Global Connect Group Pre-Study Questions
These questions are designed for small group discussion and mirror training sessions for group leaders. Throughout these questions you will see the word “mission.” Think of this word broadly in terms of both giving and receiving help and working alongside others. Fundamentally, United Methodists believe that we participate in God’s mission, God’s work in the world. “Mission,” as a result, can be everything from small acts of grace and kindness to international efforts aimed at structural injustice. God is in it all and may God also be in your conversation.”
Session One:
- Have you had any mission experiences in the past? What were they like?
- Read Luke 10:25-37. Consider this story through the perspective of the characters in it: the priest, the Samaritan, the one robbed. How does this story shed light on how best to work with others for good in the world? What challenges you about this story?
- What excites you about working with others when trying to make a difference?
- What are your reservations or fears about mission?
- Why do you think engaging in mission is important?
- What do you hope to get out of a service experience? Has God put a particular place or project on your heart already?
- What are the next practical steps to acting on your desire to serve? What advocates do you have who can help?
Session Two:
- What do you think people mean when they say they want to make a difference in the world?
- Why is it sometimes difficult to make a difference?
- Read Luke 10:25-37. What sticks out to you about this story?
- A fundamental belief among Methodists is that God is already at work in the world AND that mission is from everywhere to everywhere. Are these values represented in this scripture? If so, how?
- What do you think of these fundamental Christian beliefs? Do you think God is at work in the world?
- What motivates you for wanting to make a difference in the world? Why did you choose this time and this place to serve?
Session Three:
- Who are your favorite kinds of people to work with and why?
- Do you think relationships are important when trying to make a difference in the world? Why?
- If relationships are necessary for working together what common bonds might help that group work better? How alike in faith, temperament, goals, etc. should they be?
- Read Matthew 8:1-17. What are some things these stories have in common? Does change the way you see Jesus at all? If so, how? If not, how not?
- If you are considering engaging in mission why might it be good to stay connected with the Methodist church? What are the advantages? What are the challenges?
Session Four:
- What resources do you think are important to engaging in mission?
- Does a perceived lack of resources ever keep you from engaging in service to others? What resources do you have that might not at first appear like resources?
- Read Luke 1:26-56. What do you think it felt like to be Mary or Elizabeth?
- Why do you think God works with/blesses ordinary people again and again in the Bible?
- What hope do these stories give us for work in our own time and space?
- Share some things you think you have to contribute and let others add to your list!
- With your list in hand, write a covenant or sort of rulebook for your time together. Will you, for example, limit the use of phones? Will you commit to praying together every morning? Will you commit to meet for 5 weeks after you return?