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Study 2: I DreameD a DreamFantine’s iconic “I dreamed a dream” song comes directly after she first enters into prostitution. It tells the story of a girl who had never wanted or intended to end up where she is in life. She remembers a time when life was full of hope and beauty. She talks of the process that took away her dreams as “tigers that come at night”, with voices “soft as thunder”. She made choices at that time that she hoped God would forgive. But the consequences of letting a man into her bed, and him later leaving her with a child caught up with her such that life became a living hell.

Read Fantine’s “I Dreamed a Dream” song

Read John 4:1-26

Jesus encountered many women with similar stories in the gospels. One example is the Samaritan woman who had five husbands, and then was living with a man she was not married to. While our society’s values have changed dramatically, there would still not be many women today who would say that a string of broken marriages, and then the non-commitment of a defacto relationship was what they dreamed of when they were little girls.

Discussion Questions

1. What are some dreams you dreamed that the realities of life have killed?

2. Thinking back on some of the things that you may have heard growing up, can you identify dreams you dreamed that may not have had a firm basis in truth? Were there lies you believed that set you up for difficulties?

3. are there choices you have made that have had consequences you didn’t expect?

4. If Jesus were sitting with you now offering you the “living water that gushes up to eternal life” what difference would that make in your life? are there some dreams that could be resurrected? are there new dreams that you never even dreamed before?

5. In what ways can we offer hope to others who are in pain or difficulty? Is there someone you know who needs to know about Jesus’ offer of “living water that gushes up to eternal life”?

Bible Study Series

I Dreamed a Dream“There was a time when men were kind,

When their voices were soft

And their words inviting.

There was a time when love was blind

And the world was a song

And the song was exciting.

There was a time...

Then it all went wrong.

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,

When hope was high

And life worth living.

I dreamed that love would never die.

I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid

And dreams were made and used and wasted.

There was no ransom to be paid,

No song unsung, no wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they tear your hope apart

As they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side,

He filled my days with endless wonder.

He took my childhood in his stride

But he was gone when autumn came.

And still I dream he’ll come to me!

That we will live the years together...

But there are dreams that cannot be

And there are storms we cannot weather...

I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I’m living -

So different now from what it seemed!

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.”

Les Misérables (Universal Pictures, 2012).