Pastor Michelle will finish her Transitions Sermon Series this Sunday with “It’s a (Scary) Wonderful New Life.” Read John 11: 1-6, 11-17 and 33-44 and consider the questions below in preparation for worship.
Questions for Reflection
- According to William Bridges (Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes), the neutral zone is only meant to be temporary state. “It is, as they say, a great place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there. When the neutral zone has done its work, you come back.” How do we know when our neutral zone work is finished? Are the clues internal, external or both? Talk about those clues.
- Change/transition drums up all kinds of emotions in us. Anger. Fear. Denial.Bargaining, like a death/grief response. When the possibility of new life is before us, we may run full speed ahead into it (sometimes prematurely) stall, opt to go back to safe territory, project blame on other people/things, start playing our “old tapes.” Think Egypt, the Israelite exodus and how close their entry into the Promised Land (ideally only a 9-month to 1-year journey) before choosing a return to the wilderness for a 40-year “spinning” process. What does faith look like in a transition process? Is there room for joy?
- Reflect on the following: The transition process is really a loop in the life journey, a going out and away from the main flow for a time and then coming around and back. It is, after all, a new chapter in my life that is beginning. I haven’t become someone else. Write the next chapter of your life. What does it look and feel like? Who is there? Who/what is not?
What will you need? Talk about your fears. Talk about your determination. - New beginnings require new duds. Just ask Lazarus! What “graveclothes” will you leave behind?
