Hosts
Make sure to start off with prayer. Then choose one or more questions to open up with.
- Do storms and inclimate weather excite you or stress you out?
Message Review and Discussion Questions
Read through the main points and scriptures as you discuss as a group for the Talk-it-Out questions.
Healing your heart: You don’t have to stay hurt
John 5:1–8 (NIV)
Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed . . . One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
Point 1: God can heal you everywhere that you hurt.
Talk-it-Out: What stands out to you about this story in scripture?
Talk-it-Out: Are there any examples from your life in which you had the same attitude as the invalid in this story?
Other scriptural examples of God's healing powers:
Luke 4:18 (NKJV)
“He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted . . .”
Psalm 34:18 (ESV)
The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in Spirit.
Psalm 147:3 (ESV)
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Point 2: Just because you’ve been hurt that doesn’t mean you have to stay hurt.
Talk-it-Out: What do you think is the difference between feeling hurt and staying hurt?
Point 3: There are patterns in your pain.
Talk-it-Out: When you are experiencing emotional pain, what is your usual pattern to cope with or overcome your pain?
Point 4: Just like there’s a pattern to your pain, there’s also a pattern to your healing.
Ezekiel 36:26 (NLT)
“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”
Talk-it-Out: What are some examples of positive things that come as a result of experiencing pain?
Write-it-Out
Encourage your group to start writing things down. Do the following exercises:
- Do a SOAP devotional on John 9. Read the SCRIPTURE, write down your OBSERVATIONS, write down how you can APPLY it to your life, and say a PRAYER.
Live-It-Out
Encourage your group to start doing. Commit to a step, and live it out this week.
- Do something intentionally to help or encourage someone that you know is hurting.
- Find a new way to serve the Think 3 vision of the house.
- Complete Growth Track. Every Saturday in Tacoma 6:00pm, and every Sunday at all of our campuses at 11:30am.
Closing Thoughts
- Finish group with prayer requests and praise reports.
- More resources always available here: Small Group Resources