Sermon Discussion Questions John 5:18-29

Hey leaders,
Here’s a recap on this last week’s message. I hope it’s helpful in your own preparation process. Since a lot of this study will have to do with the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and (implicitly) God the Holy Spirit, I would urge you to spend some time praying for the Spirit to come and reveal his truth to you and your group this week and ask him to show you where to apply these truths before you launch into the study.

Teaching Goal: Jesus imitates God the Father as Healer, Giver of Life, and Judge.

Application Goal: That when we know who Jesus is, we are able to imitate him in our lives in such a way that it brings other people to life.

TPQ:

The message this last week was all about how Jesus the Son imitates God the Father. To some degree, we all imitate our parents. What are some of the things that you imitate from your parents that you’re thankful for? What are some things that you imitate from your parents that you previously thought you’d never do?

Background info:

In the preceding section in John 5, Jesus healed a lame man and had him take up his bed and walk. The Pharisees ignored the fact that a man was just healed from his infirmity, and instead took issue with him for carrying something on the Sabbath. They later became enraged that Jesus would dare to heal someone on the Sabbath. This sets the stage for Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees and his explanation of his relationship with the Father.

Read John 5:15-20

It says in v.18 that they wanted to kill Jesus because he made himself equal with God. Does Jesus deny this allegation? (No). What does he do instead? (Explains his relationship with the Father).

What do we learn about Jesus’ relationship with the Father in this passage?

• They both work (v.17), the Son is not independent of the Father (v.19), the Son imitates the Father (v.19), the Father loves the Son (v.20a) and reveals everything that he is doing to him (v.20b).

What do we learn about how Jesus is imitating the Father in this passage?

• 17 “My Father is working until now, and I am working”

Specifically, Jesus is referring to why he did the work of healing on the Sabbath. We learn from the creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 that after the work of creation was done God “rested” from his work. The Sabbath commandment points back to that event (Exodus 20:8-11) when God told the Israelites to honor his work of creation by resting.

What do you think Jesus means when he says “My Father is working until now”?

• At one level, it refers to God’s act of sustaining creation (see Hebrews 1:1-3)
• Another thought here is that the original Sabbath was lost by the introduction of sin into creation. Ever since that time God has been working toward restoring the good creation he made that the Sabbath points to (Hebrews 4:9, Revelation 14:13).

How does knowing that God is at work for us help us to experience true rest?
Do you feel like you have this kind of rest in your life?

How can we imitate Jesus as he imitates the Father in healing?

• A few answers could be: Being a community of healing from brokenness, praying for healing for physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, etc. Bearing one another’s burdens… 

Read John 5:20-29

There are two themes that Jesus addresses throughout the rest of this passage, so we’ll look at both of them: (1) Jesus imitates the Father by raising the dead; (2) Jesus imitates the Father by Judging

Jesus imitates the Father by raising the dead

Have people read aloud all the verses where Jesus talks about raising the dead in this passage

• 21, 24, 25, 28, 29

According to verse 20b, why does Jesus tell us about his ability to raise the dead and give spiritual life?

• So that we might marvel

As a group, talk to each other about the glories of the resurrection. What makes it important to you? Work on marveling at what God is doing in the resurrection! Contemplate the fact that he sent his Son to be the firstfruits of it (1 Corinthians 15:23). Honestly, for all I care you and your group could stay here and not even get the rest of the study if you spend time marveling at the resurrection.

If you do move on, follow up with this question: How can we “imitate” Jesus the way he imitates the Father when it comes to the resurrection?

• 25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
• We can imitate the way Jesus imitates the Father by being obedient in bringing the Word of Christ, which is God’s power for raising the spiritually dead to life, to those in our lives. God can raise the dead through us by the preaching of the gospel (see previous verse, John 5:24, John 6:63,68, John 20:30-31, Romans 1:16).

Lastly, Jesus imitates God the Father as a Judge.

