LAUNCH:
Ivan has been in Jon’s math class for the past couple days. Ivan is new in town and new at school. Jon noticed that Ivan has been sitting in class but not getting to know anyone. Jon would like to reach out to Ivan, but he feels awkward about that because the only thing he knows about him is his name. What would you say to Jon to coach him in starting a conversation with Ivan?
EXPLORE:
1. Read John 4:3-6. What’s happening with Jesus in these verses?
2. Read John 4:7-9. How does Jesus start a conversation with a woman who comes to get water from the well?
3. What can we learn from the way Jesus starts a conversation with the woman?
4. What does the woman’s response to Jesus say about the barriers Jesus needs to overcome to start talking to her?
APPLY:
5. Who do you think God is calling you to start a conversation with as a first step to helping them know about Jesus? Why is starting a conversation so important if you want someone to know about Jesus?
6. What is something you have in common with this person that could help with starting a conversation?
7. Based on how your group answered the last question, brainstorm with each other some ways you could start a conversation.
8. What barriers will you need to trust God to overcome to start a conversation with this person?
9. Read Acts 1:8. How can the Holy Spirit help you take the first step in being a witness (representative) for Christ to this person by starting a conversation with him or her?
10. When do you think God wants you to start a conversation with this person?
LAUNCH:
Jon started a conversation with Ivan by asking him where he’s from. Since then Jon has been asking him more questions, and they’ve been getting to know each other better. They even started eating lunch together after math class. Jon doesn’t know anything about Ivan’s spiritual background. He’d like to find out, but he doesn’t know how to bring it up. If you were Jon, how would you bring up spiritual matters with Ivan?
EXPLORE:
1.Read John 4:10-15. What does Jesus do to bring up spiritual matters with the woman?
2. How does the woman respond to Jesus’ statement in verses 11-12?
3. What does Jesus say in verses 13-14 to keep the topic focused on spiritual matters?
4. How does the woman respond in verse 15 to the claims Jesus made about himself?
5. What does Jesus focus on during this part of the conversation (verses 10-15)?
APPLY:
6. Why is it important to try to get into spiritual conversations with people? Why is it hard to do?
7. This week we want to challenge each of you to start a spiritual conversation with someone you know.Who is someone you know that you’d like to bring up spiritual matters with?
8. What do you know about this person? Based on these things, what are some ways you think you could bring up spiritual matters with this person?
9. Look at the list of questions below. Which one do you like the most as a way to bring up spiritual matters?
- Have you gone to church a lot growing up? If so, what was that like for you?
- At this point in your life do you think you’re moving closer to God, further away, or staying in the same place? Why?
- On a scale of 1-10, where would you rank your desire to know God personally (1 is low; 10 is high)?
- If you could ask God one question, what would you ask?
- Have you heard of Cru? It’s a group on campus that talks about how God relates to our lives. Do you think about God much?
10. Try to brainstorm 10 more questions as a group that would help you bring up spiritual matters with someone you know.
11. Based on all the ideas we’ve talked about, which question do you think God wants you to ask the person you identified in Question 6? When this week would be a good time to try out this question with your friend?
LAUNCH:
One day at lunch Jon asked Ivan about his religious background. It was a lot easier than he thought! Ivan told Jon his mother took him to church once in a while as he was growing up. But that was about it. Yet Ivan seemed interested in spiritual things and asked Jon questions about what he believes. Jon thinks it would be a good idea to talk to Ivan about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. But he wonders how to do that. What would you tell him?
EXPLORE:
1. Read John 4:13-14. What good news does Jesus give the woman? Why do you think Jesus brought up this good news to the woman instead of just having a “nice” conversation with her?
2. Jesus is saying that the woman is looking for something to satisfy her (physical water) that never will. What are things that people today look to to satisfy them?
3. Read verses 16-18. How does the woman respond to this good news, and what happens next? What does this show about what kind of “water” she’s hoping to satisfy her?
4. What do you think Jesus is trying to accomplish by asking the woman to get her husband?
5. Read verses 19-20. In what way is the woman’s response a smokescreen? What are some modern-day smokescreens people bring up?
6. Read verses 21-26. How does Jesus refocus the conversation on himself in these verses? How can we do the same in our conversations?
APPLY:
7. Read Romans 1:16 and Acts 1:8. What does Romans 1:16 say about why it’s so important to bring up the gospel as soon as possible, and what does Acts 1:8 say about where the power comes to do that?
8. What is the gospel, and why is it important to bring it up with someone as soon as possible?
9. Who in your life would benefit from you bringing up the gospel with them?
10. What are some questions you could ask to move from a general discussion about spiritual matters to a specific discussion about the gospel?
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11. When do you think God wants you to discuss the gospel with the person you identified in Question 9?
Things have come such a long way with Jon and Ivan. At the beginning, Jon didn’t even know how to start talking to Ivan. But now they’ve become good friends. One of the highlights for Jon was when he got to explain to Ivan what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. Since then Ivan has been thinking about giving his life to Jesus. But he hasn’t actually done that yet. Jon doesn’t want to push Ivan into a decision, but he also doesn’t want Ivan to miss out on trusting in Jesus because of a lack of encouragement. What would you do if you were in Jon’s shoes to encourage Ivan to trust in Jesus?
EXPLORE:
1. Read Acts 3:1-11. How do the people respond to God’s miraculous healing of a man who can’t walk?
2. What does Peter explain to the people about Jesus in Acts 3:12-15?
3. How does Peter explain the man’s healing in Acts 3:16?
4. Read Acts 3:17-21. What action does Peter call the people to take?
5. According to verses 19-21, what will happen if they repent and turn to God?
APPLY:
6. Based on what we read in this passage, why is it such a big deal to invite people to make a decision about Jesus Christ? Why can this be hard to invite someone to do?
7. Who do you know that needs to make a decision about Jesus?
8. What does it mean to make a decision to follow Jesus? Whose responsibility is this decision?
9. What happens if a person never makes this decision?
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