John 6:41-51
Lead in: In John 6:41 when the people heard Jesus say, “I am the bread of life,” they balked at it. “He grew up here and now he’s saying he’s the bread of life?” Jesus speaks the truth, but people stubbornly refuse to listen.
Prompt: Was there ever a time when someone who truly cares about you confronted you about something that was hard to hear, but you knew you needed to listen to? How did you respond and what did you learn?
Lead in: The crowds could not accept Jesus as the bread of life because they had made their God too small. We can do the same. We try to fit God into neat categories that we understand. But God is beyond our limited way of understanding.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when life turned mysterious on you and the old answers you were given about who God is didn’t work anymore.
Prompt: What questions about God do you struggle with? How do these unresolved questions affect your faith journey?
Lead in: In reply to the crowds Jesus says, “Amen, amen, I say to you. Whoever believes has eternal life.” (John 6:47) In John’s Gospel, to “believe” is not just to give intellectual ascent. It’s a way of life.
Prompt: If believing is a way of life, what evidence is there in your life that you are a believer?
Prompt: Where is there yet inconsistency in the way you live your life?
Lead in: Fleeing from the king, the prophet Elijah escapes to the desert. Sitting down under a broom tree he prays for death saying, “Lord, I’ve had enough!”
Prompt: Was there ever a time when it appeared God had abandoned you and you had had enough and were ready to give up? How did you survive the challenge of that difficult time?
Lead in: Asleep under the broom tree, an angel touches Elijah and orders him to eat. Strengthened by the food, he walks forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
Prompt: Who have been the angels who have shown up in your life just when you needed them?
Lead in: Paul urges the divided church at Ephesus to be kind, compassionate, and forgiving.
Prompt: Who in your life has shown you what it means to be kind, compassionate, and forgiving. What have you learned from them?
