Winning the souls of fearful and threatened disciples
John 11: 1-16
- Session: 38
- Week: 6
- Day: 5
Introduction
In this session, John 11: 1-16, Jesus learnt about his friend Lazarus’s sickness from his sisters. He stayed for more days and then informed his disciples of his intention to go back to Judea, where he had previously been threatened with being stoned. Jesus spoke to his fearful disciples, encouraging them to be courageous and to accompany him to Judea to raise Lazarus and glorify God.
Additionally, this session discusses what happens when his friends get sick and or die and what happens to those near and dear to the sick or the dead person. To this point, Jesus had revealed himself concerning this life as the light and bread of this world, but he had not yet revealed himself concerning death and life after death.
Objectives
By the end of this session, the learner will have:
- Compared how Jesus views sickness and death to how his disciples and his close friends react to sickness and death.
- Appreciated that Jesus has control over sickness and death. (including his death)
- Challenged to think about the death that glory God
Outline
- Jesus’s view of sickness and death
- Jesus wins the souls of his threatened and fearful disciples
- The glory of God
- Spiritual and physical lenses
Group Study Time
John 11: 1-16
Connecting
- Gather with two or more people for a community discovery bible study session.
- Start with a heartfelt prayer, inviting God to guide and bless your understanding.
- Explore the passage by reading it at least twice, using different Bible versions if available, then retell the story together as a group.
- Reflect and share the challenges and blessings you experienced from the previous study.
Comprehending
- Read John 11:1-16. List all the friends of Jesus mentioned here and how they are related to Jesus.
- What is revealed about sickness and death of the friends of Jesus?
- What was the response of his disciples and his friends – Martha and Mary towards sickness and death Jesus’s friend?
- What attributes are revealed about Jesus Christ in these verses?
Committing
- Engage with the Bible—read, study, memorize, meditate, pray, listen, and live it out.
- List three lessons you have learnt as an agent of change that you would like to put into practice and teach others about.
- Take time and worship Jesus with the attributes revealed about Christ.
- Use the SPACEPETS model, to assist you in putting God’s word into practice. Look for:
- Sin to confess
- Promise to claim
- Attitude to change
- Command to keep
- Error to change
- Prayer to make
- Example to copy
- Truth to obey and
- Something praiseworthy
Communicating
- Identify one person you can connect with and share the valuable insights and lessons you gained from this session.
- Reach out to a new believer—either in person or by phone—and pray with them to support them through their challenges, including any concerns about attending church.
- Create a new group and guide others through this study to help them grow in their understanding.
Post Lesson Teaching Summary
Great job completing the study! Take a moment to listen to this summary to reinforce your group’s understanding of the text and ensure you’re all on the same page. We’re here to support your learning journey!