Look at the story of Judas in John 13:21-30. Judas was considered a fellow disciple, a trusted member of Jesus’ inner circle, and no one could tell up through his point that Judas was capable of this kind of betrayal. How can this be?
Verse 1: The gift of prophecy is when you get a direct Word from the Lord to give to someone else. The message can take the form of exhortation, correction, disclosure of secret sins, prediction of future events, comfort, inspiration, or other revelations given to equip and edify the body of Christ. In the same sentence, Paul tells us to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts so we may prophesy. Why do you think Paul calls out prophesy?
Verse 2-5: How do you characterize the difference Paul is pointing out here between the person who speaks in tongues versus the person who prophesies? What does this say about the nature/behavior of a person who has built his life on Christ?
Verse 6-11: Why would there be such a thing as people speaking in tongues that no one can understand? Do you have any examples of someone trying to demonstrate their devotion to God without displaying the characteristics of God? What does that look like?
Verse 12: If you want to see God manifest himself in your life, how should we go about making that happen?
Have you ever asked God to give you a sign but he sign never came? Why do you think that happened? Were we asking the wrong question?
Verse 13-19: Do you know anyone who goes to church in spirit, but they leave their mind at home? What does it mean to engage your mind in prayer and singing? What is engaging the mind important?
Verse 20: Do you think God asks us to have blind faith? What does it mean to have mature thinking as a Christian?
Verse 21-22: How do we discern between signs for unbelievers and for believers?
Verse 23-25: If people listened to the way we talk, would they be convicted and recognize that God is among us and that they need God as their Lord? Are your interactions with people pointing people to God, or are you waiting for God to do something miraculous in their life first?
Verse 26-33: What are the aspects of your church that are there to build others up? What aspects of your church either don’t add to the building up of others or detract from building others up? How do we address that?
Verse 34-35: What does this passage have to do with orderly worship?