Loving the Light

DOWNLOAD 'Depths of Love' Small Group Resources (PDF)

Fellowship – Snacks or a Meal (10 minutes with snacks; longer, obviously, if there is a meal).

Gathering Time (5-10 minutes). In pairs or groups of three, invite participants to talk about a time they were in the dark and longed for light. (Perhaps during a power outage at home, on a camping trip, etc.)

Group Dialogue (Approximately 30 minutes). Read John 3:14-21.

• The passage we are looking at today, John 3:14-21. is part of a larger passage that starts with 3:1 and centers on Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Look back at John 3:1. What are we told about Nicodemus? (He is a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews. He comes to Jesus at night. He has questions about who Jesus is.)
• Why do you suppose Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night? (The Pharisees had a tense relationship with Jesus. In the gospels, Jesus is often challenging the Pharisees on their understanding of “the law.” Maybe Nicodemus didn’t want the other Pharisees to know he was seeking Jesus out as a teacher.)
• In John 3:14, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” What is this about Moses lifting a serpent? Look back in the Old Testament at Numbers 21:8-9. (When the people of Israel were wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt, God responded to the people’s complaints by sending a plague of poisonous serpents. Moses intercedes by erecting a bronze serpent on a pole that saves the people from the serpents.)
• John 3:16 is probably the best-known verse in the Bible. You might have seen it on a poster held on a street corner or a banner in the end zone of a football game. Is this an effective way of sharing the good news that “God so loved the world that he gave up his only son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have
• eternal life.”? What might be other more effective ways of sharing this good news?
• John 3:17 says, “God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” Why is it so easy to fall into the trap of condemning others? What helps us to be more loving and less condemning?
• Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus concludes with Jesus talking about how some people love darkness, but the light has come into the world. What does it mean to live in the light? What might it mean today to live in darkness? Who in our community might be living in darkness? How might we share the light of God’s love with them?

Prayer (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.

Sending Forth (2 minutes). End with the following prayer, a similar prayer, or the Lord’s Prayer:

Prayer: O God of light and love, thank you for sending Jesus into the world to show us the extent of your love. May the light of your love shine into the darkest corners of our lives. May we be beacons of your light in this dark world, so that all know they are loved by you. Amen.

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Rev. Alecia Curtis Glaize is a United Methodist minister specializing in Christian education. She was educated at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, and Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California. She currently serves as Interim Director of Field Education at Claremont School of Theology and is a volunteer adult Bible study teacher at her church.