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The Bucket List
weekend in review
The Bucket List is about two men who, sharing a hospital room, form a bond after each receives the news that he has little time left to live. This leads these two very different men to embark on the road trip of a lifetime together, fulfilling a wish list of things to do before they “kick the bucket.” The two men form a deep friendship along the way. Out of their shared pain and shared circumstances comes a powerful story with some powerful truths.
WARM UP
Begin with some conversation, checking in on how people are doing. You can talk about whatever you’d like, but here are potential questions to get the conversation going.
Name one place you’ve never been to that you’d like to visit. Why that place?
Name one thing you’ve never done that you’d like to experience. Why that thing?
DISCUSS
Select questions from the list below to guide your discussion time.
Have you ever gotten the phone call, the news, the diagnosis that changed everything in your life?
Read James 4:14. The Bucket List features the pleasures of a variety of experiences, emphasizing the value of meaningful relationships. What would you do if you discovered you had only six months to live?
Have you ever had an unexpected, perhaps unlikely friendship with someone very different from you? What things did you learn from that relationship?
Read Colossians 4:5-6 and 1 Peter 3:15. Has there been an opportunity to share about Jesus and your faith but you found yourself unprepared for such a conversation? How can you be more prepared for future discussions? What are some simple, meaningful things you can speak of about your faith and what it means to you?
Telling the story of how coming to faith has changed your life is a fine testimony to share. What is yours?
When you experience troubles in life, people watch to see how you, a follower of Jesus, handle it. Gene encouraged, “And if your faith shows up, people just might be compelled to ask you how you are managing and where your hope comes from. And you just might be the answer they’ve been looking for their entire life in Jesus.” What are practical ways we might allow our faith to guide us during a crisis?
application
Proverbs 22:1 advises: “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold” (NIV). Jesus boiled the most important things in life down to two: love God and love people. Spend some time this week considering Gene’s questions: “What would you do if you only had six months to live? Who would you mend a fence with? Who would you talk to Jesus about? What spiritual changes and adjustments would you make?”
WRAP UP & PRAYER
Share prayer requests and spend time praying for each other.
Pray, thanking God, that because of Jesus, we do not have to fear what awaits us beyond; that we are forever grateful for the hope that we have in him.