Week of August 16, 2026 - Discussion Guide
Try this Discussion Guide based on Sunday’s sermon with your family, small group, or walk through it individually.
Summary - This sermon, preached from Matthew 15:10-28, explores the theme of true purity and what it means to be clean before God. Deron begins by contrasting the Pharisees' focus on external rituals (like ceremonial hand washing) with Jesus's teaching that real impurity comes from within the heart. Jesus challenges the religious leaders' man-made rules and redefines purity as something that goes all the way down to the core of a person's character, not just the surface of their behavior. The second half of the sermon focuses on the story of the Canaanite woman, who boldly approaches Jesus and refuses to be turned away, even accepting the humbling label of "dog" in order to receive healing for her daughter. Deron highlights how this Gentile woman, considered an enemy and outsider by Jewish standards, demonstrates a faith that breaks through cultural and religious barriers. Her persistence and trust in Jesus serve as a living example of the very purity Jesus had just described: a faith that is genuine all the way down, not just on the surface. The sermon closes with a call for the church to examine its own heart, to root out prejudice and the tendency to look down on others, and to become people who are pure through and through as followers of Jesus.
Intro Prayer - Heavenly Father, we come before you today as a group of people who want to know you more deeply. We ask that you open our hearts and minds as we discuss your Word together. Just as the Canaanite woman clung to your goodness with bold and persistent faith, help us to approach this time with that same openness and trust. Reveal to each of us what you want us to take away from this conversation. Where we have blind spots or hardened places in our hearts, soften them by your Spirit. May this time together draw us closer to you and to one another. In Jesus's name, amen.
Ice Breaker - What is one food that you could eat every single day without ever getting tired of it, and why?
Key Verses
Matthew 15:10-11
Matthew 15:17-28
Isaiah 56:1
Isaiah 56:6-8
Questions
Jesus says it is not what goes into a person that makes them unclean, but what comes out of the heart. What do you think this teaching would have felt like to someone who had spent their whole life carefully following religious rituals and rules?
Deron pointed out that the Pharisees emphasized external rituals while neglecting the deeper purpose of the law, which was to be a bridge between God and the world. In what ways do you think we can fall into a similar trap today, focusing on the appearance of faith rather than its substance?
Jesus lists several things that come from the heart and make a person unclean, including evil plots, false witness, and blasphemy. Which of these do you think is most commonly overlooked or minimized in our culture today, and why?
The Canaanite woman calls Jesus 'Son of David,' a deeply Jewish and messianic title. What does it say about her faith that she used this title, and what can her example teach us about how we approach God when we are desperate?
Jesus initially ignores the woman and then seems to push back on her request. How do you personally respond when God seems silent or slow to answer your prayers? What does this story offer as encouragement in those moments?
Deron described the woman as someone who looked like an enemy on the surface but was something entirely different underneath. Can you think of a time when you misjudged someone based on outward appearances or assumptions, and what changed your perspective?
The sermon challenged us to examine the ways we look down on others, whether based on appearance, background, behavior, or social status. How does Jesus's teaching in this passage connect that kind of judgment to the concept of being spiritually unclean?
Deron described followers of Jesus as 'God's imagineers,' people called to dream up creative ways to express God's love and welcome to others. What is one practical way your group or your church could better extend that welcome to someone who might feel like an outsider?
Life Application - This week, ask God to show you one person or one group of people you have been keeping at a distance, whether consciously or not. It might be someone you have judged based on how they look, what they do, where they come from, or what they believe. Pray specifically for that person or group each day this week, and ask God to give you one concrete opportunity to extend kindness or welcome to them. Come back next week ready to share what God revealed to you through that experience.
Key Takeaways
True purity is not about external rituals or appearances. It begins in the heart and works its way outward, affecting everything we say and do.
Jesus came to fulfill the deeper purpose of God's law, which was always to prepare a people through whom God's blessing would reach the entire world, not just one nation or group.
The Canaanite woman's persistent, humble faith is a model for how we approach God. She trusted in his goodness even when the circumstances seemed to say no.
Looking down on others or treating people as less than is not just a social problem. According to Jesus, it is a matter of spiritual impurity that separates us from God.
Followers of Jesus are called to be pure all the way down, not just on the surface, and to become people who actively welcome and bless those who are considered outsiders or enemies by the world's standards.
Ending Prayer - Lord Jesus, thank you for this time together in your Word. You have shown us through your own life that true purity is not a surface-level performance but a deep work of grace that transforms us from the inside out. Forgive us for the times we have looked down on others, kept people at a distance, or cared more about appearances than about the condition of our hearts. Give us the bold and persistent faith of the Canaanite woman, a faith that clings to your goodness no matter what. Help us to be people who are pure right down to the bottom, and who carry your welcome and your blessing to everyone we meet this week. May your Spirit do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. In your name we pray, amen.