Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (John 17:1-5), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• [1, 4-5] Jesus prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you”? (Verses 4-5 are a sort of reverse-parallel to verse 1…) What did Jesus mean by “glorify”? How did he mean for the Father to glorify him? How did he intend to glorify the Father?

• [2] How does one come to have eternal life?

• [3] Eternal life consists of knowing the Triune God, which includes knowing Jesus Christ (God the Son, incarnate). In this Scriptures, this knowledge is ultimately relational, and not merely intellectual, but it will involve the mind’s ability to understand and articulate truth about God—to do theology, prayerfully, spiritually. How do you feel about “spiritual theology” being a central aspect of the Christian life? Does that sound boring or irrelevant to you? Why or why not? Do you tend to reduce theology to a way of feeling intellectually right and superior to others? Are you interested in knowing God? Why or why not?

• The essence of eternal life includes knowing a human being—one who is also God, but a human nevertheless. What does this mean for our conception of God and our relationship to him? What does this mean for our conception of the church and our relationship to others—both now and in eternity?