John 5:9-18
Life Group Questions:
1. If you were not able to hear this week’s sermon, consider going to the church website and listening to it. What are some main ideas that you gathered from the sermon? What, if any, questions did the sermon cause for you or do you desire to have additional clarification?
2. Describe the meaning and significance of the Sabbath day in the Bible (cf. Exodus 31:15; 35:2; Numbers 15:32-35; Deuteronomy 5:14-15; Mark 2:23-25). What day is the Sabbath? Do you think that we still need to keep the Sabbath instruction and regulations? Are there consequences for not keeping the Sabbath? Explain.
3. What does it mean that God rested after His work of creation (cf. Genesis 2:1)? Why did God rest? Does God still rest from His work? Does God need to rest; does He need to sleep or take a break? Explain.
4. Describe the different aspects of rest (i.e., mental, physical, and spiritual). How important is rest to our well being? List some of the benefits of rest. How much rest should a person have? How well do you do at resting? In what ways might you need to improve in this area?
5. Jesus stated in this passage that He and the Father are at work. Do you think they are still working today? How or in what manner are they working? Read the following passages: Psalm 121; Philippians 1:6, 2:12, 4:13. Describe how God is working around you, in you, and through you.
6. Briefly describe the grace of God. Upon whom does God show grace? What is it about God’s grace that makes it so amazing? What did Paul mean when he said that by the grace of God “I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10)? What has God’s grace made you? In what ways have and do you benefit from the grace of God?
7. Do you believe that God is a God of healing? What are some ways in which he heals? Describe the significance of the following passages with respect to the idea of God’s healing: Exodus 15:23-22-27; Proverbs 3:5-7.
8. Do you think that God still commissions people for His work? What is the nature and purpose of God commissioning people? In what way has God commissioned you either specifically or generally (cf. Matthew 28:19-20)?
9. Why did Jesus tell the man to go and sin no more lest something worse would happen to him? Was the man’s condition a result of his sin? Does God bring bad things into our life as a result of our sin? Explain.