Your Personal Grow-Pray-Study (GPS) Guide

Context:

John's Gospel often highlights specific signs (miracles) that reveal Jesus' identity as the Son of God and the giver of eternal life. In John 5, we encounter Jesus in Jerusalem at the Pool of Bethesda, a place where many sick and disabled people gathered, hoping for healing. The belief was that an angel would occasionally stir the water, and the first person to enter the pool after the stirring would be healed. This story sets the stage for a powerful demonstration of Jesus' authority over illness and human limitations, pointing to a more profound spiritual healing. It also foreshadows Jesus's conflict with the religious authorities who prioritized their traditions over compassion.

Icebreaker:

If you could instantly heal one physical ailment (yours or someone else's), what would it be and why?

Read John 5:1-8 aloud. What stood out to you from this week’s homily? (Previous homilies can be watched at christlamesa.org/media.) What stands out to you in this passage?

Like the man at the pool, we sometimes find ourselves in situations where we feel helpless or stuck physically, emotionally, or spiritually. What are some "pools of Bethesda" in our lives today – places or situations where we wait for something or someone to fix us, but feel unable to act?

Jesus' Question:

Jesus asks the man, "Do you want to get well?"

On the surface, this seems like an obvious question. Jesus' question challenges us to consider our desires for wholeness. Are there areas in our lives where we might be comfortable with our brokenness or even resistant to the healing God offers, perhaps because it would require us to change?

The man focused on the pool and his inability to get into it. Jesus, however, offers a solution that transcends his limitations. How might we limit God's power in our lives by focusing too much on our perceived inabilities or traditional solutions?

Jesus commands the man to "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." This involves an act of faith and obedience. Moving that mat was significant because it was the equivalent of moving from what had been his home. Jesus also invites us away from our places of comfort, the places that we once "put our trust" after experiencing his grace.

Close with prayer, thanking God for the healing He offers our souls through Jesus.

Context:

John 13:31-35 occurs just after Judas leaves the Last Supper to betray Jesus. Jesus knows the cross is just hours away, yet in that dark moment, He speaks of glory-the glory of His self-giving love. Then, He gives a "new" commandment. The command isn't new in that love had never been taught before (see Leviticus 19:18), but new in motive and measure. Jesus commands love not based on law or duty, but in response to His own love- a love that stoops to wash feet and hangs on a cross. This is the cruciform love of Christ, a love that renews us and binds us into a new community. We now live in the light of Easter, with the risen Jesus sending us out to love one another.

Icebreaker:

Who is someone in your life who has shown you love in a simple but unforgettable way? How do you know what they’re showing you is love (try to define the characteristics of love)?

Read John 13:31-35 aloud. What stood out to you from this week’s homily? (Previous homilies can be watched at christlamesa.org/media) What stands out to you in this passage?

Why does Jesus say this is a "new" commandment? What's different about it? How does the timing of Jesus' words (right after Judas departs, before His crucifixion) affect how you hear this commandment?

Have you ever felt challenged to love someone who has hurt or disappointed you? How did you respond—or how do you wish you had? Are there people you find easy to love and others you tend to avoid? What might Jesus be inviting you to see or do differently?

What does it look like to love someone who is especially difficult, condescending, and makes your life difficult?

In what ways is Christian love different from the love the world often offers?

When we hear “love as I have loved you,” we immediately get anxious and wonder, “How can I ever love like Jesus!?” St. Therese of Lisieux (19th-century nun) said, "Do small things with great love." Author Ann Voskamp writes, “The way you live your ordinary days adds up to one extraordinary life.” Reflect on those two statements.

Invite someone to close in prayer, thanking Jesus for His love and asking for courage and compassion to love others as He has loved us.

Context:

Revelation 7 offers a powerful pause amid the chaos of judgment and tribulation (Revelation 6). First, we see the Church Militant, the 144,000, symbolizing the faithful, sealed people of God on earth, equipped for mission. But in verses 9-17, the curtain is drawn back to reveal the Church Triumphant: a countless host from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing victorious before God's throne. This vision is not of a distant fantasy – it is the promised outcome of God's mission through Jesus Christ. The crowd wears white robes, made pure by the blood of the Lamb. Their hymn of praise centers not on themselves but on God and the Lamb, who alone bring salvation.

Icebreaker:

If you could be part of any crowd or event in history, what would it be and why? (e.g. Woodstock, the Papal Conclave, etc.)

Read Revelation 7:9-17 aloud. What stood out to you from this week’s homily? (Previous homilies can be watched at christlamesa.org/media.) What stands out to you in this passage? How does this heavenly scene compare to how you usually picture heaven?

The multitude includes people "from every nation, tribe, people, and language." How does this reflect God's promise to Abraham? (See Genesis 12:3 and 15:5) How does this passage shape the way we think about the mission of the Church today?

In verse 10, the people cry, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" What's the difference between saying "I was saved" and "Salvation belongs to God"?

Verse 14 speaks of "those who come out of the great tribulation." Though there are many interpretations of this, broadly speaking, the world the saints are coming out of is the “tribulation.” The world is full of division, suffering, pain, tears, loss, hatred, anger, etc. How does this vision of being “clothed in white robes, having been washed in the blood of the lamb” comfort you as you navigate this world?

Verse 17 says the Lamb will be their Shepherd. Our heart always seeks a shepherd. Sometimes, we make the wrong thing our shepherd. Politicians, cultural figures, celebrity pastors, etc. If they are not serving as under-shepherds to Jesus, they are not shepherds. How has Jesus the Shepherd guided you in how you should go (even if you didn’t follow those promptings)?

How might seeing your current struggles from the perspective of Revelation 7 change your response?

Close with prayer, giving special attention to the theme of Jesus as the worthy Shepherd.

Context:

John 21 occurs after Jesus has appeared twice to His disciples after the resurrection (John 20). Despite this, the disciples seem unsure of what to do next—they return to fishing, perhaps feeling directionless. Peter, especially, must have felt a lingering shame from his threefold denial of Jesus. This final chapter in John is a beautiful scene of grace. Jesus meets Peter not with shame, but with breakfast. Then, He gently restores Peter by asking him three times, “Do you love me?”—mirroring Peter’s three denials. Jesus doesn’t just forgive Peter; He recommissions him: “Feed my sheep.” This is a story about how resurrection grace doesn’t just raise Jesus—it raises us from guilt and failure into purpose and mission.

Icebreaker:

Have you ever had a moment when someone believed in you even after you messed up? What did that mean to you?

Read John 21:1-19 aloud.

What stands out to you in this passage? What stood out to you from this week’s homily? (Previous homilies can be watched at christlamesa.org/media).

Peter had denied Jesus three times when Jesus was on trial. How do you imagine he felt in this moment by the fire? Then, Jesus asks him three times, “Do you love me?” What might have been going through Peter’s mind during this exchange? Though Jesus was trying to “reverse” the guilt of the denial story, Jesus never directly mentions Peter’s denial. What does that tell us about how He handles failure and sin? Where (and why) do you struggle to hold people’s failures and sins like Jesus?

Share a time (if you're comfortable) when you were given a second chance. What did it teach you about grace?

Sinners make the best missionaries. Jesus says, “But he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Luke 7:47). Respond to this statement from the book Scandalous Stories: “We don’t love little because we have little that requires forgiveness. We love little because we’ve confessed little and hidden much. Therefore, we experience little forgiveness.” How do you think Peter’s experience with Jesus’ forgiveness changed how he loved others going forward? How can reflecting on God's forgiveness change how you look at others?

Close with prayer, giving special attention to “forgiveness” and “restoration.”