July 16, 2017
July 16, 2017
The author of the book of John is the apostle John (the brother of James). In John 20:3031, the author tells his readers why he wrote his account of Jesus’s life “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” There are two key words in these verses and in the text from the message (John 6:2540) – Believe and Life. In John 6, John records the miracles of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 and walking on the water. Many people participated / witnessed these miracles. In verses 2540 Jesus explains how these works (and all His miracles) should help people know God better.
BELONG 1. Describe a time where you felt like you needed to act a certain way just to make someone else happy. 2. What are some of the expectations you have of someone who is close to you? What expectations do feel like are placed on you?
GROW 1. John 6:2527 – the people participated / witnessed Jesus’s miracle of providing food for the multitude. How did they misunderstand what Jesus was trying to teach them through these miracles? 2. In verse 27 the word “life” means fullness or completeness of relationship with God (not simply existence). How is this different from what the people wanted? 3. John 6:2829 – the people asked Jesus what “work” God required of them. What was Jesus’ response? 4. In verse 29, the word believe means “to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to place confidence in”. What is Jesus telling the people (and us) we need to do? How should this change how we live? 5. John 6:3034 – shows how the people responded to Jesus’ explanation. Why do you think the people didn’t accept His teaching? Did they not understand or did they not want to believe? 6. How do we act like these people sometimes (wanting our immediate needs met, but not wanting to really know Jesus well)?
REACH 1. What aspects of your Christian walk have become a routine instead of being based on a growing relationship with Christ (even good things like prayer, journaling and quiet times can become routine)? 2. How can you prepare yourself to do a better job of listening and responding to the Holy Spirit throughout your day?
