SOTAOL

Act I "Sacrifice"

Act II "Sorrow"

Act III "Hope"

             The Art of Living in Three Acts" by Eric Crane        

Thaw

• Who can this LifeGroup serve, together?
• What is the value to you and to your relationships of being a student forever?
• What has most stayed with you from Sunday morning?

Read

• John 4:1-42
• Thoughts?
• What elements does John seem to emphasize to you, and why?
• Jesus starts in this story as a tension-causing foreigner and by the end is a welcomed, 2-day guest, hailed as the rescuer of all people. What can we learn from him as he steps into so much division, bias and conflict?

Discuss

• In what ways have you learned over the years to have your mind made up about yourself and others?
• Have you ever discovered you were fundamentally wrong about someone?
• Have you ever discovered your view, opinion or perspective was, however confidently held, not accurate?
• Has anyone ever discovered this about you?
• In what areas, whether in politics, religion, race, sexuality, science, etc., do you sense Christ could not disrupt you?

Leader note: Gently, watch for reactions to the last question that want to change the wording to "would not disrupt" because "God never contradicts his own word," or, "God never changes." These well-intended and not necessarily wrong sentiments can cause the same problems for people of faith now as they did in Jesus' day when he strictly corrected their lack of student-like humility to what God is up to outside of what we can accept. We often think our "ruts" are the right ones. 

Apply

• How can this be a group that helps its members really see, hear and interact with people without being subject to the stubborn deafnesses and blindness our society creates?
• How can this group be sure to move past an interruptive Spirituality and more fully into a disruptive one, despite how uncomfortable that can be?
• Is there any reconciliation, surrender, listening that members in this group need to do right away, with the support of the rest of the group?