MESSAGE: Is Your Eye Healthy?     Date: 8/3/2025

SERIES: The Parables of Jesus

COMMUNICATOR: Pastor Brian Suttle

CHECK-IN & SHARE WINS: What was one highlight from your week? Where have you seen Jesus at work—in your life or in the world around you? Sharing wins help move the mission of God forward. 

THINK, DISCUSS, LIVE: These questions are great for personal devotions or group discussions. They’re designed to help you grow spiritually, connect more deeply with your Jesus friends, and live out your faith in the world around you.

1. Have you ever felt like someone got something they didn’t really earn or deserve? How did that make you feel? (They got the promotion you wanted, a better grade without trying, their prayers get answered while yours don’t, or they got credit for something you did.)

2. Read Matthew 20:1–16. Do you think the workers who started early had a good reason to be upset with the landowner? Why or why not? What do you think was going through the minds of the workers who got hired at 5 o’clock and still got paid the full amount?

3. What do you think Jesus is trying to teach those who’ve been following Him for a long time through this parable? What message might this have for someone who’s new to the faith or who doesn’t know Jesus yet? 

4. If God shows someone else more kindness or blessing than you, how do you usually respond—do you celebrate that person? Do you get jealous? Do you think you deserve more because of your own good efforts? Please provide an example. 

5. If you were one of the first workers hired, how do you think you’d really respond to the landowner’s question in verse 15? Would you feel grateful, frustrated, or maybe even a little entitled? Be honest—why do you think you’d react that way? And what about the workers who showed up at 5 p.m.—how would you see them?

6. What makes it hard for us to see God’s grace as beautiful instead of unfair? Could it be comparison? Pride? Forgetting our own sin? Think others get more grace than you? 

7. Read and discuss Matthew 6:22-23. What is the difference between a “good eye” and a bad one? What are some personality traits of both? 

8. What helps you restore a “good eye”—so you can celebrate grace instead of getting jealous or bitter?

9. If you knew one of your lost friends could still get “hired,” say “yes” to Jesus today, how would that change the way you treat them or pray for them? Would it give you more courage to share your Jesus story? Would it make you feel more urgency to reach out?

TAKING NEW GROUND! This week, take new ground by reading and praying Psalm 139:23–24. Ask God to search your heart and show you anything that doesn’t please Him—whether it’s ungratefulness, bitterness, pride (spiritual or otherwise), or something else. If He reveals something, don’t just feel bad—repent. Let it lead to real change in your thoughts, words, and actions. Also, who in your life is still waiting in the “marketplace to get hired?” Is there a friend who needs to hear your Jesus story or receive an invite to church? Don’t wait—reach out. Make it happen!

THE TRANSFORMATIONAL MODEL: Update your current position within the Canvas Circle, Jesus Friends Circle, and Lost Friends Circle. In what specific ways are you growing more like Jesus, reflecting His love and teachings to others, and drawing closer to the center of the diagram?

STRUGGLING TO READ YOUR BIBLE? We’ve put together a Bible reading plan to help you read through the entire New Testament in one year. Just one chapter a day, five days a week—plus a short bonus passage to reflect on. You can find it on the Canvas Church app—just tap “Bible Reading Plan.” Prefer to listen? That’s an option too! Join us on this life-changing journey with Jesus.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP PRAYER OPTIONS: “we hold on so tightly to the good that we do know that we cannot receive the greater good that we do not know. God has to help us let go of our tiny vision in order to release the greater good he has in store for us.” Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home

1. Let’s Pray: What’s one thing we can thank God for and one need we can pray about together?
2. Praise Sentences: Take a moment to thank God in short sentence prayers—for who He is, what He’s done this week, and for people in your group. Let several people pray, even more than once. Then, pray for any needs shared, and close by thanking God for hearing you.
3. Prayer Clusters: Meet in groups of two or three (same gender) to share praises and prayer requests. Pray together and for one another during the week. Let those in your group know you prayed—send a quick text of encouragement.

TRY IT… I DARE YOU! In any moment—big or small—pause and ask: “God, what do You want me to know?” Then: “What do You want me to do?” Try it this week and watch how God shows up. Bless someone by sharing what He’s doing in and through you!

SOUL SNACK: “We don’t believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true.” Dallas Willard