Chapter 15 Discussion Questions

Chapter 15:  Finding a Holy Self

Barnes says that it is God’s goal for us that, as we learn to delight in God, we are able to delight in our own lives (p. 208). 

How does deeply loving God free us from the obligation of trying to live up to what we feel are God’s expectations for us and for our lives?  How can it change our relationships with other people in our lives?

On page 215, Barnes says, “(God’s) invitation to us is to spend a lot more time praying to know his heart than his will.”  What does this mean?

On page 216, Barnes asks, “Have you embraced your identity as the beloved – the Father’s gift to you?”

And then, “It is the only thing that will satisfy your thirst.”  This identity, that we are God’s beloved, is the only thing that will satisfy our thirst.  Contemplate this.  Pray for this.  Know this.  Experience the freedom that this gift provides.

Chapter 14 Discussion Questions

Chapter 14:  Finding a Holy Joy

Read the first paragraph of the chapter, regarding “falling in love with God,” together.  Do you feel that, at this stage of your spiritual journey, you are overwhelmed with the joy of loving God? Have you replaced the possibility for joy with spiritual development?

Has the message of the Gospels, that God loved you so much that he sent his only begotten Son, transformed your life?  If not, how have you responded to this message? 

What does being in love with God look like?

On pages 198-199, Barnes says, “God has always reserved his greatest judgment for those who remain indifferent – and who think God is indifferent.”  Barnes refers to Revelation 3:16, in which God tells the Laodiceans, “So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”  And, he says on page 200, “Spiritual apathy leaves the worst lukewarm taste in the mouth of a passionate God.”  Are we guilty of indifference, apathy, and “lukewarm-ness” as a response to the incredible message of the Gospels?

Barnes proposes three ways of finding a Holy Joy:

1)  Living with Gratitude

2)  Loving God with reckless abandon

(p. 202):  When it comes to things such as health and morality, being careful is pretty important, but there are other times when it is not as wise – like when we are trying to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

3)  Having Hope

(p. 206):  Of course we do not always get what we really want – but that does not mean that we dare give up the joy of having hope.  We are a people who must have hope.  Not just because it makes us feel good, but, more profoundly, because God is involved in this world.  The most powerful illustration of this truth can be seen in his coming to be with us in Jesus Christ.”

What do you think? If you haven’t already found a Holy Joy, can you make some changes to live this life?

Chapter 13 Discussion Questions

Chapter 13:  Finding a Holy Purpose

Read Luke 4:18 – 19 (also on p. 182 of “Sacred Thirst”), in which Jesus reads from Isaiah 61:1-2.  What does this tell us about Jesus’ own holy purpose?  Barnes says (p. 183) “The purpose of our insatiable thirst is not only to have it satisfied by worshiping in spirit and truth, but to restore our lives as a blessing for the families of the earth.  Or, like Jesus, to pray that we too may be anointed by the Spirit to bring good news to the poor.” 

Do you ever find yourself turning off the news or putting the newspaper down because it is just too much bad news?  Too much pain and too much hurt?  Barnes says (p. 184) “if we close our eyes and stop up our ears to the injustice in the world, it will be impossible to see any visions from God.” Consider worship in this context.  Should our worship be a sanctuary, shielding us from “the world?”  Barnes asks, “how is this worship helping to transform the world?”  How can glorifying God, the true purpose of worship, help to transform the world?

In the section “Spirituality Creates Leaders,” Barnes says that leaders are not born. “They are created and shaped by worshiping communities who instill their great visions into young lives.”  (p. 188) How do you think we are doing at this task with our youth?  Are they “being confronted with a holy purpose for their lives?”

In the last chapter we read that Jesus asked a big question: “What are you looking for?”  Here’s another BIG QUESTION:  Is your faith making a difference?  Are you leading other people to holiness?  Leading them to Jesus?

On page 192, Barnes says, “If you want to avoid being hurt or ever having to experience failure, avoid at all costs any attempts to make a difference.”  Does this challenge you?  Are you ready to take on the challenge?  Have you “done your time in the wilderness,” thirsting for God, so you are ready?

Chapter 12 Discussion Questions

Chapter 12:  Finding a Holy Place

In this chapter, Barnes continues with the theme that neither “the church, the small group, one’s parent, pastor, mentor, or spiritual director” can be the living water.  “At their best, at their very best, these teachers of spirituality are only preparing the way for another.” (p. 168)

In your conversations with God, do you tend to skirt the “real questions,” (What are you looking for?) that may be too powerful or painful to tackle?  Barnes says that “Jesus will put up with our petitions about relationships, health, work, and the many concerns of our daily life, but only in order that he might reveal more of himself to us through them.”  (p. 169) Do you agree?

