It's a strange little story.
But it has big implications for the small, day-to-day life of faith we live.
Use this discussion time to see if you can uncover the depths of faith and trust in the mundane, in the ordinary and where we'd been taught was beneath Almighty God.
Thaw
- What most stuck with you from Sunday?
- What is a big thing you are currently praying about?
- What is a small thing(s) you are currently praying about?
Read
- John 2:1-11
- Thoughts?
Discuss
- How important have you found "tone" to be in reading the words of Christ.
- How important have you found tone in how you communicate with others?
- How important is tone when others are speaking with you?
- How can rehearing tone be a way that we give others the benefit of the doubt, and try to assume good intentions?
- What tone do you default to most from this list?
- Skeptical
- Boring
- Harsh
- Pleading
- Authoritative, but not to you
- Disinterested
- Other
Read
- John 2:5
- Based on the scene, what might Mary be referring to besides the obvious upcoming instructions about what to do with the water?
Leader note: help the group recognize that Jesus was sensitive to timing, to making sure he didn't steal the spotlight, to blessing others in a time of need, even though that need wasn't desperate or life/death. "Doing whatever Jesus says" has more to do with his literal instructions, which is important, but to do things how he does them. See if the group can make some discoveries about this, and make attributions to this being what John considered the "revealing of his glory."
- Respond as a group to this sentence, as response to verse 11, while thinking of your own background with Christian faith:
The disciples followed Jesus as much for his humility and his interest in doing right by others, as he was followed for his supernatural ability.
Discuss
- Going back to the big and little prayers you are offering lately, explain your understanding of God's interest in the details of your life?
- Do you believe we can bother God? Where did you get your answer to this?
- Can God be interested in things we're not desperate about? What does your answer tell you about whether we can bring our regular lives before God?
- How risky does it feel for you to ask God to take special interest in the details of your life, since it has the potential to show God as perhaps not at work unless you keep your prayers broad and general?
Apply
- How can this group grow to be even more a place where the members share the details of their day-to-day with one another, and with God- not just itemized requests, but all thoughts and concerns?
- What might this accomplish?
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