"Encountering Resurrection: Mary" (May 18, 2014 )

In week 3 of our "Encountering Resurrection" series we find ourselves in John 20:10-18 outside of an empty tomb with Mary.  

We often find ourselves longing for or drawn back to those moments that we remember fondly, those meaningful moments in our lives...and yet we can't ever really go back...and perhaps it's because we are never meant to, rather it's what we take forward from those moments that matters…

• If there were one moment in your life that you could go back to just to experience it again, what would it be and why?

• Why is it difficult for us to let go of or move on from those moments that are so meaningful?

• Have you ever found yourself longing for a "simpler" time in your faith?
• Why?
• What was different about it?

• How has "moving on" helped shape who you are now?
• How have you grown or changed since "that moment" in your life?

• How do you think God can use you and your experience with Him to propel you into something new?

• What keeps you from grabbing on to that?

Sanctuary Service (w/ Jason Byasee)

Crossroads Gathering (w/ Vern Collins)

"Encountering Resurrection: Travelers" (May 11, 2014)

In week 2 of our "Encountering Resurrection" series, we find ourselves on the journey with the Emmaus Road travelers from Luke 24:13-35.  

As you read this passage, and are in with your community group, or in your own quiet time, consider the following:

• When was the last time you felt hopeless?

• When was the last time you placed hope in something that didn't work out the way that you wanted it to?
• How has that affected the way you have hoped for things since?  

• Do you tend to face your disappointment alone or allow others in to it?
• What keeps you from walking with others in your disappointment? (or theirs)?

• Can you think of a time when you trusted God for something that didn't turn out the way that you thought it should?

• Has God ever surprised you with hope?
• How has that changed your understanding of hope and what it means to hope in the Lord?

Sanctuary Service (w/ Jason Byassee)

Crossroads (w/ Vern Collins)

"Encountering Resurrection: Thomas" (May 4, 2014)

This week we began our new series that will take us through the "Fifty Days of Easter" and right up to Pentecost.  Too often in the life of the church, we spend a great deal of time preparing, planning, and praying toward celebrating the most significant event in the world-the resurrection of Jesus; only to move quickly on from it after Easter has passed.

In this series we will be looking at different encounters that were had with the resurrected Christ.  We will look not only at the significance that these encounters had in the lives of those individuals, but will also look at what "baggage" these people may have been bringing into this encounter, or the circumstances in which these encounters were had.  The hope is that you will find yourself somewhere in these stories, and that you might just realize that an encounter with the risen Christ is not as far away as you may sometimes feel.



Week 1: "Encountering Resurrection: Thomas"
John 20:24-31

Thomas is often seen in a negative light for his doubt of the resurrection.  Think of how often you've heard someone called (or yourself been called) a "doubting Thomas."
The church has had a tendency to view doubt as the enemy of faith.  
But what if we began to view doubt not as the enemy of faith, but as a potential catalyst to greater faith?

As you gather with you group, or spend your quiet time this week, consider the following questions:

• Has doubt ever kept you from doing something before?  What was it?  What was the reason for your doubt?
• When have you felt uncomfortable sharing your doubt with someone?
• Have you ever had doubt when it comes to your relationship with God, or doubt about God (Who He is, what He is doing, etc)?
• How might your walk with the Lord begin to look differently if you felt you were given "permission" to doubt? 

• Jeff, in his message said, "Resurrection is not just something that happened to Jesus, but something that happens to us."  How has resurrection happened to you?  Where have you seen evidence of the resurrection of Christ in your life?
• When has doubt ever driven you TOWARD the Lord instead of AWAY from Him?

We pray a blessing on your time with this whether in your Community Group or in your own time with the Lord.  

Here is audio from both the Sanctuary services and our Crossroads gathering:

Sanctuary Services (w/ Jeff McClain)

Crossroads (w/ Vern Collins)