VIDEOS

VID 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak06MSETeo4

VID 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_CGP-12AE0

GROUP QUESTIONS:

- opener: Whats your favorite book? Is it encouraging?

- When we have challenges in our lives, why is encouragement so important? What is something you find encouraging in the Bible?

- The video ends by talking about how all of the wrongs of the world will be righted. What is the last book of the Bible and what type of book is it? (Leaders see Bible card resource)

- What are some wrongs you see?

VIDEO

https://youtu.be/oUXJ8Owes8E?si=1vZBTkmfFK4g3RZV

DISCUSSION

- Give every student a bible card. Briefly go over the breakdown of the books.

- Whats your favourite bible character and why?

- Name a flaw that a character in the bible has. Open bibles and find where they are in the bible.

- Why would God include people who have flaws in scripture?

- The video says we can get habits/ruts in the way we think and the poetry in the bible pushes us out of those ruts or to think outside of the box. List some habits or ruts that we can have in our thinking. (Ex. Rut: thinking our life on earth is EVERYTHING but scripture helps us remember eternity is the bigger picture! Ex. Using metaphors like God as a FATHER helps us think about God as super involved and loving).

PERSONAL REFLECTION: Each person read Psalms 139:23-24 in their bible or device. Read as a prayer. Write out in your journal some ruts you have in the way you think that you want God to help you change. Share if people want to at the end. Pray

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhmlJBUIoLk&t=3s

DISCUSSION

- Explain what a geneology is. Show a geneology in the bible (Matthew 1:1-16). (Answer: genealogies help substantiate the Bible’s historical accuracy. These lists confirm the physical existence of the characters in the Bible. By knowing family histories, we understand that the Bible is far from a mere story or a parable for how we should live our lives. It is authentic, historical truth. The genealogies also confirm prophecy. The Messiah was prophesied to come from the line of David (Isaiah 11:1). By recording His lineage in Scripture, God confirms that Jesus was descended from David (see Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38).

- Remember it says "Eves offspring will crush the head of the snake." What does this mean?

- The video says the bible is "Meditation Literature" meaning it's meant to be read and pondered regularly. Scripture even says daily. Why would it be important to read scripture daily?

- Near the end of the video it says "scripture reads you." What do you think this means? Not sure? Have a student find & read 2 Timothy 3:16-17

- The bible has relevant wisdom and loving truth for us. Is there something you're wrestling with that you would like to know what Gods words says about it? If we can't answer right away we will work hard to get back to you.

NOTES - Curious about the dragon referenced? Check Revelation 12:1-9

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLFCE8z__hw

DISCUSSION

- Find the the book of Judges in the bible (everyone open up a bible and look at the table of contents) What type of book is it? (refer to the bible info card in leader resources)

- Who are the judges? What was their purpose? (ANSWER: Descent into Madness. After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel begin a downward spiral. Israel begins to adopt the corrupt practices of the Canaanites they failed to drive out of the land. This leads to a repeated cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, deliverance, and peace, which only eventually leads back into sin. The book of Judges highlights six judges during this time and shows their increasing corruption. These judges start off fairly well (Othniel, Ehud, Deborah) but become increasingly worse (Gideon, Jephthah, Samson). The book ends with two very disturbing stories that show how incredibly lawless the people have become. The central verse that summarizes this says, "In those days Israel had no king, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes.")

- The video talks about context being super important to know in order to understand stories in the bible. How do you think context changes how we read parts of the bible? Any examples come to mind?

- So how do we find out what the context is? Here's three ideas but there's lots of ways! ONE: Start by finding out the type of book you're reading (bible info card) TWO: Go through this as a group. Open the bible app. Change translation to NIV. Choose any book. Select the "i" and read a short description of what the book is about. THREE: Go to https://bibleproject.com/ and search a book. They have short videos breaking down really complex books into great infographics.

- Are there any parts of the bible you struggle to see their point or understand? We'll do our best to answer now but if we don't know, we'll get back to you!

- Closing note. So moving forward, context really is king. Often times we find ourselves coming into the middile of a conversation or we are trying to understand something thats already happened. We need to do the work of understanding the story from the very beginning. Can you think of times at home or at school where you made an assumption that something happened becasue you only heard part of the story?

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EQDGax19xk

DISCUSSION

- Ice breaker question: Do you know what your name means?

