The Life Week 4: "Identity Confirmation"

If you missed this weekend's gathering you can stream the audio of the teaching HERE or download it via ITunes and listen to it when and where you want HERE.

SCRIPTURES FROM SUNDAY:
John 4:43-54, chapter 5

REFLECT/DISCUSS:
Q: Of the 3 interactions with Jesus we covered in this teaching- which feels more like your own experience? Are you coming for help like the father of the sick child? Did Jesus come find you like the guy by the pool of Bethesda? Are you arguing with Jesus like the Jewish religious leaders?

Q: Do you think one of the folks who got a miracle showed more faith than the other? Who? How?

Q: What parallels do you see in these miracles? What differences do you notice?

Q: What does it stay to you about Jesus that He risked his anonymity to find the paralyzed man he’d healed and continue pointing Him to God?

Q: What problems (Stated and unstated) do the Jewish religious leaders have with Jesus? Can you relate to them at all?

Q: Which of the witnesses Jesus names in John 5 (John the Baptist, His miracles, God, The Scriptures) is the most impressive to you? How has Jesus has confirmed His identity to you personally?

FOR NEXT WEEK:
John 6

The Life Week 3 "Conversations"

If you missed this weekend's gathering you can stream the audio of the teaching HERE or download it via ITunes and listen to it when and where you want HERE.

SCRIPTURES FROM SUNDAY:
John 3:1-21; 4:1-42

REFLECT/DISCUSS:
Q: Of the two people Jesus talked with in these passages (Nicodemus & the Samaritan woman) who do you identify more with and why?

Q: When was the last time you had a conversation with God/Jesus? What was it about? Did you leave puzzled like Nicodemus or excited like the woman at the well?

Q: Nicodemus approached Jesus with compliments. When the conversation got too personal, the Samaritan woman tried to throw Jesus off with theological questions. What tactics do you employ when you come face to face with God and don’t want to open up?

Q: Some people believe that Jesus never saw Himself as the Messiah and never intended to die. Do these conversations shed any light on Jesus’ understanding of His identity and mission?

Q: Why do you think Jesus was content to stump Nicodemus when He revealed Himself pretty clearly to the Samaritan woman?

Q: If you could sit down with Jesus over a cup of coffee this week, what would you want to say to/ask Him? What do you think He would want to talk with you about?

FOR NEXT WEEK:
John 4:43-54 & 5

The Life Week 2 "VINTNER & BOUNCER"

If you missed this weekend's gathering you can stream the audio of the teaching HERE, or download it via ITunes and listen to it when and where you want HERE.

SCRIPTURES FROM SUNDAY:

John 2 (vv.1-2, 3-4, 5, 6-11, 13-14, 15-17, 18-22)

REFLECT/DISCUSS:

Q: How do you feel when you think about Jesus attending a week long party- complete with wine? And then making lots of “good wine”? Does this mesh with your previous images of Jesus?

Q: Why do you think Jesus did the wine into water miracle? Who was it for? What message was He sending?

Q: When He shows up to worship, Jesus finds the temple junked up with vendors. Have you had a similar experience where you felt like a special place or thing was ruined by commercialism or exploitation? If so, how did you feel? Respond?

Q: Are you surprised that Jesus makes a whip and gets physical with the vendors in the temple? Is He condoning violence as a means to advance His agenda?

Q: What light does Jesus’ interaction with the religious leaders shed on His actions and His understanding of His future?

Q: What do you think Jesus’ followers took away from this episode in the temple courtyard? What does it mean to/for us?

FOR NEXT WEEK:

John 3:1-21; 4:1-42

The Life Week 1 "Come & See"

If you missed this weekend's gathering you can stream the audio of the teaching HERE, or download it via ITunes and listen to it when and where you want HERE. 

SCRIPTURES FROM SUNDAY:
John 1 (vv.1-28; 29-34; 35-39; 40-47; 48-51)

REFLECT/DISCUSS:
Q: When you think of Jesus, what words and images come to mind? Who do you think He was? What was He about? What does He mean to your life?

Q: Do you think John was right when he said that looking at Jesus helps us understand God (John 1:17-18)? What has Jesus taught you about God?

Q: In the first chapter of his story about Jesus, John alternates between talking about Jesus in cosmic and earthly terms. How do you most often think/talk about Jesus? As the word of God who created everything- or the Jewish man who came on the scene as the Messiah 2000 years ago?

Q: Jesus makes Himself accessible to John and Andrew and invites them to spend time with Him (John 1:35-39). Do you think Jesus still does the same for us today? If so, how?

Q: Jesus sees and calls out he good in both Simon and Nathaniel (John 1:40-47) when He first meets them. If Jesus did the same for you, what would He say to you? If you are discussing this in a group, what good do you think Jesus would name in the others you are talking with?

Q: Look at the shift in Nathaniel’s opinion of Jesus in John 1:46-51. Has your opinion of Jesus changed/grown? If so, what would you say caused it?

FOR NEXT WEEK:
Read the 2nd chapter of John’s story of Jesus’ life.