What are some things you, personally, need to let go of in order to slip through the narrow door to enter the holy place?

What is the meaning of a “holy place?”  Is it a place at all?  Is it a building, or a sanctuary or a room that has been set apart so that we can feel closer to God there?  Or does it reside within us?  Or does it reside in community?  Barnes seems to say that we take the holy place with us, wherever we are in our daily lives.  It is “where we do all the ordinary things as extraordinary acts of faithfulness to the God who led us there.” (p. 176) Can this outlook change our everyday interactions and mindset?

Do you know people who have incorporated this outlook into their lives, who you can use as examples for this way of living?

Barnes points out that when the Gospel writers were telling stories about Jesus, they frequently begin with “as Jesus was walking along, something happened…” Barnes uses this as a metaphor for our lives – we can’t stay in one place, spiritually, mentally, or emotionally, even when that place is very comfortable.  The way of faith means that we should be “on the move,” constantly growing.  What do you think of this challenge?

Chapter 11 Discussion Questions

Chapter 11:  Finding a Holy People

This chapter begins Part 3 of the book.  We have examined “The Thirsty Christian” (Chapters 1 – 5) and “The Living Water (Chapters 6 – 10), and we now move to “Satisfying the Thirst” (Chapters 11 – 15).

Chapter 11 proposes that our spiritual community, while it is not the well of living water itself, can help us “shape our identity closer and closer to the image of Jesus Christ.”

Barnes begins by discussing our “true” identity (who God created us to be in Christ), our story, and our “family” (both biological and our faith family).  Thoughts?

On page 160, Barnes says, “So, while the church can never satisfy our thirst to encounter God, it can nurture the thirst, point us to the thin stream that flows from heaven, and even remind us of who we are in Christ.”  Have you ever considered that the purpose of the church is to “remind us of who we are in Christ?”  How does that alter your vision of the “business” of the church?  Could this vision also “free us to finally enjoy the community for what it is rather than to despair over what it is not?”  (p. 160).

Despair over what the church is not can sometimes lead to “rabble-rousing.”  What do you think of Barnes’ point that God had a role for the rabble-rousers in scripture.  “He had a role even for them, which was ultimately to present his people with a choice – whether to trust God, or to listen to the voices that were making them anxious.”  (p. 161).

Barnes describes communion as a feast that unites all believers – a multicultural language.  And, he defines the community of believers (the neighborhood of God) as those in need of mercy, in essence, all of us.  What do these interpretations imply about our search for a holy community, a “Holy People?”

Chapter 10 Discussion Questions

Chapter 10: The Courage to Believe

Barnes begins this chapter by stating that believing is not complicated, but it is hard.  As humans, we struggle with questioning, with doubt, with wanting more from our faith while at the same time not being willing to “settle down next to the small stream we have been given.”  How are you doing with “settling down next to the small stream?”  Do you find that you are not content to sit by the stream, using the excuse that you are trying to find a raging river?

Read together the middle passage on page 138 that begins with “What we need…. and ends with “The real question is, will we do it?” 

Discuss Barnes’ thought that it is not by our longing and working to “climb up the ladder” that we quench our spiritual thirst, but that “by believing that these God-given disciplines can become the channel through which the waters flow down.  Only the Spirit can control the flow.” (p. 140) How are you doing on practicing the disciplines that will allow the waters to flow down?

Talk about the “Jesus is in your boat” metaphor.  How would your behavior change, at home, in the workplace, around town, if you lived as if Jesus were in your boat?

On page 145, Barnes says, “Salvation comes, then, not through resolve, but through surrender.”  And, he continues on page 146:  “It isn’t terribly complicated, but it is so very hard because it requires that we believe the Holy Spirit will do what we cannot do.”   Surrender (along with other Christian values such as humility) seems so contrary to human nature and to our cultural norms.  How do we do it? Is this truly what sets a believer apart?

Barnes defines faith as a “courageous choice to believe.” (p. 149). Discuss this in light of the resurrection story.  “If we were convinced that the grave was not able to hold Jesus, we would not be surprised to discover that he is still at work in our lives and in the world.”

