Still Breathing (part 1): Taste and See

TO START

Let’s start with a word game. Give members a piece of paper and a pen. Give them 90 seconds to write down any words they think of when they hear the word “Bible”-- no word is off limits (assuming its a word you think of when you think of the Bible). Share your words at the end of the 90 seconds (explain the unconventional choices). The person with the most words wins.

TO DISCUSS

When was the first time you picked up a Bible and tried to read it? How did it go? Share a little about that first experience. If you can’t remember the very first time, share an early memory with the Bible.

Justin started his message Sunday saying for a long time he’d been “around the Bible but not close to it.” Did that sound familiar to you (if not now, at some point in your walk with God)? Share with the group where you are in your relationship to the Bible currently. Are you smitten? Are you committed but not exactly passionate? Are you still getting to know one another? Are you at odds?

What would you say are the circumstances contributing to that relationship? Do you feel like you spend time with the Bible? Do you understand it? Do you enjoy it? Do you find it helpful, comforting, challenging?

What does it mean that the Bible’s “alive”? Have you experienced that while reading it? Share a time when the Bible seemed especially relevant to your life, like it was talking right to you.

If you could ask one question about how to read/understand the Bible what would it be? (Please compile these questions and send them to jgerhardt@rrcoc.org.)

TO READ

This week in the sermon we spent some time just reading highlights from the Bible. Do you have a favorite passage (or really any passage you like a lot)? Go around the circle tonight reading your favorite verses. Group leaders, be prepared with a few passages in case your group comes up empty. Be sure to give them a few minutes to flip through and pick something they like (ideally you might text them before group so they have more time to pick).

TO PRAY

Consider praying scripture tonight.  Here’s a prayer based on Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11 for group leaders to pray over their groups…

God, thank you for the people in this room, my partners in the good news of Jesus Christ.

They’re a joy to me.

I am confident that you’ve begun a good work in them and that you’ll carry it on to completion until you return to get us.

God, this is my prayer: that their love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that they may be able to discern what is best and so they may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.

Fill them with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to your glory and praise.