Community Group Guide

> Why We Gather

At The Springs Church, we desire for community groups to be a place where we BEHOLD JESUS, BECOME LIKE JESUS, and BELONG IN COMMUNITY. This means that our primary goal for groups is to gather around the transforming presence of Christ. As we gather around the transforming presence of Jesus, we believe by faith that we will be incrementally transformed into His image and likeness. With that in mind, let's begin in prayer by asking the Holy Spirit to lead our time together, move on our hearts, and help us behold Jesus, become Like Jesus, and experince the gift of belonging in community. Let's pray.

> Give Thanks

Take a few moments to briefly share about anything that you are thankful unto the Lord for? Perhaps you've witnessed God answer a prayer or experienced a moment that strengthened your faith. Feel free to share any recent occurrences that have encouraged you or instances where you've felt God's presence at work in your life.

> Scripture Reading

Have someone read John 20:11-16

> Discussion Questions

Mary did not expect Jesus to rise from the dead Mary’s response to the angels’ question and to Jesus’ question indicate that she expected to find Jesus’ dead body, not his resurrected body. Even though the body was missing, she did not think resurrection was a possibility. This is natural, since pretty much every other living thing that dies does not come back to life. However, Jesus had indicated in many ways this would happen. [Have someone read Mark 8:27-33, Mark 9:30-37, Mark 10:35-45.]

Reflection Question: What contrasts do we see between Jesus’ plan to die for sins and rise again and the disciple’s behavior in these stories?

Reflection Question: How do these stories help us understand why Mary Magdalene still did not think that Jesus’ body was missing because he was alive again?

We often do not expect Jesus to bring new life from death

Before we criticize Mary and the disciples, we should consider our own response to Jesus. Jesus dying for our sin and rising from the dead announces that God has conquered both sin and death. Christians now have access to God through Jesus. Jesus has announced that he is bringing about his kingdom on earth and will come back to make all things new. The spiritual and physical forces that opposed Jesus thought that his death meant their victory. On the contrary, Jesus’ resurrection was a cosmic announcement that he was the victor by his death. Many times we still do not believe these promises. We are often like Mary in believing that dead parts of our life cannot come back to life. We often believe that Jesus cannot heal sin patterns in our life. We often fail to have resurrection hope. We often fail to believe we have access to God in Jesus.

Reflection Question: How do you find you are like Mary and fail to recognize Jesus and the life that he has made available? How do you fail to believe that God can resurrect broken and dead parts of your life? How do you need to believe that Jesus is the victor over sin and death?

Jesus is the gardener

John puts a clue in the story when Mary thinks that Jesus is the gardener. God set up this significant detail when Jesus was buried in a tomb in a garden. This points back to the original Garden of Eden where people were to live in perfect harmony with God. In that first garden, sin led to human separation from God and human death. In this new garden where Mary met Jesus, God was overcoming sin to reunite us to God and to make human resurrection life available to all who trust in Jesus. Jesus is the gardener tending to the new life in the garden.

Reflection Question: How do you see Jesus tending your new life this Easter season? Where are areas that you want to pray for new growth?

> Confession and Prayer

Reflect and Pray: As we sit with this passage, ask God to bring to mind anything you need to confess or need prayer for. Take a moment to share and pray for one another. Feel free to split up into pairs depending on the group size.