(Our Reforming Group Guides are designed to be inductive, using the COMA form of study: Context, Observation, Meaning, Application). For more on this method, check out this article.)

By way of introduction: What are some classic phrases, both helpful or not, that people used to comfort those who are grieving? 

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

1. What were the Thessalonian church uninformed about and why might that have been? (See 2:17, 3:10)

2. What is the hope that Paul desires for them to know?

3. According to vv.15-17 what is the chronology of the second coming of Jesus, what will happen and in what order?

4. How does grief with and without hope look like?

   Read John 11:1-44

5. How did Jesus describe death and how does this metaphor, also used by Paul, help us in our understanding of death?

6. How did Jesus grieve and how does it validate our own tears?

7. How does the truth that our future “will always be with the Lord” (v.17) give us comfort both now and throughout our lives?

8. How can we encourage one another with these words? What does that look like in our daily lives and the life of our church?

Pray that we may have hearts comforted and encouraged by these words of hope and that this would overflow in our loving care for others.