Read: John 6

Discussion Questions:

• How has Jesus provided for you in the past in an unexpected way? What did you learn during this experience?

• Is it a sin to seek and ask God for physical provision? Where did these people fail in their pursuit of Jesus? How can we have a good and balanced prayer life?

• Why did Jesus ask the 12 disciples if they would stop following Him? 

• Has the Lord ever asked something of you that you didn’t understand? How did you respond?

Read: John 5

Discussion Questions:

• How do the first 17 verses show Jesus’ equality with the Father?

• Pluralism is the idea that all religions lead to the same God; how do these verses dispute this idea? If someone rejects Jesus and, as a result, rejects God, how should this change the way we share the Gospel with them?  

• The Jews who encountered Jesus missed the fact that Jesus is the Messiah that they were seeking. What methods do you use to avoid misunderstanding Scripture?   

Read: John 4:46-54

• The government official came to Jesus before seeing Jesus perform any sort of miracle. His request was made based solely on what he heard about Jesus. What does this say about the man’s desperation?

• What does verse 48 show us about the people of Galilee and their level of doubt about Jesus’ identity?

• Jesus didn’t do what the man asked of Him; describe the discrepancies between the man’s plans for Jesus and Jesus’ actions. How was Jesus’ solution better than the official’s?

Read: John 4:1-45

• If Jesus is omniscient (all-knowing), why does He ask people questions? 
• Where does prejudice fit in God’s economy?
• How do you prioritize your work to support your family and your work for the kingdom?
• Jesus interrupted the woman’s schedule and the encounter with the woman changed Jesus’ schedule. How do you recognize a divine appointment? How do you balance making time for people and being efficient?

Read: John 2:23-3:36

• What are the parallels between Jesus being lifted up and the bronze snake being lifted up in Numbers 21:6–9? For the people of Israel, salvation from snakebites was a perceived need. How does the genuine need for salvation become a perceived need for an individual? For our culture? 
• If God loves the world, why would anyone receive His wrath?
• John clearly preached the Gospel and pointed to Jesus. Why then would his followers be jealous of Jesus’ growing ministry?
• Today, how can someone participate in the Worship Service and attend LifeGroups yet still miss Jesus? 

Read: John 2:13-22

• How do our acts of worship reflect how we view God Himself?

• How does convenience affect our spiritual walk in today’s culture? What concessions are made for the sake of convenience? 

• When we choose to disobey, what does that communicate about the authority of God? How would you respond to someone who believes Scripture has little relevance in today’s issues because it was written so long ago?   

• in responding to the Jews, why does Jesus give a foreshadowing to His Resurrection?

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John 1:1-18

Cast of Characters: You

Cast of Characters: Mary

Cast of Characters: The Angels

Cast of Characters: The Wisemen

Cast of Characters: The Shepherds

Read Galatians 6:11-18

Discussion Questions

As we close out our study in Galatians, spend some time reflecting and sharing with others how the Spirit worked in your heart during this study. How has your love for Jesus deepened? How has this book shaped the way you understand and apply the gospel message?

1) In Galatians 6:14, what does it mean to boast in the cross, and how does Paul’s view of the cross shape the way he views the world?

2) For Paul, the way of the cross is one of humility and not pride. What are some ways that you can cultivate humility in your life? How does Paul’s view of the cross lead to humility?

Ask the Lord to show you have to live a cross centered life. Ask him to help you apply the glorious truths of the gospel to your life!

Read Galatians 6:1-10

Discussion Questions

Paul illustrates how those are in Christ should restore their brother or sister in sin and bear one another’s burdens.
 
1) Why is it necessary to approach a brother or sister in sin with gentleness? (See 2 Timothy 2:25). How else should we be careful to approach these circumstances?
 
2) What does Galatians 2:10 mean  “let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith”?

3) Paul encourages us to not grow weary in doing good. What hope can you cling to when you are tired? (Hebrews 10:36, Hebrews 12:5, I Corinthians 15:58)

Thank the Lord today for the community that he has given you, and that Jesus is the ultimate burden bearer.

Read Galatians 5:19-26

Discussion Questions

Paul  says the Spirit and the flesh are at war with one another, but the person who has the Spirit will look less like the person who is in the flesh.
 
