Leaders Guide
Session 2 | September 20th
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
Activity
Pictionary: Draw pictures to help members of your team guess your clue.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
- What comes to mind when you think about God?
Activity
Pictionary: Draw pictures to help members of your team guess your clue.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
- What do you think God was actually asking when He called to Adam, “Where are you?” in Genesis 3:9? In what ways do you think God calls to us in the same way?
- What experiences in your life have caused you to struggle with believing God is good and that He loves you?
- How are you inspired by the story of the mansion and the truth of authenticity?
- What has been your take on the Bible up to this point? How have you believed it to be true or false?
- In what ways did you gain a new understanding of who God is? Of the Bible?
Session 3 | September 27th
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
What has been your experience with sibling rivalry?
Activity:
Catch Phrase: Get your team to guess your phrase by saying clues.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
What part of the whole parenting Isaac experience do you think would have been the most difficult for you? Why?
What practical lessons do you think you can take away from the life and struggles of Jacob/Israel and his wives?
What aspects of Joseph’s story impacts you most, and why? Some possibilities might include:
How do real people from the Bible like Abraham, Sarah, or Jacob--people who made mistakes and manipulated situations--give you hope?
You are not who you used to be. How has God changed you?
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
What has been your experience with sibling rivalry?
Activity:
Catch Phrase: Get your team to guess your phrase by saying clues.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
What part of the whole parenting Isaac experience do you think would have been the most difficult for you? Why?
- Believing God’s promise though you had to wait for many years
- Believing god’s promise though you were way past childbearing years
- Avoiding the temptation to try to control the situation, say maybe by getting a slave as a stand-in
- Being willing to sacrifice the son for whom you’d waited so long.
- Something else.
What practical lessons do you think you can take away from the life and struggles of Jacob/Israel and his wives?
What aspects of Joseph’s story impacts you most, and why? Some possibilities might include:
- Joseph’s faithful character enabling him to rise to power in Egypt despite the many betrayals he suffered.
- God’s providence--how He engineered the events to bring about the saving of His people.
- The drama of the brother’s attempted murder, then sale, of Joseph?
- The way Joseph served Potiphar, his fellow prisoners, and ultimately Pharaoh.
- The emotional reunion of the brothers and then Joseph with his father.
- Some other element of the story?
How do real people from the Bible like Abraham, Sarah, or Jacob--people who made mistakes and manipulated situations--give you hope?
You are not who you used to be. How has God changed you?
Session 4 | October 4th
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
Have you ever been rescued in a way you would never have imagined? Or possibly in a way you didn’t recognize as being rescue until much later?
Activity:
Activity:“Watch Ya’ Mouth": Say phrases with Mouth Retractor in and have your team guess.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
Have you ever been rescued in a way you would never have imagined? Or possibly in a way you didn’t recognize as being rescue until much later?
Activity:
Activity:“Watch Ya’ Mouth": Say phrases with Mouth Retractor in and have your team guess.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
- What did you learn about the origin and significance of Passover?
- How do you feel about the fact that Moses didn’t get to go into the promised land with the people? (He did get to go later, though. See Matthew 17:1-5). What lessons do you think you could draw from the end of Moses’ earthly life?
- If God used special birth narratives to mark major turning points in Scripture, why do you think the birth of Samuel fits that list? What major change did Samuel signal?
- What are some situations or circumstances where you’ve doubted that God would come through for you? What caused your doubts?
- The reward of Ruth’s obedience was provision by her redeemer, Boaz. Compare and contrast the parallel in our relationship with Jesus.
Session 5 | October 11th
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
How does true repentance look different from “I’m sorry?”
Activity:
Taboo: Give clues to have your team guess the keyword without saying the Taboo words given to them.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
How does true repentance look different from “I’m sorry?”
Activity:
Taboo: Give clues to have your team guess the keyword without saying the Taboo words given to them.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
- Like Saul, do you ever let other people’s opinions shape your actions? How does that work out for you?
- To what conclusion did Samuel immediately jump when he saw Jesse’s eldest son? What does God’s response (that He looks at the heart, not the outside) mean to you?
- Has there been a time when you felt punished by God? How has that affected your relationship with Him?
- Solomon began so well and then many wives led his heart away from the Lord. What sorts of things do we deal with that try to lead our hearts away?
- What hope do you see in Joel 2:25? How could that hope encourage you in your situation?
Session 6 | October 25th
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
How have you seen evidence of Jesus in the world? In the lives of those around you? In your own life?
Activity:
Jeopardy
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
How have you seen evidence of Jesus in the world? In the lives of those around you? In your own life?
Activity:
Jeopardy
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
- What clues did we see indicating that Matthew wrote the story of Jesus the Messiah with a focus on Jewish readers? How did Matthew seek to present Jesus? What aspect of Jesus’ birth and young life as told by Matthew most impressed, surprised, or intrigued you?
- What unique authority did Jesus give to the 12 apostles? How do you think believers today relate to the tasks Jesus gave to the apostles?
- How do we sometimes have to choose between obeying God and concern for what people will think of us?
- What happened the moment Jesus died? (Matthew 27:51) What significance do you see in that happening? How would you explain this to a friend and help them grasp the significance of this moment?
- What are the four Gospels, the intended audiences, and the goals of each Gospel writer?
Session 7 | November 1st
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
How have difficult times brought you closer to others? Have you experienced a difficult time that has brought you closer to Christ?
Activity:
Race to put the icons in order.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
Large Group
Coffee Time Questions:
How have difficult times brought you closer to others? Have you experienced a difficult time that has brought you closer to Christ?
Activity:
Race to put the icons in order.
Small Group
Discussion Questions:
- What promise that Paul extended to the young believers at Thessalonica ( see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) means the most to you?
- Based on Galatians 2:16 what justifies a person?
- Why should we be willing to endure suffering in order to fulfill the ministry God has given us?
- Why is taming the tongue such an important issue for believers?
- Are you trusting God to use your life for his purposes in this world? Explain.
- Do you believe God is everything He says He is? Do you trust Him? If so, how are you living your life to tell His story?