They're all stories we've heard at least a piece of. Jonah, David and Goliath. Sampson. But few of us allow ourselves to glean more than the one or two layers of the story than we're familiar with. Oh, that's that story about the whale that ate that guy. That's the story about the weakling taking down a giant. That's that strong dude with good hair.
Spend some time as a group to discover why stories from as far back as the Bronze Age might still have something to say to our modern life, if we'll allow ourselves to resee the larger picture, the nuance and the subtext.
Thaw
- What is something you are learning right now?
- What most stuck with you from Sunday?
Watch
- Many in the group may have seen this before. But if not, it's a good intro into seeing more than what you've determined to look for: http://youtu.be/Ahg6qcgoay4
- (or, same principle but less well known, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzC_sHTW43c)
Discuss
- Can you remember a time where you became fixated on only one part of the whole (in a project, in a relationship, etc.) and regretted it? Share.
Read
- Jonah 1:17
- Jonah 2:10
- Jonah 3:5
- Jonah 3:8
- Jonah 3:10
- Jonah 4:1-11
- Thoughts?
- What is this story about if we remove the giant fish?
- In what ways does the story of Jonah differ from how you'd always thought of it?
- How do you think the first Jewish hearers of this story took it?
Apply
- What does your answer to the above have to do with our own understanding of God and our lives now?
- Do you think the plausibility of a fish swallowing Jonah detracts from the point of the story for us today, adds to it, or has no bearing? Explain?
- How can this group benefit from being challenged to see God as at work in the lives of those we determined were on the outside of our faith?
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