Read the verses that speak of Jesus being a Judge:

• 22, 24, 27, 28, 29

For starters, we have to notice that the resurrection and judgment are inextricably linked. Judgment is typically thought of as a bad thing; if anyone knows anything about the teachings of Jesus, it’s to not judge (Matthew 7:1).

Why is it good that Jesus is Judge?

• It’s the foundation for our own ability to “turn the other cheek” (Romans 12:19-21)
• It means that there’s actually purpose to our world, it’s not just random stuff happening all the time, some of which is ok and a lot of which that just plain sucks.
• It means that evil will be punished, which is a good thing. It’s also a bad thing, because we do evil things. Which is why it’s so amazing that the Judge himself became the Defendant and was found guilty on our behalf so that we could experience the resurrection of life (v.29, 2 Corinthians 5:21).

There are many religions whose beliefs make Jesus to be something less than what is portrayed here. Adherents of eastern religions are happy to view Jesus as a philosopher or a good moral teacher. Western religions will recognize him as a prophet (Islam) or even a god-like being (as is the case with Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons), but Jesus’ words in John 5 don’t seem to leave room for these interpretations (never mind the rest of the Gospel of John).

Why is it important for us to have a proper understanding of who Jesus is?

• Essentially it boils down to v.23b (“Whoever does not honor the Son [you could argue, “for who he is”] does not honor the Father who sent him.”)

Think through some implications of how Jesus’ imitation of the Father and his role as a Judge have implications on our lives.

• Here are some thoughts:
• We can be peaceful like Christ because we know he will judge
• We can become servants/lay our lives down for others (including enemies) like Christ because we know that he will judge
• We can warn others of the judgment of Christ and share the fact that he will grant amnesty to anyone who trusts in him for salvation
• We can grow in our own understanding of righteousness by looking to Christ, and then working toward restoration in our own communities because he is a perfect Judge

John 1:1-5 Follow Up Discussion

Here’s a few sermon discussion questions to help our church love God by applying his Word to our lives. Feel free to use these questions for personal reflection, alongside your family, within a smaller discipleship/journey group, or even within the context of your Life Group. If you missed Sunday’s sermon from John 1:1-5, you can view online here: http://thecrossingfc.org/sermons/the-word-is-life-and-light/
 

John 1:1-5  Discussion Questions:

TPQ (Thought Provoking Question):  In his sermon this past Sunday, Aaron described a scene in a dark cave. Where’s the darkest place you’ve ever been? (a cave, a rural road, camping on a mountain, etc.)  How did you react to such literal darkness?   As we begin to look at this passage in John’s gospel, we’ll see how the apostle John contrasts light & darkness.

1.  In verse 1, John uses wording that calls to mind the opening verses in Genesis (In the beginning…). How does this set the tone for the rest of this passage? Why does he want to harken us back to Genesis when he’s about to tell us about the ministry of Jesus in first century Palestine?  How does Christ as “the Word” connect with the creation account in Genesis?

2.  John goes on to tell us some things about this Word (Jesus).  Pastor Aaron brought out 5 characteristics or roles of the Word in these 5 verses. Can you identify them and share a little about the significance of each one?

>> The Word (Jesus) is:

Eternal-  John points to Genesis 1 and a new creation, but a story older than time.

Personal-  Jesus was with God, in relationship. ‘face to face’. Points to the Trinity

God (divine)-  Jesus being not just like God, but God Himself. We’ll see this unpacked in the 7 ‘I am’ statements.
Q:  what difference does it make to you that Jesus is God?

Creator-  Jesus created all things and He Himself was not created. He is the source & the force behind all creation. (cf Col 1:15-17)

Life & Light-  Jesus is the essence of spiritual life & glory that overcomes sin. The darkness has no power or means to overcome or to vanquish the light.

