Prayer
Because the primary goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together?
Introduction Video
…but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”– John 8:1-11
Opening Question
If you could connect and have dinner with anyone from history, who would you choose?
People Are Impossible
“…the self-help message of the day tells its readers that it’s perfectly OK to turn inward, even if that means ignoring the apparent travails of others. It’s a message retrofitted for appeal in a moment when every glance at a phone screen surfaces wrenching images of catastrophe.
Really, the prevailing advice of 2025 seems to be this: It’s OK to be a little bit of a jerk.”– Emma Goldberg, Is Today’s Self-Help Teaching Everyone to Be a Jerk?
How do you typically prefer to deal with conflict?
How does knowing you are sometimes impossible help you relate to other people when they are being impossible?
Does the conflict and strife displayed in the media affect your relationships? If so, how?
People Are Like God
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.– Genesis 1:26-27
“To know the Lord and his ways,” as the Jewish prophets put it, has very little to do with intelligence and very much to do with a wonderful mixture of confidence and surrender. People who live in this way tend to be the calmest and happiest people I know. They draw their life from the inside out.
– Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation
How should being created in the image of a triune God affect the way we view community, family, and friendship?
How can pondering the mystery of the trinity help us trust God more in our relationships?
People Are God’s Great Hope In The World
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
– Hebrews 12:1-3
How can our lives today serve as a witness of God’s hope for others who are running their own race?
If God’s hope for the world is carried out through His people, how does “throwing off everything that hinders” help us live out that calling with perseverance and purpose?
Jesus endured opposition and suffering with joy for the sake of others. What does it look like for us to fix our eyes on Him and embody that same hope in a world that often grows weary?
Closing Thought
“I hope you’re proud of yourself for the times you’ve said ‘yes,’ when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else.”
– Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember
In your final time together, pray for any needs the group may have and ask God for opportunities to connect with others this week in meaningful ways.