Find daily readings for this week below along with questions for reflection. Join (or begin!) the discussion in the comments. We’d love to hear from you about how reading the Bible daily is bringing you closer to God and one another.
You also may be interested in joining a small group that focuses on exploring the scripture for the following Sunday’s sermon or learning how to approach Bible study in general – or a variety of other opportunities to “seek answers to our questions” as part of a group. Check it out here!
APRIL 5
Read: John 20:19-29
Reflect: What questions do you have after reading this passage?
Respond: Comment below to share your response to reading and reflecting on these passages.
APRIL 6
Read: John 20:19-20
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Reflect: How have you tried to lock the world out recently?
Respond: Comment below to share your response to reading and reflecting on these passages.
APRIL 7
Read: John 20:21-23
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Reflect: Are there words of forgiveness you need to share? Can the power of the Holy Spirit make you bold enough to offer those words now?
Respond: Comment below to share your response to reading and reflecting on these passages.
APRIL 8
Read: John 20:24-25
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
Reflect: What makes you certain of Jesus’ power in your life?
Respond: Comment below to share your response to reading and reflecting on these passages.
APRIL 9
Read: John 20:26
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Reflect: Where would you like Jesus to offer you his peace in your life?
Respond: Comment below to share your response to reading and reflecting on these passages.
APRIL 10
Read: John 20:27-29
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Reflect: Is doubting the opposite of believing?
Respond: Comment below to share your response to reading and reflecting on these passages.
APRIL 11
Read: John 20:19-29
Reflect: How will this message influence what you do this week?
Respond: Comment below to share your response to reading and reflecting on these passages.
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I have found that doubting is essential to believing. I think God is with us in our doubting and, as with Thomas, shows us what we need in order to believe. And, like Thomas, we have to be open to what God is showing us. For me, it has never been such a huge thing as nail holes and sword wounds but the small, daily ways God shows where God is already bringing about the kingdom in our world.