Matt Zainea Rockford Campus December 11, 2022
THE RESURRECTED LIFE
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
REMINDERS
- Christmas Candlelight is being hosted at our campuses the weekend of Dec. 18. For more details and info about how you can help serve, go to: https://magnifychurch.org/event/christmas/
- End of Year Giving. This week, Pastor Matt Zainea laid out our stated goal for year-end giving to reach $1.6 million. Please be in prayer as to how you and your group can contribute to this goal. For questions, feel free to reach out to me ([email protected]) or Executive Pastor Andrew Bauer ([email protected]).
TOGETHER IN LIFE
** To kick off the sermons the last two weeks, Magnify has shown some videos on the value of giving. This week, Steve Welch shared a story from his teenage years where he had saved up money and really wanted some new, cool parts for his car. His dad affirmed his work ethic and diligence in saving money, but he challenged him to reconsider how he might invest his resources by giving it away benevolently. He then read from Luke 12 about Jesus challenging people to consider where they are storing up treasures: here on earth or in heaven with the Father.
As you consider these stories, share about a time in your life when someone or a group of people were generous toward you. After sharing, complete this sentence: “I most saw God in…”
Think about how God uses each of us to be an extension of his generosity here on earth toward other people – even if they don’t realize it!
TOGETHER IN THE WORD
Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
Turning around, she said to him in Araimaic, “Rabboni!” – which means “Teacher.”
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her. (John 19:15b-18)
** This week in our passage of John, Matt addressed 5 architypes – models – of the kinds of people that were involved in Jesus’ burial and resurrection experience. He drilled down into those 5 characters in order that we would consider: How are we like them? And how is Jesus calling them to himself?
NOTE: Scripture is multifaceted. It has many, many layers of meaning. This should not keep us from digging in and getting our hands dirty – there are parts of God, his story and his nature that he has chosen to reveal to even the most “simpleminded” of humans.
But, we should cause us to humbly approach the Word and consider all of the meaning of a text, rather than taking things only as they seem. The use of “architypes” in John is an example of a ‘layer’ of meaning in the text. The people in this story are real – just like you and me. But they also represent a way of approaching Jesus’ life, death and resurrection that reveal something that is true about us as humans as a model. Matt chooses to intentionally address this layer this week as we think about the ways we choose relate to Jesus.
For all of these, it comes down to the question:
Will you trust God and live as though these stories are true?
Joseph of Arimathea – The Fearful Follower
** Some things we know of Joseph of Arimathea:
- He was a man of means and status
- He keeps his love of Jesus in the shadows, especially around certain groups of people
QUESTION: What are some ways people hide their love of Christ?
QUESTION: Why was Joseph of Arimathea a Fearful Follower? What causes us to be a ‘Fearful Follower’?
Nicodemus – The Calculating Follower
** Some things we know of Nicodemus:
- He was a well-respected Pharisee
- He was intellectual, practical and logical
- Following Jesus needed to make sense according to his intellect
QUESTION: What reasons make it so challenging to so many people to intellectually engage the idea of God, Jesus, the Bible, etc.?
QUESTION: Nicodemus wanted to be able to “get it”, before he decided to follow. Have you experienced this in your life? Share about a time when you took a step of faith without having all the answers. How did you experience God in that season?
Peter – The Ashamed Follower
** Some things we know of Peter:
- He was stubborn, proud and passionate
- He was a Jew and convinced Jesus was the Messiah
- He was deeply troubled when Jesus was not the kind of Messiah he had longed for
- He turned his back on Jesus in his greatest hour of need (after being convinced he was Jesus’ most devoted follower)
QUESTION: Peter longed to be a whole-hearted follower of Jesus. But even in his passion, he was held back by the shame of denying Christ. What do you think was going through Peter’s mind as he wept bitterly (see Matthew 26:75)
EXERCISE: “If you only knew about my past – the real me…” Shame can be a powerful motivator in our lives that ends up keeping us from moving forward in many areas, especially when it comes to our relationship to the Lord.
Read the Romans 8:1-2 aloud and have a moment of silent prayer as a group. Then read it aloud again.
QUESTION: Do you believe this? What keeps you from living this out daily? Talk with your group about how you can help one another in your moments of weakness.
Mary Magdalene – The Clinging Follower
** Some things we know of Mary Magdalene:
- Life altering experience with Jesus, freed from demons and despair
- Struggled to allow Jesus full freedom and authority
** When we experience Jesus in powerful ways, we tend to long for others to experience him in the same way. This is often one way God uses us to bless others. However, we can be trapped in the belief that unless someone experiences God in the same way that I have, they are missing out. This is a temptation that ultimately limits God to engaging others in only the way we have engaged him.
QUESTION: How do we, in our enthusiasm for the Lord, box him in to our pre-conceived expectations?
QUESTION: What are some of the main ways you grow in your relationship with the Lord? In what ways do you encourage others to do the same? Are there other ways you may not have considered that may be helpful for others to grow in their walk differently from your own?
Thomas – The Demanding Follower
** Some things we know of Thomas:
- His faith requires tangible evidence
- He is similar to Nicodemus, but less intellectual and more ‘natural’/simple
QUESTION: What is Jesus’ attitude toward Thomas (John 20:24-29)?
QUESTION: What does this tell us about God’s love for all people?
You – The __________ Follower
** Some things we know of you:
- You are an image bearer of God
- You are a sinner in need of grace
QUESTION: When you consider the 5 architypes discussed by Matt, which most closely represents your natural tendencies?
QUESTION: What kind of follower do you long to be?
READ the following passages to see what the lives of followers of Jesus look like…
- 5:1-15
- John 15:9-17
- 5:16-26
- 4:4-9
TOGETHER IN PRAYER
This week’s focus of Advent is “Joy”. Where do you long for joy in your life? Where do you feel most down, where you need God’s joy to lift you up? Discuss this as a group and pray for one another.
TOGETHER IN ACTION
As we inch closer to Christmas Day, think of creative ways that you can bring joy to the lives of those you are around regularly. Try something out of the ordinary that would be a delight to those in need of joy this holiday season.