Relate the following passage from http://www.ignatianspirituality.com to Barnes’ discussion of believing before the crisis hits:

Spiritual consolation is an experience of being so on fire with God’s love that we feel impelled to praise, love, and serve God and help others as best as we can. Spiritual consolation encourages and facilitates a deep sense of gratitude for God’s faithfulness, mercy, and companionship in our life. In consolation, we feel more alive and connected to others.

Spiritual desolation, in contrast, is an experience of the soul in heavy darkness or turmoil. We are assaulted by all sorts of doubts, bombarded by temptations, and mired in self-preoccupations. We are excessively restless and anxious and feel cut off from others. Such feelings, in Ignatius’s words, “move one toward lack of faith and leave one without hope and without love.”

The key question in interpreting consolation and desolation is:  where is the movement coming from and where is it leading me? Spiritual consolation does not always mean happiness. Spiritual desolation does not always mean sadness. Sometimes an experience of sadness is a moment of conversion and intimacy with God. Times of human suffering can be moments of great grace. Similarly, peace or happiness can be illusory if these feelings are helping us avoid changes we need to make.

Chapter 9 Discussion Questions

Chapter 9:  The Longing to Confess

Think about, or actually take a moment to draw, the pie chart of how you spend your time.  What does this reveal about your heart?  Is it divided/compartmentalized?

What do you think of Barnes’ idea that “compartmentalization” doesn’t work; that we are fooling ourselves if we believe that we can live by compartmentalizing our lives? 

On page 125, Barnes offers the OED’s definition of integrity:  “undivided, unbroken, unmixed, structurally pure; and one who possesses sound moral virtue.”  Think of some people you know who you believe are examples of integrity.  What is it about the example they provide that leads you to respect them?

So, why is living with integrity so hard?  Barnes offers three problems:

1)  The judgmental problem.  We KNOW we are sinners!  We know we should do  what’s right, and we want to do what is right, but it is so hard!

2)  The devil problem.  We are tempted.  On page 131, Barnes says, “Satan does not tempt us to self-destruct because we are weak.  Generally speaking, he is not worried about weak people.  Rather, he tempts us because we are strong and full of resolve to do the right thing."

3)  The despair problem. “We despair of ever being able to change.”

What is the solution to all of these problems?  “The Power of the Savior.”  And where do we meet the savior?  In worship.

At the bottom of page 135, Barnes says, “The way we experience this union with Christ in worship is simply through confession.”  Do you think that, particularly in contemporary/non-liturgical worship, we have gotten away from the act of confession? Barnes says, “it is always as we confess our own inability (to live righteously) that we discover the ability of Spirit and Truth (in Christ).”  What do you think about confession as a way of meeting God?  

Chapter 8 Discussion Questions

Chapter 8:  Communing with God

Barnes begins this chapter by talking about waiting.  “We hate waiting,” he says.  Waiting is a very human experience, and even the disciples were in put in a position to wait after Jesus’ death and resurrection, before they experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Barnes says that our character is revealed when we are waiting.  What has waiting revealed about your character?

So what are we ultimately waiting for?  Barnes says we are waiting to commune with God in the form of the living water that is actually the Holy Spirit.  But we are powerless to make this communion happen (remember the message of Chapter 6:  It’s not about You!).  Read the 2^nd paragraph on page 115: “Why, then, are so many followers of Jesus still thirsty in spite of …”  How does Barnes suggest that we wait for the Spirit?  Discuss whether you have an “upper room,” a place and time devoted to prayer.

On page 117, Barnes says “we may think we are waiting on God to give us what we want … But when the Spirit comes upon us in our prayers, we discover that we were waiting for the wrong thing.”  At the bottom of the same page, he talks about the great leaders of the church, who did not aspire to greatness.  “The greatness came not from their gifts and skills, but from the power of the Spirit at work in empty vessels.  Emptying is one of the first things that happens in the upper room – but only so that we can be filled.”  What does it mean to empty ourselves?

Do you know people who are consumed by fear?  What do you think people are REALLY afraid of?  Barnes says that “God’s power makes us unafraid.”  Do you agree?

What are some steps you can take to wait on the Holy Spirit to fill you?  (Read the last full paragraph on page 121). 

Chapter 7 Discussion Questions

Chapter 7:  The Searching God

In Part 2 of this book, we have moved from our unsuccessful attempts to quench our thirst to encountering the Living Water, God himself. 

