1. Have you ever attended a Jewish holiday celebration or ceremony, such as Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Purim (Story of Esther, Festival of Lots), Sukkot (Feast of Booths), Pesach (Passover), or Hanukkah (Festival of Light)? Or maybe a ceremony such as a brit mila (ceremonial circumcision), bar mitzvah (a boy’s coming of age), bat mitzvah (same for a girl), or a Jewish wedding? Share your experience. In what way might these celebrations enrich our own faith?
2. How do you respond to the “blending” of Uptown Community and New Morning Christian Church? What do you see as the strengths/weaknesses of being a “homogeneous” church? What do you see as the strengths/weaknesses of being a “heterogeneous” church? How important do you think it is to reflect some of the diversity that is the body of Christ within a local body?
3. What name for the blended church in this novel would you have voted for? Why? Have you ever been part of naming a church or group? Was it a good experience? How important is naming an organization? A new baby? Your own name?
4. In what way do you identify with Jodi’s struggles with Old Jodi responses (worry, stewing, acting first and praying later) and New Jodi responses (praying first, waiting on God, listening for God’s voice, seeking counsel from others)?
5. Now that you’ve read Book 6 in the Yada Yada series, what growth do you see in the other characters (e.g., Chanda’s attitude toward money; Nony and how she handles her desire to return to South Africa; Yo-Yo and Becky, the “baby Christians”; Florida facing myriad challenges in her family; Avis’s seeming “perfection” becoming more “real”)? What character’s growth do you identify with most—and why?
6. When the Holy Spirit speaks within Jodi, does that seem real to you? How is Jodi learning to hear the Holy Spirit? In what way does God’s Spirit speak to you? How can you discern between “God’s still, small voice” and your own thoughts and feelings?
7. Denny tells his almost-grown kids that sometimes we have to let go of the past in order to go forward. Are there events or people in your past you are hanging on to that are keeping you from “rolling” with God?
8. Two of the Yada Yada sisters are ex-cons. Both came to faith because someone visited them in prison. In Gets Rolling, both Denny and Jodi volunteer at the juvenile detention center and are surprised at the eager responsiveness of these young “criminals.” Read Matthew 25:34–36 and Hebrews 13:1–3. What priority do Jesus and Paul give “prison ministry”? Have you ever visited someone in prison? What do you think would happen if you did?
9. In Gets Rolling, the Yada Yada Prayer Group begins to reach beyond their group in new ways. Is God nudging you to “reach out” beyond your own circle of family and friends? In what ways? What are the challenges for you? How can you support one another?
10. Throughout this book, the Holy Spirit nudges Jodi, “Think about the possibilities!” What does that mean for her? What might that mean for you?
For more information about The Yada Yada Prayer Group novels or to contact author Neta Jackson, go to www.daveneta.com.