Good Friday Services
March 25th at 12p, 3p, 4:30p, 6p, & 7:30p
Before there is the resurrection and new life, there is darkness and death. We want to encourage you and your life group to attend a Good Friday service to feel the heaviness and weight of the cross so that you can also experience the joy, celebration, and new life of Easter in a deeper and more profound way!
Lean In // 5 minutes
What are things that seem to always remain the same in life?
Sample answers:
- Sunrise and sunsets
- Waves at the ocean and the tides
- Monday mornings
- The smell of homemade cookies
- Communication problems
- Getting old
- Anticipation of change of seasons
- World systems (government, economic, etc.)
- Teaching old dogs new tricks
- UCLA fans and USC fans not getting along
Leader Note: Transition your group into the Look Down by highlighting how this week’s passage challenges the idea that things don’t change in life.
Look Down // 10 minutes
Leader Note: Before reading the passage, ask the question and encourage group members to take notes and write down observations. This week’s passage is written in story form and is longer than usual. As you read, it may be helpful to break it up into sections (IE- 11:1-16; 17-37; 38-44).
What do the disciples, Mary and Martha learn about preparing for Easter from this passage?
Sample answers:
- Jesus promises that death is not the end (v. 4)
- God uses even death for His glory (v. 4)
- Jesus holds the power over death (v. 11)
- Jesus speaks of death in ways we don’t understand (v. 12)
- Death causes confusion and questions about God (vv. 20, 32, 37)
- Jesus is the resurrection and the life (v. 25)
- Where there is death, there is opportunity for resurrection and new life
- Jesus promises life to those who believe in Him (vv. 25-26)
- God turned a sad and hopeless event into a time of belief and celebration
- Jesus’ words have the power of life (vv. 43-44)
- Jesus allows us to participate in bringing life to others (vv. 39, 44)
- New life points to God’s glory (v. 40)
Look Out // 10 minutes
What does Jesus ask people to do with things that are dead and buried?
Leader Note: This question is designed to get your group thinking about where they have seen the principles of this passage in the world today. Where have they ever seen God show and bring dead things to life in relationships or in areas of people’s lives that have seemed hopeless? What changed and what was the response of those who encountered the change?
Look In // 20 minutes
Where have you given up hope in your life and no longer believe God can show up and bring resurrection power?
Sample answers:
- I’ll never get out of debt
- I’ll never hear God’s voice
- I’ll never get out of this place
- My family will never come to know the Lord
- My relationship will never be reconciled
- I’ll always have this stronghold
- I’ll always have this addiction
What would it look like to “roll away the stone” and trust Jesus?
Leader note: In the passage, Jesus’ desire was to bring Lazarus from death to life but he asked others to trust him and roll away the stone. In a similar way, Jesus’ desire is to bring life to our places of death. But, there is a part we play in trusting Jesus and His power and opening up those places that are dead and decaying.
Live It Out // 5 minutes
How do these truths prepare us for Easter?
What if we were ready for Easter, how would we be different and what conversations might we be having with others around us?
Easter Services: March 26th – 3:30p & 5:30p // March27th – 8:15a, 9:45a, & 11:30a Easter Egg Scramble – March 26th 2p
Learn More About Flow Questions: Check out Kenton Beshore’s book Ask in the Irvine Campus Bookstore for more on the Flow Question model.