Unlikely Recipients of Grace

Transcription

1 Unlikely Recipients of Grace Lenten Portrayals, March/April 2011 Lenten Study Guide The Man Born Blind The Gerasene Demoniac The Adulterous Woman The Grateful Leper The Samaritan Woman Lazarus Peter in the Upper Room Lenten Services Wednesdays, March 9-April 13 Maundy Thursday, April 21 5:30 & 7 p.m. Calvary Lutheran Church 7520 Golden Valley Road Golden Valley, MN

2 ~ Notes ~

3 Welcome to Lent 2011 at Calvary! This will be our 14th season of offering live character portrayals at our Wednesday evening services. Themed Unlikely Recipients of Grace, this year s portrayals will feature the testimonies of those whom Jesus encountered, most of whom would have been shunned by polite society. Come and learn from: The Man Born Blind, whose boldness infuriated the religious leaders. The Gerasene Demoniac. Talk about your worst nightmare! The Adulterous Woman, who was completely amazed by grace. The Grateful Leper. Who would have thought that a Samaritan would be the hero? The Samaritan Woman. She thought she could hide her secrets. Lazarus. This is not just a near-death experience. Peter in the Upper Room. This year we have a bonus presentation for Maundy Thursday. Get a firsthand report from the Upper Room. For several years, a discussion guide like this has been used to help adult mentors and our confirmation students talk about the portrayals they see together. To the delight of many, we are now making the discussion guides available to the congregation at large, so that members and guests can use them with their families, in small groups, over supper here at church or in many other ways. If you re using the guide in your small group, you might want to go through each set of questions at once, but if you re talking through the questions with your kids at home, you might want to cover just a few each day. We know that the impact of each portrayal will be enhanced and remembered longer if each of us takes the time to process what we ve heard and share it with another person. My prayer is that this Lenten season will draw you closer to the cross of Jesus, as well as to those who literally saw, heard and felt the events that led up to His crucifixion and resurrection. I also want to encourage you to invite your friends and neighbors to attend these Lenten services with you. It may be just the right first step in drawing them into a closer relationship with Jesus. I pray God s blessings for you as we journey toward Easter together this Lenten season. In Christ,

4 ~ The Man Born Blind~ What s your earliest memory from childhood? What is you favorite hobby? Why did you get into it? Are you afraid of the dark? Have you ever been? Read John 9:1-2. What do Jesus disciples assume about the blind man? Read John 9: How does this healing change the faith of the blind man? How does it change the faith of the Pharisees? Read John 9: How could these religious experts be blind if their eyes work just fine? What is Jesus saying that they don t see? Do you ever feel like God is punishing you when bad things happen? What would the former blind man say is the most important thing to remember when dark times come? Have you ever seen a miracle? What was it like and how did it affect your faith? Do you know anyone who really dislikes God or disagrees with your faith in Christ? How do you handle a situation like that? Have you ever been kicked out, excluded or cut from a team or group? What was it like and how did you get through it? Pray for Calvary s journey through Lent, asking God to bless our members, students, mentors and guests in a powerful way. Take time to share prayer requests and then pray together. Be sure to include prayers of thanksgiving for what God has done in your lives.

5 ~ The Gerasene Demoniac ~ Our portrayal tonight involves a herd of pigs plummeting into a lake. That s crazy. What s the craziest thing you ve every seen? Talk about the coolest vacation you ve ever been on. Share a high and low from your week. Read Mark 5:1-20 (split the passage into five-verse chunks and take turns). What did the possessed man do immediately after seeing Jesus? Where did Jesus send the demons after casting them out of the man? What did Jesus tell the man to do after he was healed? Why? Read Mark 5:1 again. It s important to note that Jesus is traveling to a side of the Sea of Galilee where Jews normally wouldn t travel (i.e., Jews stayed as far away from pigs as possible). Why do you think Jesus constantly shows up in these unlikely sorts of places? What does it say about His character? Why do you think Jesus said what He said to the man in Mark 5:19? The Decapolis (Mark 5:19) is Greek for ten cities and referred to the ten largest cities on the Eastern edge of the Roman Empire. Mostly non-jewish people lived in these cities. Jesus went to this region on purpose to tell people who most others had written off as hopeless about God s love. Have you ever had a hard time believing that God could love certain people? In the story, the man s demon made him do some pretty crazy stuff to himself and others. Do you believe demons can still affect people? How? (Note specifically that the demon caused the man to cut himself. Do you know anyone who struggles with cutting?) Why do you think the people of the city begged Jesus to leave? Do you think people try and push God out of their lives today? Why/how? Take time to share prayer requests and then pray together.

