20 Apr
2025

Peace Be With You!

Passage: John 20

“More to the point, doubt is not a landing spot. It’s a way station. It’s an obstacle on the path. It’s real, it’s hard, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. But neither is it something to desire or seek. What we’re after is Christ. In this life we know him by faith. The mark of following him well is faithfulness. We may enter a dark night of the soul on the journey. We don’t want to stay there, however. We want to come out the other side. We want to live in the light.”  —Brad East, Letters to a Future Saint 

Sermon Outline:

  • From Death to Life
  • From Doubt to Faith

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Share a time you have experienced change in your life. How do you typically handle change?

Read John 20. What does this passage show you about God’s character and about being his child? What challenges, encourages, or sparks questions for you in this passage?

In verse 19, Jesus says: “Peace be with you!” The resurrection of Jesus gives us peace in this life, for life after death, and for everything sad to come untrue. Where do you most need to hear Jesus speak peace to you? How does the resurrection embody Jesus’s message of peace for your present concerns?
In verse 25, Thomas expresses his doubt of the resurrection. How have you wrestled with questioning Jesus?
How does Jesus’s response to Thomas teach us to respond to doubt in ourselves or others?
Thomas responds to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” expressing his confident and convinced faith in Jesus. What has fortified and helped you to declare like Thomas to Jesus, “my Lord and my God!”?

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.”