Mother’s Day is a beautiful opportunity to celebrate the women who serve their families in so many often-overlooked ways, however we realize the subject of motherhood evokes an extremely wide range of responses. Many people have rich, life-giving relationships with their mothers. Others barely know their moms. In our Grace community, there are some who feel fresh grief from the loss of their mothers, while others long to be mothers themselves. Few topics touch our hearts as deeply as this.

But how did Jesus respond to mothers? What was his approach to women in general? On this Mother’s Day, we will follow this thread in John’s Gospel, where Jesus’ interactions with women are crucially important, shockingly refreshing, and deeply counter-cultural.

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SEE IT // BE IT

(Weekly Community Group Discussion Guide)



Title:  “The Women” //   Scripture: John 2:1-12; 4:1-42; 8:1-11; 11:1-44; 12:1-8; 19:24-27; 20:11-18

 

ARRIVAL / SOCIAL TIME  15-20 minutes

Spend the first 15 minutes or so of your time together catching up and socializing with one another.  Also, find time to catch up together on how the assignments from last week turned out.

 

SERMON REVIEW  5-10 minutes

This week we celebrated Mother’s Day by looking at the different interactions Jesus had with women throughout the book of John. Just like there are seven “signs” and seven “I am statements”, today we saw that there are seven interactions with women in John’s gospel. The seven “signs” show us the reality of the life of Jesus. The seven “I am statements” demonstrate the identity of Jesus, and the seven interactions with women show us the kind of community (or family) of faith that Jesus was and is forming. In John 2, we saw how Jesus meets scarcity with abundance. In John 4, we saw how Jesus meets thirst with satisfaction. In John 8, we saw how Jesus meets sin with grace. In John 11, we saw Jesus meet desperation with hope. John 12, we saw Jesus meeting insecurity with blessing. John 19, we saw Jesus meeting loneliness with nurture, and in John 21, Jesus met grief with purpose. These seven interactions with women demonstrate to us how our families can LIVE Sensitive and LIVE Sent.

 

THE MAIN THOUGHT  keep this in mind as you facilitate discussion

“LIVE Sensitive. LIVE Sent.”

 

SEE IT – Questions  10-15 min

Picture: What were the seven interactions of Jesus with women in the book of John? See if your group can come up with all of them.  Which interaction do you find most memorable and why? Which interaction do you find most meaningful and why?

Mirror: In each interaction with the women in John, Jesus provides something—abundance, satisfaction, grace, hope, blessing, nurture, and purpose. Which one of these seven provisions are you most sensitive to right now? What need in you does this unmask? Which one of these seven provisions are you most numb to right now? What reality does this unmask in you? Remind the group that truth in John is about honesty and vulnerability—“unmasking” or “uncovering”.

Window:  Do you believe God has a purpose for you? How aware are you of that purpose? What role do you think sensitivity plays in understanding our purpose? How can you LIVE “sent” into these sensitivities? What sacrifices would living “sent” require? What benefit might come from living through this filter?

 

BE IT – Practice

Change UP // 7 Up  (15 minutes)

Have each individual think about the role of significant women in their lives—mothers, wives, daughters, friends, teachers, coaches, etc. Then have each individual list seven things the women in their lives have taught them about God? Have a few people share their list and what they learned.

 

Change IN // Bless Our Kids(10 minutes)

This week we celebrated with baby dedication. We committed as a congregation to invest in our kids. Studies tell us that one of the most significant characteristics of students, who keep their faith once they leave for college, is whether an adult other than their mom or dad has spoken truth into their lives, so this week pray and ask God how we can make room for that. Take some time to bless each other’s children by speaking over them, praying for them or writing notes to them—calling out who God has made them to be and what you see God doing in their lives.

 

Change OUT //  Live Sensitive! Live Sent! (5 minutes)

Choose ONE sensitivity to LIVE into this week.

  • Scarcity and Abundance—give someone a gift.
  • Thirst and Satisfaction—buy someone lunch.
  • Sin and Grace—give someone forgiveness who doesn’t deserve it.
  • Desperation and Hope—speak life into someone’s perspective.
  • Insecurity and Blessing—write someone a note of encouragement.
  • Loneliness and Nurture—do something for someone else’s child
  • Grief and Purpose—be present in someone’s grief

CLOSING PRAYER  5 minutes

Take a few minutes to gather any prayer requests and pray for each other to SEE IT and BE IT this week.