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 Media Session Page)
Play the Get Offended video and ask:
- After watching this video, to what degree do you find yourself being more offended versus being more informed and why?
- What causes us to be offended?
- In what way might being offended by something relate to the amount of verifiable information we have about it??
- If you sat down and talked for an hour or so with someone who does not share your core beliefs, to what degree might you become more informed or more offended and why?
- In what ways does our perspective limit our ability to serve in God’s will?
Content (From the Mind Session Page)
Read Isaiah 49:1-7, then watch the Bible Background Video.
Then ask questions like these:
- For ancient peoples, the ocean represented the unknown and dangerous places. By speaking to the “coastlands” and “people far away,” what do we learn about the intended audience?
- Why does this introduction matter?
- What do we learn about the Servant’s purposes in verse 2?
- To what degree is the image of a sword appropriate for God’s message or God’s word?
- In what ways is the message delivered to both the Servant and God’s people in this passage also meant for us?
- What is the work of the Servant and God’s people and what does God accomplish through them?
- What does this passage say to those who might believe God would not call them, or that they are not capable of doing that work?
- What are God’s people told to do with the blessing and promise that God has given them?
Closure (from the Youth Session page)
Form teams of three (triads), and have them discuss these questions. After each one, allow time for triads to share their work with the larger group, taking time for group members to ask clarifying (but not critical) questions:
- In what ways do you daily receive the opportunity to serve others, and how do you typically respond to this opportunity?
- What specific gifts and talents has God given you since birth, and how might you use those gifts and talents to serve God?
- In what ways do you interact with people who do not share your faith perspective, and how do such encounters typically go?
After discussing these questions, regather the entire group and ask:
- What have you learned from having done this?
- What do you think would need to change in your life for you to be a committed servant of God?
- Assuming that you understand yourself to be called as one of God’s servants (as in the scriptures we read, how can you share God’s transforming love with others?
- What are some opportunities for all of us to serve others in our community and how might we best respond to them?
Close this session in prayer