In Pursuit of Sexual Wholeness: Discussion for Week 1

Opening Prayer

Welcome to the discussion for the first week of our discipleship series “In Pursuit of Sexual Wholeness”. Take a moment to allow everyone in the group to introduce themselves if necessary and then begin by praying in the following way:

1. Ask everyone to close their eyes and sit comfortably in a moment of silence.
2. After a few seconds encourage everyone to simple become aware of their breathing and to relax.
3. After a few more seconds ask everyone to consider anything from the day or recent past that is making them anxious. Make a point of letting it go, since you cannot affect it right now, and silently ask Jesus to take it from you (1 minute)
4. Ask everyone to consider anything about tomorrow or the future that is making them anxious. Make a point of letting it go, since you cannot affect it right now, and silently ask Jesus to take it from you (1 minute)
5. Ask everyone to consider any anxieties they have about this discussion. Encourage everyone to breathe deeply. On the in breath, breathe in God’s love for us. On the out-breath let go of fear (1 minute)
6. Close by praying the following prayer:

Lord Jesus. Thank you for your great love for us. Thank you that you as a fellow human-being understand our complexities: all our fears, our hopes, our sadness, our joys and all aspects of our humanity. We open ourselves to you now, that you might lead us into wholeness. Amen.

Scripture Reading

Ask someone to read the following scripture or have several people read a portion each.

Mark 5:21-43 (New International Version)

21When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." 24So Jesus went with him.

   A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

 30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

 31"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "

 32But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

 35While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?"

 36Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

 37He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." 40But they laughed at him.

      After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ). 42Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Discussion

The following questions would be suitable to discuss with the whole group. Share thoughts and feelings together about each one:

1. Why do you think the woman in this story (with the hemorrhage) “trembled with fear”?
2. What similarities of feelings and perceptions might there be between the woman in the story and someone struggling with a sexual issue?
3. What are your thoughts and feelings about going into this series? Excitement, hope, fear, embarrassment, other…?
4. How healthy (or “whole”) do you think our culture is in relation to sexuality and why?
5. How healthy (or “whole”) do you think Church is in relation to sexuality and why?
6. In what ways would you say that your followership of Jesus affects how you personally think and act sexually?
7. Is there anyone you talk to openly about your sexuality?

The following questions might be more suitable for discussion in a smaller setting. Feel free to allow the group to break off into smaller discussions or save these questions for discussion with a close friend.

1. When you think about your own personal life is from a sexual point of view, how “healthy” and “whole” do you feel?
   1. Do you feel at peace?
   2. Do you have any fear or anxiety?
   3. Do you experience any shame about anything (form the past or currently)
   4. Are there any areas of your sexual life that feel out of control or that even control you?
2. What aspects of your sexual life do you think need to change and how?

Reflection

Sit comfortably in silence as a group with eyes closed. Leader leads the group in the following way:

1. Invite everyone to reflect on the discussion and allow any issues or challenges to surface within. What has been most stirred up in you? (1 minute)
2. After a few moments ask everyone to pick one of these issues and silently reflect more deeply. What is really going on? What is at the root of this issue? (1 minute)
3. Leader prays: “Come Holy Spirit; come and fill our hearts as we open our lives to you. Touch us and help us with our struggles and pains” and then invites everyone to silently open themselves to God in relation to the issues that have surfaced (2 minutes)
4. Encourage everyone to consider what is happening. How is the Holy Spirit working within you at this moment? What is God doing? (1 minute)
5. Spend more time in silence with each person inviting God to deepen the work of the Holy Spirit within them (2 minutes).
6. Leader closes this reflection time by praying: “Thank you Jesus for your presence with us. Make us whole, we pray. Amen”

Spend another couple of minutes for each person to consider what might be appropriate personal next steps. Do you need any kind of help? Do you need to talk more deeply with someone? Group leader can share the various resources available as part of this series and encourage everyone to take advantage of them.

Closing Prayer

Leader or someone else closes the discussion with a prayer