isn’t simply to admire Jesus’ teaching. The goal is to allow Him to reshape our priorities so that we trust the Father completely, seek His kingdom first, rejoice over the lost, steward His gifts faithfully, and live today in light of eternity.
Love God
- Which teaching from Luke 12â16 most deepened your understanding of God’s character this week?
- What area of your life most needs to move from worry toward trusting your heavenly Father?
- Are you currently seeking God’s kingdom first, or have other priorities quietly taken first place?
- How has God’s grace toward you changed the way you think about repentance?
Connect with Others
- Is there anyone you’ve been overlooking, avoiding, or quietly judging who needs compassion rather than criticism?
- How can our group better celebrate when God changes someone’s life instead of comparing ourselves to them?
- What would biblical humility look like in one of your current relationships?
Serve Others
- How has God uniquely entrusted you with time, gifts, finances, influence, or opportunities that could bless someone else this week?
- Who could you intentionally serve this week with no expectation of recognition or repayment?
- What practical act of generosity or hospitality could you show before your next group meeting?
Share the Gospel
- Jesus continually sought the lost. Who has God placed in your life that may need someone to intentionally pursue them with His love?
- What opportunity do you have this week to share your story or invite someone to take a next step toward Jesus?
- Who is one person your group can commit to praying for together this week?
Closing Challenge
Jesus calls His followers to live with undivided heartsâtrusting the Father, seeking His kingdom, receiving the lost with grace, and using everything entrusted to them in light of eternity.
Throughout Luke 12â16, Jesus continually exposes competing loyalties. Some people trust possessions more than God. Others cling to religious pride rather than grace. Some make excuses instead of accepting God’s invitation. Others celebrate when sinners are found, while still others resent God’s generosity.
Where is Jesus inviting you this week to move from worry to trust, greed to generosity, excuses to obedience, self-righteousness to grace, or temporary priorities to eternal investment?
Scripture to Remember
Luke 12:31
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.”
This verse captures the heartbeat of Luke 12â16. Rather than allowing fear, possessions, reputation, comfort, or self-righteousness to rule our hearts, Jesus calls His followers to place God’s kingdom above everything else. When our priorities are rightly ordered, every other area of life begins to fall into its proper place.
This Week’s Challenge: Read this verse every morning, write it somewhere you’ll see throughout the day, memorize it if possible, and ask God to reveal any area where His kingdom is not currently first in your life.
This Week’s Practice
Reorder Your Priorities
Every day this week, intentionally choose one way to seek God’s kingdom before pursuing your own comfort, schedule, finances, or preferences.
- Begin each morning with prayer before looking at your phone.
- Practice one unexpected act of generosity.
- Invite someone to lunch or coffee who cannot repay you.
- Reach out to someone who has drifted from church or from the Lord.
- Replace one worry with intentional prayer.
- Give generously where God leads.
- Spend time thanking God for His grace instead of focusing on what you lack.
Ask yourself each evening: “Did I seek God’s kingdom first today?”
Prayer Focus
An Undivided Heart
Pray that God would expose anything competing for first place in your heart and help you pursue His kingdom above everything else.
Pray for…
- A heart that trusts the Father more than circumstances.
- Freedom from worry, greed, pride, and self-righteousness.
- Joy whenever people come to faith in Christ.
- Wisdom to steward your time, gifts, influence, and finances for eternity.
- Compassion for people who are far from God.
- Courage to count the cost and follow Jesus wholeheartedly.
Closing Prayer: Father, thank You for pursuing us long before we ever sought You. Forgive us for allowing worry, possessions, pride, comfort, or the approval of others to compete for our hearts. Teach us to trust You completely, seek Your kingdom first, celebrate when sinners are found, and faithfully steward everything You have entrusted to us. Shape our hearts so that we treasure Christ above all else and live each day with eternity in view. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Small Group Accountability
Weekly Heart Check
How to Use These Questions
These questions are designed to move the conversation beyond information and into transformation. Answer honestly, listen carefully, protect confidentiality, and pray for one another. The goal is not perfection or shame, but growing together as disciples who trust the Father, seek His kingdom, receive others with grace, and faithfully steward everything God has entrusted to them.
Love God
- How consistent has your time with God been this week through Scripture and prayer?
- Which truth from Luke 12â16 has challenged or encouraged you the most?
- Have you been seeking God’s kingdom first, or has something else quietly become your greatest priority?
- Where has worry replaced trust in your heavenly Father?
- Is there any area where Jesus is inviting you to deeper surrender or repentance?
Connect with Others
- Have you shown humility in your relationships, or have pride and comparison shaped your attitude?
- Is there someone you need to forgive, encourage, or reconcile with this week?
- Have you celebrated what God is doing in someone else’s life, or have you responded more like the older brother in Luke 15?
- Have you welcomed people who are different from you with the same grace Jesus has shown you?
Serve Others
- Have you used your time, gifts, finances, or influence to serve someone this week?
- Is there someone who cannot repay you that God may be inviting you to bless?
- Have you faithfully stewarded what God has entrusted to you, or have comfort and convenience shaped your decisions?
Share the Gospel
- Who is one “lost sheep” God has placed on your heart this week?
- Have you intentionally prayed for opportunities to point someone toward Jesus?
- What step could you take this week to invite someone toward Christ or into biblical community?
- Who will you commit to praying for before your next group meeting?
Weekly Challenge
Jesus calls His followers to live with undivided heartsâtrusting the Father, seeking His kingdom, receiving the lost with grace, and using everything entrusted to them in light of eternity.
Throughout Luke 12â16, Jesus continually asks one question:
What truly rules your heart?
Some people trusted wealth. Others trusted religion. Some worried constantly. Others made excuses. Still others rejoiced because God’s grace reached the undeserving.
This week, ask God to reveal where He is inviting you to move from worry to trust, from greed to generosity, from pride to humility, from excuses to obedience, from self-righteousness to grace, and from earthly priorities to eternal investment.
As you conclude your discussion, remember that Jesus’ goal is not simply to fill our minds with truth but to transform our hearts through truth.
Throughout Luke 12â16, Jesus continually exposed what people treasured most. Some trusted wealth. Others trusted religious performance. Some were consumed by worry. Others ignored those in need while pursuing comfort. Yet Jesus consistently invited people to trust the Father, seek His kingdom first, celebrate God’s grace, steward earthly resources with eternity in view, and rejoice whenever the lost are found.
Keep pointing your group back to Jesus rather than simply better behavior. Genuine life change doesn’t come from trying harderâit comes from surrendering more fully to the King whose kingdom is worth everything.
End your time together by praying specifically for one another and asking God to produce hearts that treasure Christ above every competing affection.
Continue studying: Return to NT260 Set 12 Study Resources
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Keep Growing Through the NT260 Discipleship Journal
These discussion questions were designed to accompany NT260 Set 12 and help groups move from reading Scripture to discussing it, applying it, and living it together.
If you are looking for a structured New Testament reading plan that includes Scripture memory, PETS Bible study pages, reflection prompts, and companion study resources, explore the NT260 Discipleship Journal.
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