Barnes begins this chapter by differentiating between loneliness, which he describes as the most common problem that therapists and pastors deal with, and solitude.  We have all experienced loneliness, even while we maintain busy lives surrounded by other people.  This is a loneliness that Jesus, in all his humanness, experienced, too. In fact, as Barnes says, Jesus “knew the loneliness of being abandoned by the people who professed to love him but left him to die alone on the cross.”  But, Jesus turned his many experiences of loneliness into experiences of solitude, and “what Jesus always discovered in solitude was that he was loved by the Father, who has not left me alone.” 

Barnes defines solitude as “a courageous choice to set aside the distractions, the relationship, and the busyness….”   Are you able to create moments of solitude in which you can encounter God and know that God has not left you alone and that God will come searching for you?  If so, do you do this intentionally, or do you do you experience moments of solitude “in the ordinary places?”  (p. 99)   Or, do you “manage your spiritual routines  so closely and hold them so tightly that they have lost nearly all potential to amaze?” (p. 100) 

Read and discuss the last paragraph of page 102:  “So when God says, …” 

Once again, Barnes asks us to change our perspective on our own lives (It’s not about us!).  At the bottom of page 104, he says, “In God’s hands, life is no longer a challenge we need to get right, but a holy gift to be received with awe, reverence, and faithfulness. Now even the simplest and most ordinary work, if done to the glory of God, is an opportunity to hear the seraphs singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory” – including your own little corner of the earth.”  How often do we pray to “get it right,” rather than pray in gratitude to simply receive the holy gift of life?

How often do you recognize “sacred moments of visitation from God?”  (p. 107)

At the bottom of page 107, Barnes says, “We are living in a society that has far too many expectations and not nearly enough hope.”  The last paragraph on page 108 says that it is only “the hope supplied in and through Jesus Christ that can lead us out of the darkness of our self-preoccupation and into the glorious light of God’s kingdom.” How can we abandon our expectations and adjust our mindsets to be receivers of God’s gifts and God’s love and to be a people who have great hopes?

Chapter 6 Discussion Questions

Chapter 6:  It’s Not About You

1.            Reflect on the paragraph on page 82:  “The real issue in life is always about God…”  How does finding freedom from ourselves, and adopting the reality that our lives are not about us but about God, change our outlook on our lives: relationships, career, ministry, etc.?  Do you find this insight freeing?

2.            So, if it’s all about God, who is God?

The doctrine of the Trinity, a central theological tenet of the Christian faith, defines God as three persons in one being with a single divine nature:  Father (the Creator), Son (the Begotten), and Holy Spirit (the one who proceeds) (Fourth Lateran Council).  While all three persons of the Trinity were mentioned by various Christians in various letters through the early centuries following Jesus’ death and resurrection, there was much controversy and debate, primarily about Jesus’ relationship to God the Father.  The doctrine of the Trinity as we know it took shape during the late 4^th Century, and has been addressed, clarified, and refined by various Councils throughout history.

Barnes says (p. 87): “Granted, the nature of one God existing in three persons may be a mystery, but … there are some clear, and maybe even painful, truths the doctrine of the Trinity teaches us.” 

How do some of the truths he explains change your perception of YOURSELF (It’s not all about you!) in relation to GOD?

For example:

(p. 87):  It was not necessary for God to love you.  The blessing is that he chose to love you.

(p. 88): We must start, not with our own thirst for God, but with God’s decision to enfold us into his family….  (p. 89):  Beginning with God’s love for us frees us from worrying so much about our love for God.

(p. 90):  As we open our lives to being filled with the Spirit, we are transformed into the very image of Christ.

(p. 92):  Do we have a lot of work to do once the Holy Spirit grafts us into Christ’s relationship to the Father?

(p. 93):  … nearly all churches believe that Christ’s followers are urged to come to this table, and all believe that something important happens in the process….  We cannot experience such communion without being changed.  

Chapter 5 Discussion Questions

Chapter 5:  Compassion Fatigue

In this chapter, Craig Barnes addresses a common problem in faith communities. The opportunities to give of our time and our talents and our treasure are seemingly endless, and they can make us feel that we are not doing enough, even when our days seem to be filled by doing just these things.  We feel drained, and our pastors sometimes worry that offering yet one more opportunity for giving or serving will tip the scales and cause a rebellion! Where do we go wrong in our thinking when we attempt to figure out how, where, and when to serve?

1.            Paul, James, and others write about faith and works. Read James’ familiar passage:  James 2:14-26 (Faith without deeds is dead).  Many of us are inspired by this and other passages to do good works because good works arise out of our faith in and love for God.  Our faith produces a desire in us to care for others.  But Barnes cautions us that, frequently, we forget who is doing the works. 

