STARTER
(In pairs for 5 minutes) Who has been your best neighbour?

WORSHIP

READ PASSAGE ALOUD
(As you hear these familiar commandments what thoughts come to your mind? Just write them down as you they occur to you)

RE-READ PASSAGE AND COMMENTARY
(Personal reflection)

PERSONAL FOCUS
(Personal reflection on the passage / commentary & questions in silence 10 minutes)

COMMENTARY
Jesus has been under a lot of pressure from the authorities who have been trying to catch him out with sufficient word of mouth evidence to arrest him and to date they have been unsuccessful. They try now to catch him out by hoping that he will deny the Law of Moses in response to their question, Which is the greatest commandment? (v.36). Jesus answers from the Ten Commandments that the 'greatest and first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your mind' (v.37). It is a total commitment of 'all'. But that is not enough for Jesus as he goes on to link this with the essential teaching of the prophets. 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself' (v.39). This is an important part of practising the justice of God. All are God's people and therefore all must be treated equally. Jesus is wise enough to know that we cannot give ourselves to God and to others unless we love yourselves (v.39). We need to recognise that we are created by God, loved and forgiven by God so that we can accept ourselves as we are. This alone gives us the confidence to commit ourselves to God's great purpose of love. The lawyer's question therefore becomes personal to each of us. What do we say is the greatest commandment by the way we live our lives?

PERSONAL FOCUS QUESTIONS
(Initially just reflect on the question that chooses you. It may help to clarify your thinking to make notes in the spaces provided. This will also give you material to reflect on in the future)

2. How is your love of self expressed?

3. From your experience, what keeps you from loving God, your neighbour or yourself? Of the three, which for you is the hardest to love?

PERSONAL FOCUS QUESTIONS
(Discuss in triplets / pray for each other –25 minutes)

LIFE FOCUS
(Discuss in whole group-15 minutes)

4. In what new ways could your Church community express its love for the wider community?

5. What practical outcome is there from our reflection? Do we need to make any plans to make things happen?

GROUP MEMORY TIME
(Review the actions you agreed to carry out at previous meetings)

REVIEW TIME
This was a difficult passage. What did you learn by comparing two versions of the same story?

What would you like to do differently next time?

PRAYER TIME
Pray perhaps that all the members of the group may have a true awareness of the love of God for them and that they may therefore be able to love Him and their neighbours.