Chasing Happiness: Chasing our own Tails
John 4:4-24
Connect:
Share how you have seen God in the Highs and Lows of your week.
Discuss how resolutions made last week in “growing more like Jesus” worked themselves out— what did God do in and through you (Phil 2:13)? Celebrate those together!
Prayer:
Pray that God would lead your discussion time and bring fresh insight, conviction, and hope through your time together.
Read:
Review: Work as group to put together a picture of the series so far:
o Series on the 2 Greatest Commandments as a pathway to what the Bible calls a ‘blessed” life: Love God with everything, and love our neighbor as ourselves
Read the passage together: John 4:4-24
Reflect:
Discuss your thoughts on the cycle of emptiness (filling our lives with what we think will make us happy, finding that we still feel empty, and trying to resolve that emptiness by consuming more stuff!)
Is that how life feels sometimes?
Consuming stuff meets some of our needs, and makes us happy for a while— why is it that this kind of happiness so quickly burns out?
Read John 4:4-15: Discuss the following:
o Jesus talks about God being a “fountain of living water” to His people. What is He communicating by using this metaphor?
Read John 4:21-24. Discuss the following:
o The point here was that God is the central focus in worship, not the group distinctives (Jew vs Samaritan, my music vs yours, my tribe vs yours). Is there a need for this reminder to the church today? Explain. (Gal 3:28[race], James 2:1-5 [economic status], 2 Tim 2:25 [even in doctrine, teach gently])
o Jesus gave the woman 2 choices: To confess sin and to believe in the Savior. Is the Gospel really that simple?
Read Matt 22:34. Discuss the following:
o How do we love God with all our heart? (Ps 37:4)
o How do we love God with all our Soul? (Ps 42:1,2)
o How do we love God with all our mind? (John 15:15)
Respond: (Divide the group into pairs)
o There is a choice that we have when presenting Jesus to those who do not yet know Him (is He a commodity to be consumed on our own terms, or is He the Lord and Savior of the world?)
Share about your own tendencies and aspirations in how you share Jesus with others
Pray for each other to share Jesus in a way that Is worthy of Him as our Lord and Savior…
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