Introduction
Watch the video from “One By One Part 7:
Getting going
1. In your own words, what is the point of the starfish story?
2. You cannot save every soul. But God can use you to save one soul.
3. What question does Pastor Rosenau encourage his members to ask people they meet? Is this a good question? Why or why not? What makes it effective?
Getting into God’s Word
Good sharing of God’s love is hard work, simply done well. We joke saying “You can have it easy, you can have it fast, or you can have it cheap”. Pick any two. Good sharing of God’s love is not easy, it’s good work. It might be financially cheap, but it requires significant time, energy and emotions. It’s not fast.
Jesus tells how hard he was willing to work, how slow the work would be, and how much it would cost. He compares himself to phonies. Let’s read John 10:1-21.
5. In John 10:1-21, Jesus makes a couple of comparisons. What are they? The most important one is the actual historical one. Be sure to note the characters in context.
6. Jesus provides a great description of a shepherd. Based on his description and what you know about shepherding, what do you notice about the work a shepherd does?
7. In verse 11, the absolute cost that the shepherd will pay is clearly stated. He lays down his life. He also hints at the cost the rest of us will pay to love well. What will it cost to follow the one shepherd and love others well?
8. Harold Senkbeil offers a great example to help us grasp who we need to become: the sheepdog that helps the shepherd. I think this is a good one for us because we love our pets so much. He writes,
““That dog was the docile and faithful agent of another mind. He used his whole intelligence and initiative, but always in obedience to his master’s directive will; and was ever prompt at self-effacement. The little mountain sheep he had to deal with were exceedingly tiresome, expert in doubling and twisting and going the wrong way as any naughty little boy. Even so, the dog went steadily on with it; his tail never ceased to wag.
The dog’s relation to the shepherd was the center of his life; and because of that, he enjoyed doing his job with the sheep, he did not bother about the trouble, nor get discouraged with the apparent results. The dog had transcended mere dogginess. His actions were dictated by something right beyond himself. He was the agent of the shepherd, working for a scheme which was not his own and the whole of which he could not grasp, and it was just that which was the source of the delightedness, the eagerness and also the discipline with which he worked. But he would not have kept that peculiar and intimate relation unless he had sat down and looked at the shepherd a good deal.””
Taking it home
9. We’ve drawn a number of conclusions during our study about what it looks like to share God’s love well with one person at a time. Let’s try to bring that all together. What does it look like to love others well?
10. Do you have the mind, will, and feelings of a sheepdog? Do you have the master’s heart? How can we help?