3. How does this knowledge about Jesus affect the way you see Him and act toward Him? Why does John think it’s important for us to know these things about Jesus from the very start of his gospel account

4.  Christ is the source of all light & life. Where else do you & I look for ‘life’ rather than in Him? What about non-believers; where do they look for ‘life’ this time of year? How can we, with the knowledge of Who the true Life really is, where pure Light really defeats darkness, how can we connect with those who are searching for life & light? This week? This season? Be specific.

For further reflection on the Trinity:

Here’s a great graphic explaining the trinity: http://www.challies.com/visual-theology/visual-theology-the-trinity

Here’s an article for further reading on the great doctrine of the Trinity: https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/kevindeyoung/2011/09/28/the-doctrine-of-the-trinity-no-christianity-without-it/

How does our view of “1 God, manifested in 3 distinct person’s” challenge your thinking? How does this view of God differ from other religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Bible Reading Plan 2016

Let me take you back to a year ago…it’s now January 12, 2015 and I’m debating if I should do a bible reading plan. I’ve read most of the bible but never actually gone through it in it’s entirety. I’m not much of a reader but I love reading God’s word. So I begin to search for some reading plans and I come across a tweet that led me to Tim Challies blog. From there I decided to do a reading plan that doesn’t start on January 1, since I was already 12 days late, but one that I could start whenever and not worry about staying on schedule. I decided to do Professor Horner’s System since it was touted as an intense reading plan and I like to think of myself as a pretty intense guy, just look at my beard. Anyway, you can click the link to find more information on that reading plan but basically it’s 10 chapters a day from completely different books of the bible. I started this plan on January 15th and I was going pretty strong for a couple of months. Eventually I waned and had to restructure my approach in June of 2015. I decided to cut it down to 5 chapters a day and wouldn’t re-read sections I had completed so I could finish the bible before the end of the year. Well fast forward to January 12, 2016 (today) and I’m still not done! I’ve got just 7 chapters left in the book of Esther (which I’ve read before!) and then, Lord willing, I’ll complete the bible in a year.
Now I share that story with you all not to get attention for my intense beard, or my over achieving bible reading plan, or even that I’ve read the entire bible. I share it with you because there’s been an incredible amount of joy that came from reading/soaking/meditating/ingesting God’s word over the last year. Making this a priority has brought me such a greater understanding of God’s character, his purposes for his people and a holistic view of scripture. I’m all about bible overviews and viewing the bible from Genesis to Revelation to have a clear understanding of how God is redeeming his people. But to read commentaries or watch really good videos on the topic is no substitute for actually reading the bible for yourself. We have a tremendous gift of God’s word that the reformers fought for us to have in our hands. We believe in Sola Scriptura, or the doctrine that scripture alone is our authority for faith and practice as a Christian. Let me urge you, if you haven’t read the entire bible before or if you’re feeling spiritually parched, try a reading plan. Try one with someone in your Life Group so you can dwell on scripture in community. I’ve linked to number of them below to help you get started.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:16-17

READING PLANS

The Bible Project This plan is broken up into 16 “chapters” and will have you read through the entire bible. You will read a 2-3 chapters a day, a psalm and it has some of their great videos that accompany each chapter.

ESV Daily Bible Reading Plan
This plan has four daily readings taken from four lists: Psalms and Wisdom Literature, Pentateuch and History of Israel, Chronicles and Prophets, and Gospels and Epistles.

Chronological Bible Reading Plan
Read through the Bible in the order the events occurred chronologically.

5×5×5 Bible Reading Plan Read through the New Testament in a year, reading Monday to Friday. Weekends are set aside for reflection and other reading. Especially beneficial if you’re new to a daily discipline of Bible reading.

You can find more examples here.

Read through the Bible, 1 year

Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Here is a great plan to read through the Bible in one year from the Bible Project.