On the top of page 68, Barnes writes, “Most of the mistakes we make in our commitments to compassion and mission are rooted in a far more serious mistake about Jesus, namely, thinking of him in the past tense.”  Then read the paragraph at the bottom of the same page, “Why is it that so many…”  On the next page, Barnes writes, ‘The Gospel writer John introduces us to Jesus by stating, “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”  Not one thing….  all of the good work is still being done by him.” 

Respond to these thoughts. 

Do we sometimes attempt to quench our thirst for God by doing good works? 

Are we guilty of “playing Jesus?”  Of forgetting that it is, in fact, the living God who is accomplishing great works through us and indeed in spite of us?

How does this change your outlook toward mission/service?

 2.            On page 72 (second paragraph), Barnes says, “Here is the key to this whole narrative.  Our calling is not to fix one single thing, but to bring all the broken things to Jesus Christ, who alone has the power to save our children and our society.” 

And then, on page 74, read from “Many of us who spend enormous chunks of time at church…” through the end of the page.

What does “placing the despairing world back into the hands of the Savior” look like in real life?  How is this a different approach to the way we may typically carry on our mission/service/church business?

3.              The last section of this chapter is based on the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, Philip’s desperation, Andrew’s seemingly meager solution, and Jesus  giving thanks to God for the small offering of five loaves and two fish, and then turning it into an abundance.  Barnes says we are not to worry about whether our limited resources can heal and bring hope to a broken world.  (p. 77) “that is the Savior’s worry.  All you are asked to do is to take what you have, place it in Jesus’ hands, and give thanks.” 

Discuss.  Do you feel that a burden has been lifted? 

Pray as a group that we can approach our various ministries in a new way: by giving thanks to God for what we have to offer, by recognizing that it is Jesus whose power will accomplish the work of healing and the restoration of hope in our world, and by having the courage to place this work in Jesus hands.

Chapter 4 Discussion Questions

Chapter 4:  When Prayer Dries Up

1.  Barnes maintains that one of the reasons for our thirst or longing for God is that our prayer lives have dried up.  Is your prayer life healthy?  Have you ever experienced a “dried-up” prayer life?

2.  This seems ironic:  (p. 55):  “When we believe our prayer life has dried up, there is only one thing to do:  pray about it.  There simply is no alternative but to remain in the desert places when we are led there, including waiting out the long dry spells when we are doing nothing but wandering around in the wilderness of our own prayers.”  How can we summon the energy to pray about our dried-up prayer life? 

3. p. 56:  “God brought us into this place (the desert) for a reason – the same reason we are always led into the wilderness; to learn that our thirst is for a God we do not control….  Somewhere along the way, as I trudged through the arid season of praying, I became more focused on longing for God than on understanding him.” What does longing or thirsting for God feel like?  Barnes maintains that 100% of us are thirsting for God. you think that 100% of us look like/live like we are longing or thirsting for God? 

4. Barnes discusses three “levels of gratitude:”  (pages 56 – 60)

Level 1:  having a grateful heart, i.e. giving thanks for our blessings

Level 2:  giving thanks in the face of great crisis or loss

Level 3:  Being thankful for God alone;  “the discovery that he alone is enough.  Not our experience of him. Not our blessings from him or our knowledge about him. Just him.” (p. 57)

Barnes explains that it is this third level of gratitude that is the only thing that will get us through “the dark night of the soul.”  Discuss this idea.  How does one reach level 3?

5.  Read the last paragraph on page 63.  Are you at a point where you are ready to “give it all back,” and to proclaim that your thirst is always, only, for God alone?  Pray together as a group that each person’s attachments to worldly pleasures may decrease, and that their longing for God may increase.

Chapter 3 Discussion questions

Chapter 3:  A Stranger in Community

1. The church is probably the first place we go (after trying secular cures) when we are trying to satisfy our thirsty soul.  But, Barnes says that eventually we will feel like a stranger in church.  Have you ever had this experience? Have you ever experienced discontent, conflict, scorn, etc. in your place of worship?

2. The church is “the body of Christ.”  Why, then, is it imperfect, and how can we reconcile our desire to commune with Jesus Christ when our experience of Him is through the church, which Barnes says “can never fully represent the essence of Christ.” (p. 42)

3. Barnes says that many people who have left the church for whatever reason eventually find their way back “because they know in their souls that they have to.” (p. 45) He then discusses Peter’s response to Jesus when Jesus asks the disciples if they want to abandon him, as many followers have.  Peter says, “Lord, to whom can we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”  (p. 45) What was it about Jesus that led the disciples to continue to follow him? How can we keep from abandoning him or falling away? How can we continue to thirst for Jesus?