6 ~ The Adulterous Woman ~ Do you have any plans for Spring Break? What are they? Share a high and low from your week. What is something about last week s portrayal that has stuck with you this week? The adulterous woman talked about how women were treated in her day, not married because they were in love but because they had to be married. Is that strange/hard for you to think about? Can you imagine if our culture was still that way? How different might your life might be? Why is it so important that women are treated fairly? The adulterous woman said the man with whom she had an affair listened to her. We all need someone to listen to us and be our friend. Who listens to you and who do you listen to? In John 8:6, the Bible tells us that the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus. Why? The adulterous woman said that she knew many people thought of her as worthless. We know that no one is worthless in God s eyes because we are His children. Have you felt, or has anyone ever made you feel worthless? Do you believe God s promise that you are not worthless, but that you are loved deeply by him? Why or why not? Read John 8:7-11. Jesus offered the women compassion and forgiveness. Have you ever felt Jesus compassion and forgiveness? Can you talk about it? These verses end with Jesus telling the adulterous woman to Go and sin no more, why is this so important for us to hear? Your identity is not in the way you look, who you are with or what you have done (good or bad). Your identity is in Jesus Christ. What does that mean for you? How does this affect the way you live and see the world? Take time to share prayer requests and then pray together.

7 ~ The Grateful Leper ~ Discuss your favorite month of the year and why it is your favorite. Tell each other about your best friend. Share a high and a low from your week. Read Luke 17: Who are Samaritans? What do we know about Samaritans from the Bible or from tonight s portrayal? What is leprosy? What do we know about lepers from tonight s portrayal and the Bible? Read Luke 5: How do you think this account of Jesus healing a leper affected the faith of the 10 lepers in Luke 17? Are there people we treat like lepers or Samaritans in today s culture? Who are the outcasts today? What can you do for the untouchables or outcasts in your life at school or work? The lepers in Luke 17 ran to the priest before they even were healed. Would you be willing to do what God asks of you, even if you weren t sure it would work? Would you act in faith in that situation? Why or why not? Jesus made a difference in the lives of 10 people with leprosy in Luke 17, but only one returned to Jesus and thanked him (v.16). What has Jesus done in your life that you could offer thanks for tonight? Take time to share prayer requests and then pray together. Be sure to include prayers of thanksgiving for what God has done in your lives.

8 ~ The Samaritan Woman ~ Tell each other about how your family celebrates Easter. What is one thing you remember about last week s portrayal? Share a high and low from your week. Read John 4:7-9. Why was the Samaritan woman surprised that Jesus talked to her and asked her for a drink? Why do you think Jesus talked to her? Would you have done the same? Jesus crossed barriers to share the gospel. Would you cross barriers to share the gospel when given the chance? Is there someone whom you avoid for one reason or another? What can we learn from this scripture and tonight s portrayal about how to treat others? Read John 4: What kind of water is the woman talking about? What was the woman thirsty for? What did Jesus mean by living water? Who can satisfy our spiritual thirst? The Samaritan woman tried to avoid the issues of her personal life by changing the subject with Jesus, but Jesus said that God is very interested in the real issues of our lives. Do you share your real issues with God? Read John 4: Jesus told the Samaritan woman that it is not where we worship that counts but how we worship. Is your worship genuine? The Samaritan woman s conversation with Jesus showed her that if she were to take the life that Jesus could give her, there would have to be changes in her life. Are you willing to take the living water that Jesus offers and have it change your life? Take time to share prayer requests and then pray together.

9 ~ Lazarus ~ Have you ever been to a funeral? What was it like? How were people acting? How is this both the same and different from what you see in movies and on TV? Read John 11: How do you think Martha said what she said to Jesus? In sorrow? In anger? In what? Read John 11:6. Why did Jesus stay away from the situation for two more days? Read John 11: If you were there and witnessed this miracle, how do you think you would have reacted? Read John 11: What does it mean that Jesus calls Himself the Resurrection and the Life? Lazarus had an incredible encounter with the miracle worker Jesus. Do you think Jesus is still in the business of doing miracles? If so, feel free to share an account. The life of Lazarus, according to our portrayal, was never the same after Jesus raised him from death. Has an encounter with Jesus changed your life? If so, how? If not, why do you think this is so? Because Jesus called Himself the Resurrection and the Life, how is the follower of Jesus to view death and dying? Everyone in the world has a relationship with Jesus. Some are positive relationships (followers), some are challenged relationships (skeptics and non-believers) but everyone has a relationship at least one way (from Jesus to whomever). Pray with your mentor for your relationship and theirs, that the story of the rising of Lazarus would strengthen the relationship. Take time to share prayer requests and then pray together. Be sure to include prayers of thanksgiving for what God has done in your lives.

10 ~ Peter in the Upper Room ~ Share a high and low from your week. Who was your favorite Lenten portrayal? Why? Why was the death and resurrection of Lazarus a turning point for both Jesus followers and His opponents? Why did the Jewish religious leaders feel threatened by Jesus? Why is the Passover meal so important to the Jewish people? What does the Passover meal represent? Why did the disciples feel so odd about Jesus act of washing their feet? Why did Jesus insist on doing such a thing? Have you ever had your feet washed by someone? If so, describe the experience. Imagine you are in the upper room during the Last Supper. What thoughts/emotions are running through your mind? (Keep in mind, even at this point, Jesus death was not on the radar in the minds of the disciples). This is my body...this is my blood. We hear these words every time we receive Communion. Spend some time discussing what these words really mean. Do you really believe that the bread and wine somehow become something different in Communion? What does participating in Holy Communion mean to you? Has tonight s portrayal added anything to its meaning? Take time to share prayer requests and then pray together.

11 ~ Notes ~

12 ~ Notes ~ Calvary Lutheran Church 7520 Golden Valley Road Golden Valley, MN