Click on the link below, “Read Bible in 1 year:”

Read Bible in 1 year

Sunday Gathering, June 21

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: Psalm 116

Worship through Singing: Behold Our God God Alone Jesus I My Cross Have Taken After All (Holy) It Is Well

Sunday Gathering, May 2nd

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: Acts 26:1-32

Worship through Singing: God Alone Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery Come Thou Fount I Have A Shelter Crown Him (Majesty)

April 12th Gathering

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: Acts 23:12-35

Worship through Singing: All I Have is Christ Not What My Hands Have Done I Will Glory In My Redeemer Our Great God Nothing But the Blood

Easter Gathering, April 5th

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: Matthew 28:1-20

Worship through Singing: Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery It Is Finished In Christ Alone Christ Is Risen To Christ The Ransomed Sinners Run Revelation Song

Sunday Gathering, March 28th

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: Mark 11:1-11

Worship through Singing: It is Well With My Soul The Solid Rock Rejoice Come Praise and Glorify Jesus Thank You

The Gospel Project

Check out this great little video of the “Story of the Bible” by The Gospel Project!

https://vimeo.com/121265107

Sunday Gathering, March 8th

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: Acts 21:1-26

Worship through Singing: Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us Lord I Need You God Alone Jesus, Firm Foundation Behold Our God

Sunday Gathering March 1st

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: Acts 20:17-38

Worship through Singing: Come Thou Fount
Man of Sorrows
In Christ Alone
Jesus I My Cross Have Taken
Our Great God

Sunday's Gathering Feb.15th

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: Acts 20:1-16

Worship through Singing: God Alone Man of Sorrows To Christ the Ransomed Sinners Run When I Survey (The Wondrous Cross) The Church’s One Foundatio

Sunday Gathering, Feb. 8th

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: Acts 19:11-41

Worship through Singing: Come Praise and Glorify All Creatures of Our God & King Rejoice Not What My Hands Have Done Stronger

Sermon Recap, Jan. 18th

Here is the list of Spiritual Gifts mention in Scripture from Sundays Message.
Remember these are not comprehensive or exhaustive lists but good categories to think through. For instance the gift of teaching, what kind of teaching does Paul mean? Teaching Sunday Mornings or at Life Groups? What about our Journey Groups of 2-5 people or one on one Discipleship? How about as Father or Mother teaching their Children. Having the gift of teaching can take on several forms.

Use this list to dialog with others in the Crossing and in your Life Group: Spiritual Gifts Chart

Sunday Gathering, January 4th

Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:

1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.

2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.

3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!

Worship through the Word: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Worship through Singing: Wonderful Cross Man of Sorrows Cornerstone Jesus, Firm Foundation

Jesus is Love, John 3:16

John 3:16 is the Gospel, the Good News—-The Greatest news ever! Listen to how one explained it:
        “For God – the greatest Lover
         So loved – the greatest generosity
         The world – the greatest tragedy
         That he gave – the greatest sacrifice
         His only Son – the greatest gift
         That whoever – the greatest openness
         Believes – the greatest simplicity
         In him – the greatest attraction
         Should not perish – the greatest rescue
         But – the greatest difference
         Have – the greatest treasure
         Eternal life – the greatest experience.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfJIu10hZmQ

Christmas Eve Gathering

On December 24th at 5:30pm we will come together to worship the Incarnation of Jesus! Please join us and bring a friend if you are in town. We will have a short devotional message, read scripture, pray but mostly we will sing of this epic event! Our Gathering will be about an hour from 5:30pm-6:30pm so that you can make all of the other Christmas Eve engagements.

Advent 2014 Resources

This weekend we kicked off the Advent of Jesus Christ!
The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” From November 30th-December 25th we will focus our Gatherings around the celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ, his first Advent, with anticipation of His Second Advent as the conquering King.

Here is a free resource on Advent called, “Good News of Great Joy,” from John Piper and Desiring God. It is a great tool to help us keep Jesus at the heart of the Christmas Season.

www.desiringgod.org/books/good-news-of-great-joy

Matthew 1:1-17, The Genealogy of Hope

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JDYb5eaPfg&feature=em-upload_owner