Before the Session
Facilitator: In advance of the session
- Have the Bible Background Video ready to view.
- Review today’s scripture text and the session activities to help better facilitate the discussion.
- Encourage your group to listen to the Faithelement podcast ahead of the next session (Share the link via email or social media)
Context (From the Current Session Page)
Share this story of a mother who has found a way to see someone’s presence in an interesting way and ask:
- What was your first reaction in sharing this story and why?
- What do you think it will mean to this family, over time, to have the father pictured in photographs?
- In what ways might the pictures prompt the mother to include this father’s legacy in their daily lives?
- In what ways do you think that you are influenced by people who you know, or knew, but who are not actually present in your daily life?
- What are some of the more important things you learned from these people?
Content (From the Mind Session Page)
Read 2 Timothy 1:1-14, then watch the Bible Background Video.
And then ask questions like these:
- What does the second verse tell us about the kind of relationship the writer viewed Paul and Timothy as having?
- At what points do the following verses reflect this sense of closeness?
- From where did Timothy get his faith, according to verse 5?
- In the video Nikki mentions that we “borrow” our faith until it becomes our own. What does it mean to borrow faith – and at what point might we say it becomes our own?
- What might prompt the sentiments expressed in verse 6-8?
- Why might the writer urge us to seek suffering or to bring it on ourselves?
- The New Testament frequently mentions that Jesus’ followers will suffer and be persecuted – have someone read aloud John 15:18-21 and then Matthew 5:10-12.
- What hope does the writer point to in verses 9-12, and how does he use this to make sense of his suffering?
- Why might Paul’s imprisonment have been a cause for shame among his followers?
- In what ways does this writer understand suffering, based on what is said here?
Closure (from the Media Session page)
Play the Do the Math movie clip and ask:
- What, if anything, do you remember about the movie The Martian?
- Why did Mark Watney have hope in the face of a disaster?
- In what ways might his persevering in the face of hopelessness helped future generations?
- Since God has provided people to mentor you in the faith and given you the power and discipline to show love in suffering, what things do you fear you might not be able to overcome and why?
- What experiences do you have that allow you to press on in the face of suffering?
- In what ways can you use those this week to show love, power, and discipline?
Close in prayer.