Have you ever been to the State Fair, national Fair, International Exposition? What did you see there? What do you remember about it?
Do you think that Uncle Fletch invented the hamburger? Why or why not?
What is your favorite “State Fair” kind of food?
Blacks were not allowed to freely attend the Texas State Fair until 1967. Does that surprise you? What changes to access to public places among all races has happened during your lifetime?
Have you ever heard of the Eugenics movement? Why is the world littered with “might makes right” cultures? What does it take for the people in power to let go of power and protect minorities?
Agree or disagree with Pastor Kyle’s statement, “this conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman is one of the most important boundary breaking conversations in all of history.” In what ways is that true or not true?
How do you view Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple? Was it peaceful? Was it aggressive? Would the Jewish authorities call it a riot? Does it connect at all to the events of our country? How bad do things have to be that active resistance is justified?
Why do you think Jesus “had to go” to Samaria?
Where is the most dangerous place you have ever gone?
Do you think the Samaritan woman was living a moral or immoral life? Why?
Why is this story easier to deal with if it is about a woman who is immoral than if it is about a woman on the other end of racial scorn?
Read the Messianic Prophecy: “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.. . . The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.” Genesis 49:8-10.
Pastor Kyle says, “When we see the foot on the neck of one of our family members we should know that is a sign of the old broken system that the messiah comes to set us free from.“ How are all forms of violence signs of the “broken system.” Will there be violence in heaven?
The woman is changed and says, “He told me everything“ about myself. Why did that change her” How does being seen as you are and accepted in that way transformative?
Have you ever had a family member who did a bad thing? How bad? How did you feel about them?
How does seeing other people as part of your family change they way you would react to them?
What does it mean to worship in “Spirit and Truth?”
Have you ever reacted out of emotions and not clear thoughts? How did that go?
If things could be better racial in Athens, what would that look like to you?
What is something you have read or seen that has shaped your understanding of race in our society?
What is your first memory of understanding the different worlds the different races inhabit in our culture?
What are you praying for our city, state and world?