4. Read the paragraph at the bottom of page 46, beginning with “This vision of the church….”   and the sentence on the top of page 48: “Whether it is in the great sanctuary…”  Is there room in our community/church for all of these differences?  How can we, as individuals, ensure that there is?

5. Respond to the last paragraph on page 49:  “The church’s job and purpose is not to take away our thirst but to nurture it…. Every Sunday we need to be reminded that we are thirsty and that nothing but Jesus’ living water can satisfy us. Not even the church.” 

Chapter 2 Discussion questions

Chapter 2:  Right Answers Aren't Enough

1.  Discuss the following passages on page 26: “I guess you might say Dad wasn’t about to make the Christian life easy.  Why then did so many people flock to this church, meet Jesus as their Savior there, and begin to live a different life?” and page 27:  “The point of the church’s ministry… is to draw people to the love of Jesus Christ. People are saved not by WHAT they know but by WHO they know.”

2.    On page 28, Barnes says, “Knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing him.”  Do you think, in our church, we are better at helping our community know about Jesus or know Jesus?  Discuss with respect to children, youth, and adults.  How does this relate to Barnes’ statement on page 29 about Jesus’ disciples:  “the most important thing was not what they understood but who they were following.”

3.   Read and discuss the third paragraph on page 32:  “The question bears asking…” along with the sentence on the following page:  “The Almighty does have his own purpose:  to bring relief to our parched souls.  Often he achieves this purpose by demonstrating just how unsatisfying it is to be dead-right.”

4.  Read the last passage on page 36, and relate it to the question above regarding knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus.

Chapter 1 Discussion questions

Chapter 1:  Our Parched Souls

In this chapter, Craig Barnes lays out the premise of his book: that many people live that is devoid of hope and is full of despair and sadness.  We are searching for something to fill the void, but some are not sure how or where and we are not sure what or whom we are searching for. No matter where we are on this journey, Barnes says “one hundred percent of us thirst for more of God than what we now have.” (page 22)

1.  On page 14, Barnes says that “we can find this sacred river.  But not unless we enter the silent desert.  Discuss the desert metaphor, as it exists in the Bible, and as it exists in our lives.

2.  On page 14, Barnes says, “one of the worst mistakes we can make is to get used to living in the dry places.”  What does this mean?

3.  Read the third paragraph on page 17.  Discuss.

4.  Do you agree that “this sense of despair is one of the prevailing themes of contemporary society?” (page 20)  How about the message of hope further down the page:  “When we arrive at the place…”

5.  On page 24, Barnes says, “The true object of our search is nothing less than an encounter with the Holy One.”  OK, but he doesn’t tell us yet how to have that encounter!  (Be patient… keep reading!)

Welcome to the Church of the Saviour study guide to the book, Sacred Thirst, written by Dr. M. Craig Barnes, President of the Princeton Theological Seminary, and 2013 Myers Lecturer.

This website offers chapter by chapter questions and notes from other study group leaders. Please feel free to add your own notes and comments. Suggested schedules are also available, based on the frequency and number of times your group plans to meet to discuss the book.

In his engaging and thought-provoking style, Dr. Barnes invites us to face our desperate longing for God, a longing that we may not have even named, yet one we all share.   The description of the book says: Jesus once said, “Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.”  So why are Christians still thirsty?   We throw ourselves into church work, Bible studies, prayer, missions, fellowship.  Yet still we search restlessly for something more.  What are we missing? Perhaps the answer is, more of Jesus.  Church meetings and programs, ministry, Christian counseling, and home groups are all good, but they are not Him… Our souls crave Him alone. We have tried to satisfy our parched souls with so many other things – even religious things.  But when we get to the bottom of our desire, we find Jesus quietly waiting with his living water – intimate communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This book is filled with unique insights into human experience and the character of God.  With keen understanding of the needs of contemporary Christians, Barnes points to the only way our thirst will ever be satisfied.  Drawing from his rich background in the Bible and his tender insights as a pastor, he leads us into a new understanding of ourselves and the uncontrollable but gracious God we seek

Dr. M. Craig Barnes  Books will be available at the church for $10.  E-book copies are also available for individual purchase (from various online providers).  We will ensure that copies are available for anyone for whom the cost would be a burden. Let us know how many books you need, and we can deliver them to your group for distribution, or individuals may purchase a copy at Covenant Corner in the Parlor.