2. Aim: To understand the potential of our relationships with those whose lives are interwoven with ours by God Aim: To understand the context, or weave, of our local community Aim: To understand our part in the ongoing tapestry of God’s re-creation of the world through our working lives Aim: To understand the potential of our relationships with those whose lives are interwoven with ours by God Aim: To understand how sin both distorts our lives and opens up opportunities for everyday witness Aim: To understand how we might begin to integrate our story with others’ stories and connect them to God’s story

4. Food for thought It’s easy to be so hungry for a challenge that you lose sight of what it’s all about. Sowing as many seeds as possible, scattering yourself so thin that, in the end, the real harvest goes unreaped. So much busyness that the real business of people gets forgotten.

5. Jesus, the bread of life, fed the starving – by talking, yes, by offering the living word. But also by listening. Curious about others, that they too might be curious about him.

6. Could this be the one that was talked about by the prophets? Taste and see, as they say, that the Lord is good! Manna from heaven in our own wilderness; nourishment for the journey. Way to go: Thirty readings on a journey with Jesus Eddie Gibbs (IVP)

7. For reflection & conversation 1. In what ways might we be in danger of losing sight of ‘people’ when engaging in sharing our faith? 2. What are some of the ways Jesus provoked a curiosity in others about who he was? 3. As you think of Jesus’ life as described in the gospels, do you picture him as being hurried or unhurried about mission?

8. Reflection on Scripture: Sharing our faith in conversation Long conversation Unlikely conversations Conversations that are going somewhere Deep in conversation The unfolding conversation

9. a) Conversation starter 1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

10. a) Conversation starter 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

11. For reflection and conversation In what areas of life might we surprise unbelievers by focusing conversations on the common ground our lives share rather than on the differences between us in our beliefs, values or lifestyles?

12. b) Curious conversation 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”

13. b) Curious conversation 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

14. For reflection and conversation In what ways might we detect willingness in someone else to sustain and develop a spiritual conversation that has begun, however tentatively?

15. c) Open conversation 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

16. c) Open conversation 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

17. For reflection and conversation Think of a time when someone has opened up to you, perhaps unexpectedly, about something very personal in their life. How did you feel? Did you want to back off? How did you allow them to unburden themselves?

18. d) Uncomfortable conversation 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

19. For reflection and conversation How might we move a conversation from heading towards a dead end? What part does the idea of a gracious God play in that?

20. e) Hopeful conversation 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he. 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

21. e) Hopeful conversation 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.”

22. Reflection on Scripture: Genesis 3 The life shattering effects of sin 3. A shattered relationship with others 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me— she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:11-13 (New International Version, ©2010)

23. Reflection and conversation What do you think is our role in sharing the faith and in what ways does God take over by his Spirit to do something beyond anything we can do?

24. Exercise: Connecting to share our faith Show Christian friendship Perform an act of Christian kindness Join an ongoing conversation and bring a Christian perspective Correct a mistaken idea about Christianity Ask a question causing consideration of what someone else believes Challenge what someone says they believe to make them think again Start a conversation about something with a view to opening up the potential to share your faith

25. Conversation Which of these ways of bearing witness do you feel most/least comfortable with? Why?

26. Where to next? Leave things open to be continued Consider it best to stop for now because the conversation has shut down Offer something to read Offer to pray for/with someone Invite someone to come with you to some form of Christian gathering

27. Conversation Have you ever pushed a faith sharing conversation too far and regretted it? What was the outcome? Was there a way of rescuing the situation?

28. Life Rhythm 6:Intentionality God woven lives Patterns Places People Passing us by? Prayerful reflection!

29. Reviewing the Life Rhythms Story – appreciating that our lives are story framed Listening – to God, to others, to one another Celebrating – a life of gratitude for God’s goodness Community – from fellowship to hospitality Blessing – the overflow of God’s healing shalom from within us

30. For individual reflection What opportunities are you more aware of now than you were at the start of Tapestry to live as a Christian witness in: Your neighbourhood? Your 9 to 5 routine? Your relationship with friends? Some other sphere of your life?

31. For individual reflection How can you seek to be more intentionally aware of what God might be doing, or wanting to do, through your daily life and the opportunities it throws open?

32. Closing exercise Pray for others in your group that the weave of their lives may become a rich tapestry displaying the texture of God’s love for others.

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