By Michael C. Mack

Decide if you agree or disagree with each of these statements:

• Religion and relationship are polar opposites.

• Proper religion contains a vital element of relationship. 

• Religious activity is meaningless; a relationship with God is the only thing that matters. 

• Faith in God without religious activity is worthless. 

Read Micah 6:3-8. 

What did God want his people to remember from the past? Why do you think that was and is important? 

Notice in verses 6 and 7 how, with each successive bid, the people raised the stakes of their offers to “buy off” God. In what ways do people try to bargain with God today? 

How has reflecting on what God has done in biblical history helped you grow in your own relationship with God? How has remembering what God has done in your own life in the past helped you to trust him in the present? 

Look at Matthew 15:7-9. What makes our religious practices worthless? 

In your own words, what does the Lord desire from us? (See also Matthew 22:36-40.) 

Close in prayer, thanking God for your relationship with him that is possible only through his Son. Thank him for what he has done, is doing, and the promises of what he will do in and through you.

Michael Mack leads church training events and consults with churches through his ministry, Small Group Leadership (www.smallgroupleadership.com).