1) Contrast the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh. What are the fruits of the Spirit that you are praying the Lord to grow you in? Are there any works of the flesh that you need to repent of?

2) This passage describes patterns of the flesh, and patterns of the spirit. How would you counsel someone to address the patterns they recognize in their own life?

Spend some time this week, praying for the areas that you want to grow in. Pray for your group and the church, that we would grow to demonstrate the unity of the Spirit.

 Read Galatians 5:16-18

Discussion Question

Walking by the Spirit frees us from the burden of the law’s demands, whereas the flesh is under the judgement of the law.
 
1) Paul states that the flesh and the Spirit are opposed to one another. Read Romans 7:1-25.  How does that passage compliment Galations 5:16-26?

Let us take a moment to pray and thank the Lord for His instructions for our lives in His Word. Examine your own heart and ask for the freedom that His Spirit brings to our lives.

Read Galatians 5:1–12.

Discussion Questions

Paul stated that the Galatians started “running well” but were hindered from “obeying the truth”, speaking to the dangers of legalism.

1) How can you determine the difference between legalistic living and “running well” and obeying the truth?

2) Paul’s harsh language toward the false teachers shows us the seriousness of misleading other believers. How should this attitude affect the way you lead or disciple others?

Ask the Lord  to expose to you any area of your life that you need to question, seek what the Bible says, and pray about in your own life.

Read Galatians 4

Discussion Questions

What elementary principles of this world would tempt you to fall back into slavery?

How do your daily actions change when you remember your new identity as God's child rather than your former identity as a slave?
 
In Galatians 4:17, Paul says, “They make much of you, but for no good purpose.” In other words, the false teachers are flatterers. What similar philosophies do we face in our own culture? How can we become aware of flattery in our own lives?

Spend some time thanking God that you have been set free from sin!

Read Galatians 3:15-29

Discussion Questions

In order to enter into God's covenant family, we are required to have faith in Christ. However, why do we find it so difficult to do so? According to Galatians 3:3, we cannot add to our faith. Can you identify any instances where you may be tempted to rely on your own actions or merits instead of having faith?
 
Paul explains that the law only serves as a temporary guide to show us our sins and prevent us from committing them. It also serves as a foreshadowing of Christ's arrival. If someone still believes that following rules is the only way to please God, how would you explain Paul's teachings to them?

Prayer Point: Take some time to express gratitude to God for sending His son, who has granted us freedom.

Read Galatians 3:1-14

Discussion Questions

1) How does it bring you comfort to know that peace with God requires faith alone?
 
2) In Galatians 3:8-9, Paul zooms out to remind the gentile Galatians that God includes them in the family of faith. How does this reality affect our awe of God? Our relationships with brothers and sisters? Our urgency in evangelism?

3) How could a legalistic mindset negatively affect your relationships with non-Christian friends, family, or coworkers? How can your confidence in Jesus have a positive influence in these relationships?

Prayer: Spend some time thanking God for removing the curse of the law, ask for His help in walking by faith.

Galatians 2:11-21

"But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?”

We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing."

Discussion Questions:

1) How were Cephas' (or Peter's) actions not in line with the Gospel? What effect might his hypocrisy have on others around him?

2) How did Paul define justification? In what ways are we tempted to trust in things we can do rather than in Christ alone?

3) What are old areas of our life that have a tendency to "rebuild" themselves? What does is say about our relationship with Christ?

4) What step of faith is this passage calling you to?

Prayer: Spend some time asking God to reveal to you any way that you are out of step with the gospel.

Galatians 2:1-10

"Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.  I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain.  But not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us. But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you.

Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism)—they added nothing to me. On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. When James, Cephas, and John—those recognized as pillars—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do."

Discussion Questions:

1) We see in this passage that Paul went to meet face-to-face with the Jerusalem apostles to settle a quarrel in the church. Why was it essential that he did that?

2) What should be the response to "false brothers" and who should respond to them?

3) How are the ideas of unity and partnership significant in this passage? For ministry today?

4) How does the Gospel help you see yourself clearly? How does this perspective change the way that we interact with others?

Prayer: Pray that you would be a person marked by faithful gospel proclamation and compassion for the poor.