Discussion Questions: CO:MISSION – Week Two

To further the conversation started by the weekend message, use these discussion questions in a group study or for personal reflection.

Our message this week – Let’s Get Harvesting. John 4:4-42 is the basis for our message this week.

1. John 4:4-42 tells us about Jesus and the woman at the well. We learn that on day one the woman who has just met Christ is quickly stepping forward to witness to the men in her town.

This woman appears to have no hesitation about quickly going and telling others about Christ. If we are honest we have all had times when we have hesitated or when we may have been prompted by the Spirit to share with someone and we squelched the Spirit. Why do you think we hesitate to witness sometimes? How can we overcome those hesitations?
Do you remember your first experience in witnessing and sharing testimony with someone? Share about that experience.
At the end of this scripture we see that the towns people said that “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world”. At some point in time you were probably witnessed to and possibly someone shared their personal testimony with you, and then you moved beyond that and you too believed. Talk about when you too, just like the Samaritans, were able to say “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know…”.

2. We can extract 4 truths from the text:

1 ) You’re already in the harvest field
How do you personally relate to the story, in other words who do you relate to in the story, the woman, the towns people, or the disciples?
Pastor Chris shared that most of us can probably relate to the disciples in the story. More specifically, we do not realize that the harvest is all around us because like the disciples we are worried about “lunch”, about planning for the future instead of dealing with the present situation, or about someone so specific that we miss those that God had placed in our path who need to hear our testimony. How do we avoid getting ourselves into the same mindset or perspective that the disciples had? A similar but different questions is – how do we change our perspective if we are already in the mindset and perspective of the disciples?
2 ) The field is ripe
The harvest is plentiful. People simply need to hear about the difference Christ has made in your life, just like the woman at the well going to tell the men in her town. Are you ready for the harvest? Have you ever written out your testimony so that you are prepared with a 3 minute version and with a 30 minute version for the different situations you may find yourself in? Consider doing that now or consider doing that soon and sharing it with group in the near future.
3 ) His kingdom 1st
What does Matthew 6:33 teach us about our attention and where it should be?
Do you have a personal story about when you were not focused on His kingdom first, what life was like, and how you were impacted?
Do you have a personal story about when you did place His kingdom first, and how your life and possibly the lives of others around you were impacted?
4 ) Samaria was never the same again
The town in Samaria experienced Christ and His hope. They were changed because of one woman’s witness and testimony. There are people whose lives you can affect if you choose to, people whose lives would never be the same again. Who will you invite to FPC next weekend? Who is on your top 10 list? Who are you burdened for?
As a group pray for your top 10 lists, for God to soften the hearts of the people you will come in contact with this week to invite to service next week, and for the Spirit to prepare you for inviting people to the service next weekend.