Scripture: John 11:1-41
Main Themes: Lent, mortality and brokenness, God’s companionship in suffering, resurrection hope, love that goes through death, trust in uncertainty.
Discussion Questions:
- Facing Lent Honestly
- Pastor Mark described Lent as a season many people avoid because it asks us to confront mortality, frailty, and brokenness. What feelings does Lent stir in you? Resistance? Relief? Curiosity?
- How might Lent be less about guilt and more about learning to trust God in difficult realities?
- Jesus Wept
- In John 11, Jesus knows resurrection is coming—yet he weeps. What does “Jesus wept” reveal about the heart of God?
- When have you experienced God not as a rescuer who fixes everything, but as a companion who stays with you in grief?
- “I Am the Resurrection and the Life”
- Martha expresses belief in a future resurrection, but Jesus speaks in the present tense: “I am the resurrection and the life.” What might that mean for how we live now?
- How does believing that “the worst thing is never the last thing” shape your response to loss or uncertainty?
- Love That Goes Through Death
- The sermon quoted Andrew Root: “Love is only able to conquer death if it goes through death.” Where have you seen love show up in dark or broken places?
- What does it look like to allow love into the “cracks” of your own life rather than hiding your brokenness?
- Walking Through the Valley Together
- Pastor Mark said God will not rescue us from all pain, but there is nowhere we can go that God will not go with us. How does that promise challenge or comfort you?
- How can we, as a church community, walk through valleys with one another in tangible ways?
- What would it look like for RPPC to embody resurrection hope in Baltimore right now?
- Living This Week
- What is one area of frailty or uncertainty you are being invited to entrust to God this Lent?
- Who might need you to simply “come and see” — to sit with them, listen, and embody compassionate presence this week?
