Each week we’re publishing some questions to think about based on the Sunday messages & Bible readings.
These can be used in home groups, with others or on your own, and are designed to help you engage in the passage and themes in more depth and reflect on how God might be speaking to you through them.
Icebreaker Question
Can you think of a time when something happened much later than you wanted, but looking back you can see that good came from the waiting?
Opening Prayer
Jesus your power raised Lazarus from the grave!
Please move amongst us with your power today as we read and study your word.
Speak to us deeply, challenge us and move us on we pray, in Jesus name. Amen.
Reading & Questions
Read John 11:1-44
- Jesus waited two days before going to Lazarus. What could be the reasons for the wait and how does this challenge or deepen your understanding of God’s love and timing?
- Mary and Martha both wrestle with “if only” questions. When have you found yourself praying or thinking “if only God had…”? What helped you at that time?
- Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” This means that resurrection isn’t just a concept or a future event, but a person – Jesus Christ. How might this inform our ideas about when eternal life begins? See also John 17:3.
- Look through the passage and identify which sections of the story show that Jesus is… present in our suffering, powerful to change things, and full of love. Which of these is easiest for you to believe right now, and which is hardest?
- Jesus said to Martha, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ How would you honestly answer that question today, and what might it look like to ask Jesus to help you believe?
Closing Prayer
Pray together particularly thinking of areas of your life where you are waiting for God to act.
Give thanks that he is already working as he was for Lazarus and that we will yet see answers to our prayers which surpass all we could have asked or imagined!