- Do you have any thoughts on the video we just watched?

- What do almost all of the characters in the Bible have in common? ( morally compromised, dealing with struggles ) Characters’ names also often indicate their role in the story. - Saul = “the one asked for” - Abram/Abraham = exalted father / father of a multitude - Israel = struggles with God - Adam = humanity.

——— Daniel 6 : 1-5 ——— have someone read this ——-

does everybody know the story of Daniel? ( explain it briefly ) what can we learn about Daniel from these couple of verses? It's not going so in depth into the specifics of Daniel, it leaves it open just enough to put ourselves in his shoes. Why is this important? If we're reading a fiction novel, we want all of the details about a person! That's what makes the read so interesting! The Bible is so unique in the way it allows us to put ourselves into what we're reading. We aren't watching from the sidelines, we're invited in!

- what is your favourite story in the Bible? Why?

- What's your favourite verse if you don't have a favourite story?

- What Bible character do you still have questions about? Let's talk about them now!

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkqsQpck8YU

DISCUSSION

----- icebreakers ---- what's an all time favourite movie/book plot of yours? In three sentences, can you describe it? Is there another movie/book you like with a similar plot?

------- Questions ------- What does it mean when the video talks about, "the human condition?"

- have you ever felt the stories in the Bible to be repetitive? What did the video say about that? ( the temptation pattern builds anticipation. )

- what's another theme in the Bible that you notice? - Why do you think that's important?

---- What is it that Jesus says ( prays ) in the garden? What is signigicant about this moment? What is something that we can learn from this moment?

The bible is truly unique and incredible in the way it has been brought together. There is so much to be drawn out of scripture which is why we talk about devotional lives so often! How can we read the same book over and over again? In the same way that people in the bible over and over again fell victim to sin, we are no different and scripture gives us the tools to comabt it in our daily lives! That repetition in scripture is so important. We need that repetition.

Point people to SOAP daily devotions

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrzq_X1NNaA

DISCUSSON

- what does the word "gospel" mean?

- What is the "good news"? ( The kingdom of heaven )

- What are the two main goals of the gospel? What did they say in the video? ( represent the story of Jesus and to persuade the reader to consider their own relationship to Jesus)

- How come there are four gospels that all tell the same story? ( four different perspectives that help to tell a more detailed story. Example. The lord of the rings books tells the same story from multiple different perspectives which makes for a very engaging read. )

Can someone share the gospel in 30 seconds? Imagine yourself in an elevator. Someone turns to you and says, “why do I need Jesus in my life?” What do you say?

Why is it so important for us to have an answer to this question? ( spend some time practising ) It's quite difficult to do but so important. This is the key in sharing our faith with others. Being able to share the gospel in a way that is loving and inviting. It’s precisely what Jesus has asked all those who follow him to do.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX-aAg4_U2Q

DISCUSSION

- God has an upside down view of people compared to the world. What is it? (Least important people to the world are the most important to God) How is this revolutionary!?

- Discuss how the world treats the least important people. How do we treat the most important people? (Consider how a karma worldview prevents charity: if you believe you get what’s coming to you, you don’t help the poor because you’re preventing them from going through a punishment they eventually have to endure)

- Why isn’t Jesus more obvious? Why does he speak in metaphorical stories? (Gives information to people who are open to hearing and can understand but hides the true meaning from those who would immediately jump to violent opposition)

- What are the benefits of explaining something through a parable/metaphor/story? (#1Can transcend time and be applicable to more places and cultures. #2Being less obvious can encourage pondering and studying what Jesus meant. #3Can help explain things that are waaaay bigger than our human understanding)

WATCH The Art of Biblical Poetry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9yp1ZXbsEg

#1 open up the Bible and identify which books are poetry (see Bible info card for help. Have students actually race to get to each book in a real Bible)

#2 the video says biblical poetry is loaded with goodness for those who are willing to slow down and ponder them. (Set a timer for 3-5 minutes. Have it be silent. Ask students to think to themselves about when in their day do they ever have times of quiet thinking… what do these times feel like?)

WATCH Metaphor in Biblical Poetry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9W5afjndtU

#3 JUST EXPLAIN: if you’re like me, when this video starts connecting gardens and temples and rocks your brain exploded and you may have thought “I would never make that connection”… this is why pondering scripture quietly each day is so important. The better we know it, the more we can make connections.

