Discussion Questions:

1. Seeing and Blindness

• The disciples assume someone must have sinned to cause the man’s blindness. Why do you think we are often quick to assign blame when we see suffering?
• Jesus reframes the situation entirely. How does his response challenge the way you interpret hardship or injustice?

2. The Power of Listening

• Pastor Mark suggests this passage may be more about hearing than seeing. Where in the story do you notice people refusing to listen?
• The sermon says, “There is no better way to love, no greater gift than to listen.” When have you experienced the gift of someone truly listening to you?
• Who in your life or community may not be feeling heard right now?

3. Ignorance vs. Willful Blindness

• Pastor Mark distinguishes between ignorance (not knowing better) and willful blindness (refusing to see). Where do you see each of these at work in the story?
• When have you had a moment of “once I knew better, I could do better”?
• What helps you stay open to growth rather than becoming defensive?

4. Holy Trouble

• The man born blind refuses to deny his experience: “Though I was blind, now I see.” Why does his testimony cause such disruption?
• When does faithfulness require us to speak truth, even when it creates discomfort?
• How might following Jesus lead us into “holy trouble” in our own context?

5. Seeing God’s Glory in One Another

• Jesus says the man’s life reveals God’s works. How might we see God’s glory revealed in people whose gifts or abilities fall outside what society considers “normal”?
• Do we celebrate the unique gifts of those in our midst? How can we do this more intentionally?

6. Responding to a Hurting World

• The sermon names real suffering in our world — injustice, exclusion, environmental distress. How do you respond emotionally when confronted with overwhelming need?
• Pastor Mark reminds us: “You can’t solve the world’s problems. But you do have something to offer.” What might that “something” be for you this week?

7. Living the Light

• If Jesus is the Light of the World, what does it mean for us to reflect that light?
• What is one concrete way you can practice deeper listening this week — at home, at work, in church, or in the wider community?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: The Light of the World appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Discussion Questions:

1. Encountering Jesus at the Well

• In John 4, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman in the bright light of day—unlike Nicodemus who comes to him under the cover of night in the previous chapter. What does this contrast reveal about how people come to faith?
• What strikes you about the way Jesus interacts with the Samaritan woman? How does he show relational power instead of dominant power?

2. Relational Power

• Pastor Mark referenced a BUILD gathering where relational power was described as “power with” rather than “power over.” How do you experience these two kinds of power in your daily life?
• How might we as a church live more fully into relational power, especially in the way we welcome others or advocate for justice?

3. Testimony and Transformation

• The woman leaves her water jar behind and rushes to tell her community about Jesus. Why do you think she was so compelled to share?
• Have you ever had a moment when you felt truly seen or known, like the woman at the well? How did that change you?

4. Our True Identity

• The sermon quoted Rev. Joanna Adams: “There are so many voices that would tell us who we are… but all of that is a lie. We are first and last the beloved of God.” What are the voices in your life that try to define your worth?
• What helps you return to your identity as God’s beloved?

5. Applying the Sermon

• What’s in your well? What sources of living water—grace, love, justice—are bubbling beneath the surface of your life right now?
• As you go into this week, how can you leave behind your own metaphorical “water jar” and live out your testimony with joy?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: What’s in Your Well? appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Discussion Questions:

1. Jesus’ Disruption at the Temple:

• What surprised or challenged you about Jesus’ actions in the temple?
• How do you interpret Jesus’ anger—not as a loss of control, but as an act of holy disruption for justice?
• Have you ever felt compelled to “flip a table” for the sake of righteousness?

2. Rethinking Holiness and Worship:

• Pastor Mark emphasized that holiness is not confined to church buildings. How do you experience God’s presence in everyday places and relationships?
• What systems or attitudes might need to be disrupted in our own faith communities for true worship to occur?

3. Sacred Value and Community:

• How does the Day of Jubilee—where debts are forgiven and relationships restored—challenge our cultural norms about worth and success?
• What would it look like for our church to embody Jubilee today?

4. Resurrection and Resistance:

• Jesus says, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days.” How does resurrection change the way we respond to injustice and suffering in the world?
• What small acts of love and courage have you witnessed that reflect resurrection hope?

5. Applying the Sermon:

• How can we, like Renee Good, use our lives as witnesses for compassion and justice—even when it is risky or costly?
• What is one tangible way you can “love more fiercely” this week?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: Come and See: Holy Trouble appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Discussion Questions:

1. The Invitation of Jesus

• In the scripture, Jesus responds to the disciples’ curiosity with “Come and see.” What does this phrase mean to you personally?
• Have you ever experienced an invitation that changed your life or perspective? How can the church model this same open invitation to others?

2. Barriers and Hospitality

• Pastor Mark emphasized both physical and internal barriers to community and welcome. What are some “interior barriers” we might carry that prevent us from fully welcoming others?
• What steps can we take as individuals or as a church to practice radical hospitality?

3. An Epiphany for Our Time

• The story of the Magi following the star is a familiar Epiphany narrative. How does the idea of a journey toward something sacred resonate with you this season?
• What does it mean for us today that the Magi went home “by another way”? Have you ever had an experience where you had to take a different path because of what you learned or felt God revealed?

