Big Idea: Jesus invites us to a new family that restores the connection we were made for.

            Mark 3:31-35

Jesus’ family restores connection based on grace, not performance.

            Ephesians 2:4-5

Jesus’ family restores connection based on identity, not similarity.

            Galatians 3:27-29

We follow Jesus by connecting together in Jesus-centered relationships.

            1 John 3:1a

Message Questions

We’re in a four-week series called Never Alone. In our modern world, we are both more connected and more isolated than ever before. Despite what seems like new opportunities for relationships, people report feeling more isolated and lonelier than ever. What does Jesus have to offer in our moment of increasing loneliness? More than we might realize. Jesus came to earth to seek and save the lost, but more than coming just to forgive sins and allow people to go to heaven, Jesus came to restore people to the family of God. Jesus came to turn enemies into friends. Jesus came so that none of us would ever have to be alone again. This week we are in Mark 3:31-35, and the big idea is: Jesus invites us to a new family that restores the connection we were made for. 

Use these questions to discuss the message from Sunday, focusing on how you can grow as an everyday follower of Jesus and how you can go accomplish what Jesus calls you to do.

1. Have someone read Mark 3:31-35. When Jesus asks, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he is pointing to a new kind of family defined by spiritual alignment. How does his statement that his family are those who "do the will of God" change how we should prioritize our time and relationships within the church?
2. Have someone read Ephesians 2:4-5. The message emphasizes that Jesus’ family is built on grace, not performance. Why is it so difficult for us to believe that our connection to God and this "new family" is based on being "made alive with Christ" rather than our own efforts, and how does that impact how we treat one another?
3. Have someone read Galatians 3:27-29. In this new family, we are told that "there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female." How does being "clothed with Christ" allow us to restore connections with people from different backgrounds that the world usually keeps separate?
4. In Mark 3, Jesus looks at those sitting in a circle around him and identifies them as his family. What is one specific way you can grow in your effort to "do the will of God" this week in a way that encourages and strengthens the people in your own spiritual circle?
5. Based on the "great love" described in 1 John 3:1, how can you go and act as a representative of this new family to someone who feels like an outsider, using that connection to show them what it means to be called a child of God?