Morning Star Las Cruces

2026 Discussion Questions

August 2, 2026

Series: Muscle Memory: Re-Calling Why Church Even Matters Today

Title: How to Love and Lose

Primary Text: John 11:28-37

1. What is something you loved that you had to let go of at some point in your life: a place, season, tradition, relationship, or dream?

2. Why do you think grief can be such a difficult thing for people to talk about? What messages have you received about how we are "supposed" to handle loss? What attitudes or practices have you found helpful?

3. What image, story, or idea from the message, Muscle Memory: How to Love and Lose, has stayed with you this week? What did you find yourself wanting to discuss further?

4. Read John 11:28-37. What details stand out to you in this scene? What do you notice about Mary, Jesus, the crowd, and their responses to grief?

5. Jesus knows Lazarus will be raised, yet he still weeps with those who are grieving. What does this tell us about Jesus and the human experience of grief?

6. Many people are familiar with the phrase "Jesus wept," but we often move quickly past it. What do you think this moment reveals about the connection between love and loss?

7. Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. What words does the writer use to describe the seasons of life? Did those descriptions resonate with you? What other categories would you add? What do you notice about the way this passage makes room for the full range of human experience? Where do we struggle to make room for certain seasons?

8. Read Romans 12:15. What does Paul say about rejoicing and mourning? What do collective celebration and collective grief look like in a healthy community? Why do you think this matters?

9. Where do you see opportunities for the church to become better at tending grief? How can we become a community where people do not have to hide their pain or rush through their losses?

10. How can this group pray for you this week as you name your own losses or help another carry theirs?