WATCH The Book of Psalms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpny22k_7uk

#4 What are the benefits of quiet, pondering time? How would this affect the way you’d take in the Bible?

#5The psalms often are written in 3 parts: lament (expression of grief), confession (expression of our wrong doing), praise (an expression of Gods power and goodness). David experiences terrible things. He has good reason to express grief. Most of us do as well. David does not let himself STAY in grief. He expresses sadness, THEN he expresses his own weakness or mistakes, and he FINISHES by saying how God is still good even in his tough situation.

>>> Take a few minutes and write your own psalm. 1) Write what feels tough right now. 2) admit how you feel weak or how you’ve made a mistake 3) write how God is good still even in this hard thing

#6 share with other if people want to.

Pray to close.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNDX4tUdj1Y

DISCUSSION

#1 EXPLAIN who Isaiah, Daniel and Paul are.

Isaiah - He was a prophet who predicted the coming of Jesus hundreds of years before Jesus was born! He lived in the 8th century bce.

Daniel - This is the Daniel who was in the lions den. He lived in the 6th century bce.

Paul - we talked about him last week. He was Saul and then had an encounter with Jesus. He lived after Jesus was crucified, he played a HUGE part in the early church, writing 13 books of the Bible and started more than a dozen church’s. He died in 65 AD

#2 QUESTION Define apocalyptic literature ( in the video TO UNCOVER OR REVEAL ) —- leave space for people to voice some thoughts or confusing points of this type of literature in the Bible.

#3 QUESTION: Apocalyptic literature and revelation are not doomsday stories. They are meant to give hope. How can the destruction of things be good? Let's play out some scenarios.

#4 QUESTION: Here on Earth we have so many blessings what are a couple that come to mind?

#5 EXPLAIN: There are a lot of good things here but Revelation says there’s something better coming. Sometimes that’s hard to image but think of it this way… imagine you were eating a burger from Arbeys but you don’t know In N Out Burger exists, or you’re eating a pepperoni stick but you don’t know steak exists… though God gives us glimmers of heaven here on earth we don’t know the full picture

#6 The hope of the book of revelation and the end of the world is that one day you will be able to be in the presence of God and with people who are healed. No more sin, no more pressure no more anxiety. Perfection.

#7 EXPLAIN Revelations 22:12 - take a moment and remember the thief on the cross. Does everyone know who I’m talking about? We can't earn salvation. It is a gift. #8 REFLECT We are told that we will have to answer for our decisions. Let's take a minute to ponder this. If God was sitting with you right now, how would you explain and give account for your works?( everything you've done in your life thus far ).

#9 EXPLAIN Don't forget that we have a super loving God who is full of mercy and will never reject you. But He is going to ask you about it. "

VIDEONew Testament Letters: Historical Context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZuceW7eh5M

1. These New Testament letters are written to specific groups of people. It helps to think of this when we read scripture from them. For example. The book of Romans is written to the Romans, Ephesians is written to a group of people in Ephesus. It is really important to consider the audience when reading these letters because each group deals with different issues that often connect to different cultures between groups. Can you think of examples of something that is totally fine in one culture today but is offensive or negative in another culture?... these type of cultural differences exist in the NT letters.

2. Why was the message of Jesus so countercultural to them? (ANSWER: Roman society said their was a hierarchy but in a Jesus community everyone was treated with love and dignity)

3. How does this compare thousands of years ago, to today? ( OPTION: Using the Bible app, read the information section of the book of Romans. POSSIBLE ANSWER: topics within the church were super divisive then and there are those topics now as well. )

VIDEO New Testament Letters: Literary Context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPZ2uABVMKA

1. Believe it or not, sending letters was the height of sophisticated tech back in the day. To put your thought on a page, send them away and have them be spoken somewhere else. UNREAL. Paul is a clever man, utilizing this incredible way to communicate. Who is someone you listen to today for life advice?

2. Take a min to look at the bible info card and notice how many books of the New Testament are letters.

3. This is the last night in our How to Read the Bible series. Being in Gods word daily is so important to keeping our faith! If you ever have questions, please dont hesitate to ask! Lets finish by going into groups of 3, sharing a prayer request we have about the bible in our lives, and praying for eachother. - If you do not have a bible, please take one from the shelf!