Preparing for Discussion - Gospels: Unexpected Good News

On Wednesday this week, we'll be discussing session four of Animate: Bible, entitled:  "Gospels: Unexpected Good News." The DVD presentation for session four is by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

I suggest going through the journal questions backward this week, in an effort to get to the scripture-based discussion questions before running out of time.

* Take a look at the opening lines of the gospels of Matthew and John. Think about how these introductions differ and how they fit together. How do they complement each other?

* The gospels give us both stories and descriptions of what Jesus SAID and what he DID. Do you tend to put more weight on one than the other? These scriptures may help guide your thinking:

• Matthew 5
• Mark 1:40-42
• Luke 9:12-17
• John 8:1-11

* Nadia Bolz-Weber talks about how Jesus kept company with the wrong crowds of people (John 4:4-26 & Luke 19:1-10). Have you ever experience of finding the Good News in unexpected places or people?

* How about John the Baptist? What do you think about the description of John the Baptist from the DVD, and what do you think it says about Jesus that this is really the beginning of the gospel story?  He was, most likely, not what people expected for a preamble to the appearance of the Messiah. 

* If you have a couple of Bibles around your house, see if you can find one that has some footnotes about Mark 16 and bring that Bible with you to Morning Blend on Wednesday. What thoughts do these notes bring up for you? Is it unsettling that there are some different possibilities for the ending of Mark?

* And following from that question, how do you make sense of the differences between the 4 gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Which stories about Jesus are really essential to your faith, and does it change how you feel about a story if it is included in more than one gospel?

* From the facilitator guide: "Nadia talks about the word "gospel" as a proclamation that demands a response. Does our faith feel like a response to the good news? In what ways does it succeed and in what ways does it fail?"

* What was your response to Nadia's story of the conversation with her friend, who said that she didn't really need anything outside herself to have a sense of hope and life? How do we see that same conversation playing out in the world around us? Does it seem to you that more and more people think they don't really need God or even religion or spirituality to have hope and life? Do you think that people can really and truly feel that way? Or are they covering up their true fears and longings?

* In what ways do you see the gospel still unfolding around you?

Peace!