1) Can you recall a place, or group of people where you felt like you belonged?

Read: Matthew 3:1-6

2) When you hear the kingdom of God what do you think of? What do you think the readers of Matthew would have thought when John the Baptist announced the kingdom of God was near?

3) Why does John call the people to repentance? What does this have to being part of the kingdom? Read: 1 John 1:9, Proverbs 28:13

Read: Matthew 3:7-12

4) What is it about the Pharisees that causes John the Baptist to reprimand them so much? Can we be guilty of the same type of behavior?

Read: Matthew 13-17

5) How can we enter the kingdom of God? What was God trying to communicate to mankind by speaking from heaven after Jesus' baptism?

6) How might you be trying to build your own kingdom on earth instead of living for God's kingdom?

7) What is our primary role in the kingdom of God? What can we learn from John the Baptist? Read: John 3:30

8) How can the kingdom of God offer us belonging even if all our other relationships and areas we seek belonging fail us? Read: 1 Peter 2:9-10