NOTES: 1] JN 3:16 may be better known, but everything depends on 3:14! 2] Nicodemus is the first 'elder' to take Jesus seriously. Later, he helps bury him. 3] In v.3, Jesus plays on words: 'again' also means 'from above'. 4] Jesus hasn't ascended yet (13). He may mean no one has ever been as close to God as he is / has been. (cf. Leon Morris, Gospel of John, ad loc)

WARMING UP: When did we last see a snake (or fox, eagle, etc.) hanging up as a 'sign'? Of what?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything that's happened this week?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

1-2        How do we know whether someone is 'from God' or not? What are the criteria? Who sets them? Us or God? Are we completely open about our own discipleship, or do we try to keep it under wraps?

3-4        The 'verily', or 'truly' bit = "I swear to you". Do we feel that strongly about what we believe, or are we more hesitant, tentative? Does taking 'being born again / from above' to mean being born from God's womb, help us grasp what Nicodemus can't? Or isn't it the done thing to think of God as having 'a womb'? Are we too conditioned to thinking of God as male?

5-8        If a person needs to be born of both water & spirit to enter under God's Rule, do we qualify? If baptism washes us into God's Rule at the human level, what is it that Spirit does to make the process complete? Is our practice of 'confirmation' really a case of trying to 'regulate' the Spirit, something Jesus clearly rules out here? When Jesus says the Spirit blows as it wills, what does that say to those of us who believe / teach we have to experience the Spirit in a particular way to be genuine?

9-12       How far is it legitimate for us to question matters of faith we don't understand or can't come to terms with? How do we feel about asking such questions publicly? Or don't we get the chance? If we do (get the chance) do we / don't we ask?

13          What's our best way of understanding the 'up-there'-ness / 'down-here'-ness of heaven & earth in this 21st C?

14-17     What does his harking back to this old story (NUM 21:9+) tell us about how Jesus sees: 1) his mission? 2) his death? 3) how it all applies to us? Is there any greater gift we can ever give than ourself? Can Scripture ever become real for us until we do as Jesus does & give ourself as he does? Give ourself for whom? Give ourself to whom? How do we describe 'eternal life'? What do we think of someone's description of it as 'real life'? Is our God more at the condemning end or the rescuing end of the scale? How much difference does the way we answer that question make to the way we live life?
 
 

NOTES: 1] Saul (later Paul) appears on the scene for the first time. The focus then shifts to Philip the Deacon, & on to Peter & John. 2] Samaria was a racially & religiously hybrid area, despised by the Hebrews. It's quite symbolic of the kind of hybrid society many of us live in. 3] Some argue that in vv.14+ we're already seeing an instituionalising of Holy Spirit by the church.

WARMING UP: Is it true that 'money can't buy everything?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything that's happened this week?

EXPLORING ACTS:

1-3        Have we ever approved of someone's killing, in any sense? If not in physical reality, maybe metaphorically? If we are free to practise our faith without fear of persecution, do we have a concern for Christians, or those of other faiths, who do face persecution from the state or another faith? What would it take to 'scatter' us about the countryside? Do current 'death rites'  reflect a balance between compassion for those grieving, & respect for & 'lamentation' over the one who has died? Are we such a threat to society that anybody would be bothered to ravage our church & drag us off to prison? Ought we to be?

4-8        Does moving about from place to place proclaiming the word have a place on our church agenda? Do we have any sense that people today are keen to hear our message & see the signs we do? Do we even have a message any more? Have the signs gone missing with the message? How can we best understand 'possession' today in this 21st C.? Or are we bound to see things in 1st C flat-earth terms? What about when it comes to physical healing? Do we detect any great joy abroad in the community where we live? Even when we gather with our fellow Christians? How can we put joy back on the agenda? What's the difference between joy, & happiness, self-satisfaction, pleasure, all that kind of thing? What makes joy different?

9-13      How do we react to / respond to the many in our own community who 'amaze' people with 'magic' of one kind or another, e.g. the occult, crystals, fortune telling, horoscopes,.........? Why are people so gullible? Not us, surely? Or do we all have a gullible streak in us? What about those who accuse us of being gullible by believing as we do in God? Is it high time we 'did a Philip', & out-gunned them? If Simon Magus could be converted & baptised, (but, read on!) can't today's 'magicians' & those they deceive & fleece, turn their lives round in God's direction, too? Or don't we believe strongly enough that that's so?

14-25    Given that Peter & John promptly do a follow up visit to Samaria, how good are we at following up contacts - even tentative ones? Have we ourselves ever benefited from being 'followed-up'? Does it register with us that the whole story of God & God's people revealed in Scripture paints a picture of God as the Great Follower-Up? If, as some think, there's evidence here of the early church 'institutionalising' Holy Spirit', where are we with that issue now? Are we ever tempted to try to buy, in one way or another, 'benefits' from the church? Where are we with regard to personal wickedness, evil intents, that kind of thing? Are we in any sense bound (or have been) in 'the gall of bitterness'? If bitterness is an often discernible, observable, & destructive force within churches, are we praying hard enough for it to be taken away & those bound by it forgiven & healed?
        Are there times when, like Peter & John, we need to retrace our steps along the way?