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)
Start by asking:
- How and where do we see wrangling over in our communication?
- When do you get caught up in this kind of thing, if ever?
Share together, emphasizing the image of the person with the megaphone and the person in the car, this article and continue with:
- In what ways do the images in the article feel familiar to the ways you have experienced communication lately?
- What kinds of things might you do to avoid or ignore communication that looks like these images?
Content (From the Mind Session Page)
Read 2 Timothy 2:8-15, then watch the Bible Background Video.
Then ask questions like these:
- What instructions are in verse 2?
- What is the message to be passed on, and how should it be passed?
- In verses 4-6, the writer gives some examples of those who remain focused on their given task. Who are the people mentioned, what is the potential distraction, and how does each one remain focused on their task?
- While relating it to the struggles faced by Paul and Timothy, what do you think the writer really means when referring to struggling in this passage?
- What do you think the writer means when he says, “God’s word is not chained” in verse nine? Look in different translations (if available) to get a sense of this phrase. How might imprisonment have actually served to “free” the Gospel?
- Examine the “hymn” in verses 11-13. There are four phrases – take a few moments with each one and talk about its meaning. In what ways do we “participate” in Jesus’ life and death… and how does our participation further God’s work?
- What do we learn from these sayings about our response to suffering and distractions?
- Judging from this passage, what distractions do you think the early church face and by what means does the writer urge early Christians to deal with them?
Closure (from the Media Session page)
Play the Strangers video and ask:
- What are some things that we probably should not talk about with certain groups of our friends and why?
- In what ways do our common disagreements make maintaining constructive faith relationships more difficult?
- By what means can we help people avoid quarreling over non-essentials?
- How can we be careful to present our faith with knowledge, skill, and passion?
- In what ways might our faith shine through despite our communications difficulties?
- How can someone show or tell others about the joy and love inside them without wrangling over words?
Invite the group to offer a commitment to reach other people over the coming days, despite communications issues and arguments, then close in prayer that God might help them fulfill that commitment.