Hyde Park United Methodist

The light of God’s love convicts us of our sins, especially in the ways that we mistreat each other and cause harm.  HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepshttps://www.barna.com/research/christians-more-like-jesus-or-pharisees/Reflection Questions:1. What do you think it means to be a follower of Jesus? 2. How do your answers to the Barna survey make you more like Jesus? More like the Pharisees? 3. What changes will you make in your life to follow Jesus better?

Just as the sun is the source of life and energy for all creation, so is Jesus the source of love and goodness for all humanity.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. What animal terrifies you?2. What in your life needs the Light? How are you blocking the Light?3. How do you confess and when was the last time?4.  In what ways will you walk in the Light this week?

In Christ we are never alone. We are connected to God, to each other, and in ministry to the world.HydeParkUMC.org/NextSteps Reflection Questions:1. To stay connected to Jesus who is the vine, what spiritual practices do you observe? 2. In your life, what might the ‘keeper of the vineyard’ need to prune? 3. What does it mean to ‘bear fruit’ in your life?

The way of Jesus gives us the clearest, most direct path toward living life as God intends.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. Would it make a difference in your life if you heard Jesus’ “Follow Me” as a command rather than an invitation?2. What trouble is in your heart that you need God to help you deal with?3. What are you doing to care for creation to honor Jesus as the Co-Creator? 

In Christ, death is never the last word, just as Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsREFLECTION QUESTIONS: 1. What does it mean to follow Jesus, the one who invites us into the fullness of life and death? 2. What tomb are you being invited to exit? To come out of? 3. Where do you see new life in your midst?  4. Imagine Jesus in front of you, asking, ‘do you believe this?’ How would you respond? 

Jesus cares for us, preserving and protecting us from the power of sin. We must learn to listen for Jesus’ voice, and follow where he leads us.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. In what way are you in need of a “Good Shepherd” today? 2. How do you best hear the voice of Jesus in your life? 3. How will you be less like a cow that needs to be pushed, and more like a sheep that is willing to follow?

Jesus is the means through which we can experience the fullness of God’s presence and enjoy a full relationship with God.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. What would you say are the “thieves” in your life? 2. What noises in your life compete with your ability to hear Jesus? 3. How will you learn to better listen to the voice of Jesus?

Jesus meets us in our blindness and gives us the ability to see God’s grace and love, just as he cured the blind man.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. In what ways are you like the Pharisees in these stories? How do you need the light of Jesus? 2. How are you like the woman and the man in both stories? How do you need the light of Jesus? 3. How will you shine the light of Jesus to others this week?

Jesus satisfies our deepest hungers, just as he fed the multitudes.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. What favorite memory do you have of communion? 2. What difference do anamnesis and prolepsis make in your appreciation of communion? 3. How will you be the body of Christ for people this week?

The arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost enables the church to be a community of love that embraces diversity and inclusion.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions1. When have you experienced the presence and power of the Holy Spirit with others? 2. How is God calling you to do the work of Tikkun Olam, “repairing the world”? 3. What excites you about being a part of the future of this church?

Faithful love chooses to see reality through the “long view,” and never loses hope, regardless of how bad things might look now.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. What is a part of your childhood that you miss? 2. Who are those who loved you into being? 3. What do you think it means for love to be the greatest thing, greater than faith and hope?

A love that forgives actively repairs broken relationships by “turning down the temperature” of heated conflict, and seeking to move forward, rather than live in the past.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. Is it more difficult to forgive others or yourself?2. Why do you think Jesus commands forgiveness?3. How might you love others this week?

A love that is gentle discovers alternatives to unhealthy anger, and seeks common understanding and dialogue.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. When do you think it is okay to be angry? 2. What do you think is the difference between unhealthy and healthy anger? 3. What will you do to be less provoked by angry experiences and people?

A love that is humble recognizes the decency and worth of others, and embraces differences as opportunities for learning.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. Who has exemplified humility in your life? What have you learned from them? 2. In what ways is it hard for you to be humble? 3. How will you practice a healthy sense of humility each day?

A love that is kind reaches across barriers to bring people into the fold. God's nature in the Hebrew Bible is often described with the word "HESED" which roughly translates to "loving-kindness." We know love when someone wants the best for us and invites us into a life of goodness.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions1. Love is many things…. But it is especially KIND.  Describe how you feel when someone does something kind for you? 2. If love is an action, what is one active way you can share some kindness today?3. Princess Diana reached across the chasms of uncomfortableness to bring healing through a simple gesture of kindness. Can you think of other examples like that?

Paul’s classic passage in 1 Corinthians 13 is a well-known, often quoted exploration of love. The love he describes is not merely sentimental or romantic, despite this passage’s frequent use in wedding ceremonies. The love described in 1 Corinthians 13 is rigorous, strong, and forged in the hardships of life. In other words, this is a love that overcomes and conquers. It endures, it bears, it does not bend to sinful tendencies, and it never ends. This series will explore these fierce and relentless qualities of God’s love, as an encouragement to us as we seek to live the resurrected life. HydeParkUMC.org/NextSteps

Resurrection is possible in the most unlikely moments, in the most unsuspecting of ways. We can open our eyes to see the presence of Jesus in our midst. https://hydeparkumc.org/nextsteps/Reflection Questions:1. Which of these three prayers have you prayed, or are even praying now? 2. When has it been true that God has been active in your life, without your realizing it? 3. How do you hope to encounter God’s resurrection in your life?

Jesus invites us into an experience of his life, death, and resurrection, and calls us to remembrance through the bread and the cup.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions:1. How do you identify with Judas in this story? How about with Mary? 2. How will you spend your time spiritually preparing for Easter this week?3. What stories at the table have you found most meaningful this Lenten series?

We are prone to making too many excuses for not making or following through on our commitment to Jesus. God calls us to give our all, and our very best.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepshttps://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pasco/community-shows-up-for-3-year-olds-birthday-party-when-no-one-else-didReflection Questions:1. Have you ever hosted an event where fewer people showed up than you hoped? How did that make you feel? 2. Which of the characters in the parable do you most identify with? 3. Who is someone you know that you can encourage this week? What will you do to encourage them?

The table of God is expansive and inclusive, and we are called to invite all people to experience God’s grace and love.HydeParkUMC.org/NextStepsReflection Questions: 1. What manners did you learn as a child at the dinner table? How do those lessons apply to relating to people today? 2. What do you think is the fine line between hostility and hospitality? When is the line blurry between the two? 3. How will you work to extend the hospitality of God’s love to people who feel excluded?