STARTER
(In pairs for 5 minutes)
Describe a time when others did not respect something important to you. How did it feel?
WORSHIP
READ PASSAGE ALOUD
(Imagine you have a stall selling pigeons for the approved sacrifices.
What are your feelings as Jesus challenges you?)
RE-READ PASSAGE AND COMMENTARY
(Personal reflection)
PERSONAL FOCUS
(Personal reflection on the passage / commentary & questions in silence 10 minutes)
COMMENTARY
In John's Gospel one of the first things Jesus does as he begins his work is to drive the traders and moneychangers out of the temple. His life and his work that follows are summed up in the statement, "Zeal for my Father's house consumes me"[v.14]. Everything Jesus does is based on the loving relationship he has with his Father. He perceives that the institution of the Temple and its sacrifical system has become a burden and a barrier for the ordinary folk in their relationship with God. Here, his actions express his desire to purify the relationship of the children of Israel with the God who called them into covenant. Throughout John's Gospel, Jesus will invite others into the relationship he shares with the Father.
In many of our churches today the actively involved people can spend a lot of their time maintaining the buildings and the systems of the Methodist Church. As in this Gospel, these good things can become a burden and a barrier to a deep relationship to God.
PERSONAL FOCUS QUESTIONS
(Initially just reflect on the question that chooses you. It may help to clarify your thinking to make notes in the spaces provided. This will also give you material to reflect on in the future)
1. What verse in this reading speaks to you? What is God saying to you?
2. How much of your time do you spend on the buildings,
systems and traditions of you church?
Are they a burden to you?
Do they harm your relationship with God?
3. Which church activities help you to live your life 'to the glory of God'?
PERSONAL FOCUS QUESTIONS
(Discuss in triplets / pray for each other -25 minutes)
LIFE FOCUS
(Discuss in whole group-15 minutes)
4. What evidence would a visitor to your church have that it is a place the gives honour to God in all of its activities?
Would they find a quality building and uplifting worship?
What needs to be changed?
5. What practical outcome is there from our reflection?
Do we need to make any plans to make things happen?
GROUP MEMORY TIME
(Review the actions you agreed to carry out at previous meetings)
REVIEW TIME
Is this type of group a challenge to the institution of your congregation?
[5 minutes] What would you like to do differently next time?
PRAYER TIME
You could pray for your church, that it will be a place that truly gives glory to God in all that it does.
You could pray for members of the group that they are open to the full expression of God's will in their lives.
