Worship

Sundays 

Outdoor &

FB Live:

11:00am

 

BIBLE STUDY

UNTIL WE’RE ABLE TO MEET AT CHURCH AGAIN, THE GOSPEL READING FOR THE COMING SUNDAY AND SOME QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT WILL BE POSTED EVERY WEDNESDAY.  WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOUR OWN ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS. PLEASE EMAIL THEM TO:      

barbfletcher2@aol.com

 

ALL COMMENTS WILL BE COMPILED (ANONYMOUSLY) AND ADDED TO THE POSTING ON SATURDAY.   WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL JOIN THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE GOSPEL READING EACH WEEK.

 

​

BIBLE STUDY FOR SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

 

PRAYER:     Holy Father, by the power of your Holy Spirit, prepare our hearts and minds to receive all that You want us to learn.  As we read your word, shine on us the light of your truth.  May we gain a deeper understanding of who You are and what your will is in each of our lives.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

CONTEXT:  In this reading, the Last Supper is over and soon Jesus will be arrested.  He looks up to heaven and prays to the Father on behalf of his disciples, whom He will soon leave behind to carry out his ministry.  In a way, these words are Jesus’ last will and testament.  As disciples of Jesus, we too listen in on this prayer, which is prayed for us as well.

 

READING:  John 17:6-19

6 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.  16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT:

1. Make a list of all the things this prayer tells you about Jesus.  Knowing that God would certainly give Jesus what He asks for, make a list of the things this prayer tells you about yourself, as a believer.

2. What does verse 8 tell you about our ability as believers to evangelize? What is its source?

3. What do you think Jesus means in verse 9? Don’t “those who God gave Him” live in the world? (verse 11 says we do!) Why would Jesus not ask on behalf of the “world”?

4. What are some of the ways Jesus would be “glorified” in us (verse 10)?

5. Jesus knows that He is about to be tortured and crucified, and yet He speaks of his “joy”.  What do you think his “joy” was, and how can we have that joy “made complete in us”?

6.What does Jesus mean in verse 15? What does God’s protection encompass? What can we be assured of?

7. What does it mean in verse 17 to be “sanctified in God’s truth”?

8.  In verse 18, Jesus sends us into the world.  What is our purpose, and how does this prayer equip us to fulfill it?

9.  In this reading, what are some things Jesus teaches us about how to pray and what to pray for?

​

​