4. Faith and Refuge

• The sermon references Pope Pius XII’s description of the Holy Family as a model for all refugee families. How does this framing impact your understanding of the nativity story?
• Esau McCaulley warns against worshiping a vulnerable God while harming vulnerable people. What does faithful advocacy for displaced people look like for us?

5. Living the Invitation

• The star words are intended to guide us spiritually throughout the year. If you’ve chosen one, what word did you receive, and how might it shape your year ahead?
• How can we, as a church and community, embody the invitation to “Come and see” in 2026 and beyond?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: Come and See: An Epiphany Mashup appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

We are skipping over a whole lot to get from where we were last Sunday, which was Moses and Aaron had led the people of Israel out of Egypt and out of slavery, out of Pharaoh’s grasp. And they escaped through the Red Sea, and they find themselves in the wilderness.

And after just a short amount of time, they begin to wonder what they’re doing out there—where their next meal is going to come from—and they begin to question the plan. And Moses and Aaron reassure them: “No, God will take care of us. We just have to trust each day in our daily bread.”

Well, as I mentioned last week, that was at the beginning of their forty-year journey in the wilderness. We are on the other side of that journey—and through the time of the Judges, where local authorities were more in charge—and now to this time where they’re trying to consolidate power, consolidate government under kings and prophets.

1 Samuel 3:1–21
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”

Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”

As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

For the Word of God in scripture,
For the Word of God among us,
For the Word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.

***

Rob Bell noticed that his children had this odd habit when they called out for him. Instead of just saying, “Daddy,” to get his attention, they would always say, “Daddy, Daddy”—always three times.

Why three times?

He always wondered about this peculiar calling until one day he was at the playground with his kids. They were having a good time on the slides and the swings and they were playing with the other kids. And he was looking on and watching when suddenly his phone buzzed.

And he looked down, and he checked it, and sure enough—it was an email from his publisher. He’d been waiting for this response, and he opened it with great anticipation.

And as he was reading the email and making sense—not only of what it said, but all that it meant for him and his career and their future—he heard this strange noise off in the distance.

“Daddy…”

Then again, this time a little bit closer:

“Daddy…”

And then finally, full volume—realizing that one of his children was right in front of him, tugging on his shirt:

“Daddy!”

And that’s when he finally understood. It wasn’t some quirk of theirs. They had learned that it takes three times to get his attention. Because he has this habit of being there—but not really being there. Distracted by work, by his phone. His kids had gotten used to saying his name three times to get his attention.

Well, it took the Lord four times to get Samuel’s attention.

He called out, “Samuel, Samuel. Samuel…” and even then, it was Eli who realized what might be happening.

The first three times, Samuel thought that he was hearing his mentor, Eli, in the other room. He must be the one calling him in the night. Who else could it be? No one else was there. And yet he keeps hearing, “Samuel… Samuel…” until it’s so close that you can no longer deny it. It is like the voice is right there in the room with him.

And Eli, who has more experience with this sort of thing, says: “Go back. And if you hear it again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”

Now, there are several things that we can take away from this exchange.

According to Amy Oden, she says:
Notice how this encounter happens at night. First, both Samuel and Eli are lying down—a posture of stillness and receptivity. A spiritual practice.

What listening practices do we have? What pauses or openings do we create in our daily lives for the holy?

Second, God calls Samuel by name. God addresses Samuel directly. Separately from messages that God sends more generally to the whole people, God is speaking here to just Samuel. There is an intimacy in God speaking Samuel’s name directly—and persistently.

It’s hard for most of us to imagine, isn’t it? Much less accept that God could be speaking to us personally—to our particular time and place, to our own biography, our own personality.

Have you ever thought about that?
Have you ever asked yourself:
Am I willing to let God speak personally to me?
To my particularity?
What does it sound like when God calls my name?

Third, Samuel doesn’t recognize the voice. It’s reassuring, isn’t it?

Even when God speaks his name directly, Samuel doesn’t recognize God’s voice. It takes someone else—his mentor Eli—to help him even entertain the possibility that it is the Word of the Lord speaking to him.

Professor Oden writes: that’s what the body of Christ—that’s the role that we can play. We need each other to help us pay attention and recognize when God is speaking in our lives. Sometimes it’s easier for our friends to notice it, right?

“Can you not see what God is saying to you?”

Fourth, God is persistent.
God doesn’t get fed up with Samuel not getting it.

This means the divine revelation does not depend on our spiritual quickness, but on God’s faithfulness to us. If we don’t get it, God will try again.
And again.
And again.

And last, and not least—we may not like what we hear.

There’s no denying the message that is given to Samuel for Eli is hard. Eli doesn’t want to hear it.

How do we receive what God is saying to us—and what sermon might come from listening to God—as we determine its meaning for our lives?

Now, anytime I start listing things, I always feel like I need to give the caveat: I don’t want it to sound like these are the steps for having a faith of our own. If only it were that easy.

