After Jesus heals the blind man, he claims to be both The Door, and The Good Shepherd. Why do I need a shepherd?
Lifegroup discussions are after the link!
Before you get started with your group time, be sure to talk about the upcoming “Halloween Outreach” and “Family Day” for a minute. Make sure you have everyone in your group open to this page, and talk about these two upcoming events. Both are really important together.
Halloween Outreach
First, I emailed your life group leader all the info about the upcoming Halloween Outreach on October 31. You guys probably looked at it last week, but once again, you will find Jenny’s life group participation PDF linked on the “click for more” below. If you haven’t already, please have a look and respond to Jenny tonight. She has to present her final schedule of volunteers at their meeting on Friday morning.
Family Day
Directly connected to the Halloween Outreach is our first-ever “Family Day” on the following Sunday, November 6. Do you know your number, and do you know how to “make every week count” in the life of your children? Are you aware of the DIFFERENT schedule for that morning? You can get all the details at the link below.
After you have talked about these two things, take turns asking questions and reading verses.
John 10:10-11
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
On Sunday, I talked about Jesus being the “Good Shepherd.” Most people wouldn’t want to be characterized as being a “sheep.” Why? What would that typically mean? What do we think of when we say someone is “sheepish?” Is that who we want to be?
I made the observation that we would much rather see ourselves as “wolves.” Do you agree with that? Are we wolfish in some ways? How?
I also made the observation that we may think we are wolves, but that we are, in fact, just goats. What does that mean? How are we really goats, instead of either sheep or wolves?
Jesus uses this shepherd/sheep metaphor immediately after giving the blind man his sight. What is Jesus telling us about our own blindness, and our need for a shepherd?
What do the following verses teach us about needing the Good Shepherd?
Isaiah 40:11
He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
Ezekiel 34:15-16
I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign Lord. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!
Isaiah 53:6
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
What does the prophet Isaiah (in the following verses) say about Jesus becoming a sheep, a sacrificial lamb, on our part? How is becoming a sheep actually becoming more like Jesus?
Isaiah 53:7-9
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned, he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
How can we move from goatishness to sheepishness?