18 May
2025

Have Courage – He’s Already Overcome

Passage: John 16:16-33

“The battle is not against sin or difficulties or circumstances. The battle is against being so absorbed with your own suffering that you lose sight of the victory of Christ.” – Oswald Chambers

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

What troubles are you experiencing in this season? What questions usually come up for you in the midst of trouble?

Read John 16:16-33. What does this passage show you about God’s character and about being his follower? What challenges, encourages, or sparks questions for you in this passage?

In the context of this passage, Jesus was preparing to face his own death on the cross. What from this passage reflects how Jesus was able to face this trouble with the poise and peace we see of him in the gospels?
In verse 33, Jesus explains the instructions he’s given to the disciples are “so that in me you may have peace.” This gift of peace is mentioned between news that they will all scatter and have trouble. How would you describe or explain the peace Jesus talks about here? How does it shape our identity, relationships, and confidence in Jesus?
How has Jesus overcome the world? The kingdoms of the world exercise power over others, but Jesus’s power is different. Yet he confidently declares, “I have overcome the world.” What does this look like? What confidence does this give us?
We are instructed along with Jesus’s first disciples to “take heart!” What does it look like for you to take heart in Jesus this week and particularly in the troubles you are facing in this season?

What from this passage and this discussion is something you want to put into practice or be more aware of this week?

PRAYER

Share with your group how they can be praying for you: what is weighing on you from this past week? What are you praising God for from this past week?

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”