Ground Zero
(6 part series)
GROUND ZERO WEEK 1: UPPER ROOM DYNAMICS - by Martin Cockerill
After taking off his clothes, Jesus gets down on the floor and cleans the feet of his disciples, including Judas, the one who will go on to sell him out to the authorities.
In these actions Jesus strips away all his status and becomes the very least in the room. By cleaning his disciples feet Jesus was showing them just how far the new command of love would really go (John 13v34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”).
Ice Breaker Question - What’s the worst thing you’ve ever stepped in?
1. Jesus having all the power from God, does something totally unexpected. What was the point in cleaning his disciples feet?
2. What does it say about Jesus that he washed the feet of the man who would sell him out? How do we love and include people who might do things we don’t like or agree with?
3. In what way can we replicate Jesus’ example of cleaning his disciples feet today?
GROUND ZERO WEEK 2: MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS - by Richard Henderson
By looking at Luke 1 and John 19 we will be considering Jesus’ mother before he was born and at his death on the cross. We will learn about what Mary teaches us about the mercy of God, about her unique role in the story of our salvation and about the unique role of all mothers.
Ice Breaker Question - Can anyone share a fond or funny Mother's Day memory?
Readings - Luke 1:39-56 and John 19:25-27
1. Look at John 19.23-27. Compare the four soldiers and the four women at the foot of the cross. What are they doing and what are they feeling?
2. In Luke 1 the angel Gabriel appears both to Zechariah and Mary. Compare their different responses.
3. How can we appropriately honour the Blessed Virgin Mary?
GROUND ZERO WEEK 3: PONTIUS PILOT - GOVERNOR OF JUDEA - by Steve Cowie
We read about Pontius Pilot in all four of the Gospels. In John’s account (John 19 v 1 – 22) we get a glimpse into the dilemma Pilot faced as he interacted with Jesus. He first challenges Jesus (John 18 v 28 – 40) as he sees him as just another nuisance Jewish Galilean upstart and Pilot as Governor of Judea was responsible for suppressing the Jewish population and maintaining order. However, later Pilot is defending Jesus and wanted him to be released. This was Pilot’s journey having encountered Jesus.
Ice Breaker Question - What was your journey of faith and how did it start?
1. What was it about Jesus that swung Pilot from being sceptical to being persuaded he should be released (John 19 v 12)? What was it that persuaded you to follow Jesus and to keep following him?
2. Why did Pilot not comply with the request from the chief priests to change the wording above the cross which he had written and stated: ‘Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews’? (John 19 v 19 – 22). Where should we take our stand as disciples of Jesus and not back down? When have you done this and how did it work out?
3. Pilot capitulated in the face of pressure from the crowd and Jewish leaders in order to prevent an uproar and to maintain his political career. How innocent in reality was Pilot for Jesus’ crucifixion and what was the purpose of his public hand washing, as narrated by Matthew in his gospel? (Matthew 27 v 19 – 26). How much do we compromise our witness in the face of pressure at work or with friends, in order to maintain our standing? In what ways could we take a bolder stand?
GROUND ZERO WEEK 4: FINDING YOUR VOICE - by Janet and Glen Cormack
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher rebukes your disciples!’ ‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’ (Luke 19:39-40)
In this study from Palm Sunday, we are going to think about how we ‘Find our Voice’ of Praise as disciples of Jesus. In this vivid word picture of singing stones, Jesus opens our eyes and our ears to the true purpose of all creation, ‘to praise God in loud voices.’ Let’s not leave it for the stones to cry out. As the pinnacle of God’s creation, women and men, boys and girls should be leading the choir! To help us do this let us look together at how the disciples in this passage found their voice of praise as they followed Jesus down the road. Feel free to focus on the questions which capture your attention.
Reading - Luke 19:28-44
1. Read verses 28-35 a couple of times. Two unnamed disciples are sent ahead of the group - One of Jesus’ standard discipling practices.
What catches your attention in the dialogue between Jesus, the two disciples, and the owners of the donkey?
What can we learn from how the disciples carried out their instructions?
How is this an act of praise and how can you apply it to your own lives?
2. Read verses 36-40 a couple of times. This time we join with a crowd of disciples.
What catches your attention in this joyful procession of praise? What miracles have you seen recently that you want to praise God for?
What can we learn from this song sheet about Jesus’ identity, and the effect of His presence?
Just like back then, Jesus’ disciples today often come under pressure to keep quiet about their faith in Him. Discuss how we can resist this and find our voice of praise in our world today.
3. Read verses 41-44 a couple of times. Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem is a sobering reminder to God’s people down through the generations about how easy it is to miss the very person we have been waiting for.
How does praise help to keep us alert and able to recognise the time of God’s coming to us?
May the Lord continue to bless you our dear friends at New Life in your calling to be like Jesus at the heart of North Yorkshire.
With love & faith,
Glen & Janet
GROUND ZERO WEEK 5: THE CENTURION - by Elisabeth Jordan
This is a fast-moving passage, which takes us from the moment Pilate hands Jesus over to the Roman soldiers right through to His burial in the personal tomb of a rich man, fulfilling the specific prophecy in Isaiah 53:9. We find ourselves in the position of the Roman Centurion, observing and increasingly unable to remain emotionally detached from the terrible yet amazing things that are happening before our eyes.
Ice Breaker Question: Thinking of Joseph of Arimathea, have you ever had the opportunity to bring God’s love and grace into a really bad situation? Did it involve taking a risk?
Reading - Mark 15:16-47
1. Why do you think the soldiers and later the religious leaders found it so necessary to mock Jesus? In what ways might this be relevant for our society today?
2. How do you understand Jesus’s cry of abandonment in verse 34? What do you think is going on here, and what significance does it have for us?
3. What was it that turned the hard-bitten Centurion into a believer in Jesus? (You may want to look at the parallel accounts in the other Gospels to get the full flavour of what the Centurion experienced.) How is this relevant for your own faith and witness?
GROUND ZERO WEEK 6: PETER AT BREAKFAST WITH JESUS by Jane Cook
Peter as a young man in his early twenties had known prominence and favour in the 3 years of following Jesus. With James and John, he had been in Jesus’s inner circle of friends. He had received divine revelation that Jesus was the Christ. Tremendous highs! The low point of his public failure before the Cross may have seemed to him to be the end of the journey. But when Jesus spoke to him on the beach, Peter’s failure became a stepping stone to the fulfilment of God’s plan for him to become the first pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Icebreaker question; Can you think of any amusing lessons that you have you learned through a failure? [Feel free to follow this up asking about significant lessons learned through failure]
Reading - John 21
1. What character qualities can be fostered through success?
2. What steps can we take to gauge the condition of our own hearts?
3. Failure can be difficult to deal with. Yet within weeks of his public denial of Jesus, Peter stood up before thousands of people and delivered a powerful sermon in the city. (Acts 2). What factors were involved in this process?