There are no one-size-fits-all prescriptions for forming faith, nor is there a single outcome.

One of the things that this story shows us is that each of us has our own calling.
Each of us has our own story.
Each of us hears scripture in our own way.

They’re all different, and no two are the same—and that’s good. Because faith is not monochrome.

And the further I get in my own ministry, the more and more I am convinced that my role is not to teach the faith or espouse a particular set of doctrines.

Rather, it’s to help us—as individuals and as a community—to be able to articulate our own faith, our own particular beliefs and doubts. Questions.

Isn’t that an exciting vision of what church could be?

Barbara Brown Taylor writes:

“What if people were invited to come tell what they already know of God, instead of to learn what they’re supposed to believe?
What if they were blessed for what they’re already doing in the world instead of chastised for not doing more at church?
What if church itself felt more like a way station than a destination?
And what if the church’s job were to move people out the door, instead of to keep them in—by convincing them that God needs them more in the world rather than in the church?”

In other words, the church at its best is like Eli in this story—helping to discern God’s voice, not insisting that the next generation be a replica of the previous. Not viewing diversity of opinions as a threat, but as a blessing.

Eli is Samuel’s spiritual mentor and his guide. He’s not simply telling Samuel to walk the same path that he did, but he gives him the freedom and the support to find his own path.

Now to be clear—I’m not suggesting that one generation doesn’t have wisdom to share with the next. Clearly, each generation has wisdom to share. But each new generation also has its own path.

So I hope you hear what I’m saying today.
Because it’s really important.

You do not simply have to accept what has been passed down to you without your question or input.

Our faith is never set in stone. It is alive, and it is evolving.

You’re allowed—indeed, you’re encouraged—to bring your own thoughts, your own questions, your own doubts, experience to bear on this faith that we are trying to live out together. That’s both individual and communal.

Because that’s the tension that we live in.
We share our faith with one another, but without insisting that we all have to agree on every last little thing.

It’s been pointed out that you can insist on being right, or you can be loving, but you can’t necessarily be both.

Love of God and neighbor means that we hold onto our beliefs and our doctrines lightly.

What I mean by that is not that we don’t take them seriously—in fact, quite the opposite. We take them very seriously and realize that they can have great impact.

Which is why we also hold onto them lightly—because sometimes our beliefs can have unintended consequences. And if we find that our beliefs have caused harm to others that we did not intend, then we need to be willing to re-evaluate those beliefs, rather than valuing dogma over people.

Notice that it’s become popular once again to proclaim this hierarchy of love.

“I love—” you know, we’ll list them on a t-shirt or whatever—
“I love God first, then family, then my country, then my Honda…” I don’t know. Whatever it is. “I love this first, and then I love that.”

But where does Jesus ever talk about love in any kind of hierarchical way?

He very specifically says when asked:
Love of God and love of neighbor are not ranked.
They’re the same thing.

So if our dogma—if our beliefs—result in us harming our neighbor, whether we intend it or not, whether our neighbor be female, or queer, or foreign, or poor, or Black, or Brown, then it’s our dogma—our belief—that needs reevaluating, not the other way around.

Because as William Sloane Coffin reminds us:

“The time is always right to change our minds when to do so is to widen our hearts.”

Amen.

The post A Faith of Our Own appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Discussion Questions

1. Hearing God’s Voice

• The young Samuel hears God’s call repeatedly but does not recognize it until Eli guides him.
  o Have you ever felt uncertain whether something was “from God” or not?
  o Who or what helps you discern God’s voice in your life?
• The sermon reminded us that “God doesn’t give up.”
  o How does God’s persistence in calling Samuel speak to your own spiritual journey?
  o Where in your life do you feel God might be trying to get your attention?

2. Creating Space for the Holy

• Samuel and Eli were lying down, a position of rest and openness.
  o What practices help you slow down and listen for the holy in your life?
  o Where do you create space to be spiritually receptive—in your home, routine, or relationships?

3. Intergenerational Wisdom

• Eli didn’t push Samuel to copy his own path; instead, he supported Samuel in listening for God’s unique call.
  o What role does mentorship or spiritual friendship play in your life right now?
  o How can we as a church support different generations in finding their own voice?

4. Faith that Evolves

• Pastor Mark said, “Our faith is never set in stone. It is alive and evolving.”
  o How has your understanding of faith changed over time?
  o What questions or doubts are part of your faith right now?
• The sermon encourages each person to articulate their own faith.
  o If someone asked you what you believe, what would you say today?

5. Holding Belief Lightly and Lovingly

• The message reminded us that belief should never harm others—and if it does, it must be reexamined.
  o Have you experienced moments when belief was used in a hurtful way? How did you respond?
  o How can we as a church hold our beliefs in ways that expand love, not limit it?

6. Faith in Action

• Quoting Barbara Brown Taylor, Pastor Mark asked:
  “What if church felt more like a way station than a destination?”
  o How does this change how you think about the purpose of church?
• What might God be calling you to do or become right now?
  o What’s one small step you can take this week to follow that call?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: A Faith of Our Own appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.