THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE: LUKE 10:38-42
PREPARATION: Read the ‘Bad camera’ introduction activity and gather appropriate resources. Print or write up answers for the ‘Talk, walk and explain’ activity. You will need: a Bible, A4 blank paper, pens and a way to listen to audio from the internet.
BAD CAMERA
5 mins
The introduction for this session requires you to gather together some well-known images and then blur them before showing them to your young people. The aim of the game is simple: display a very blurred image and get the young people to try and work out what the original image is. After a few minutes of guessing you can show them the original. You could use football teams’ badges, animals, famous landmarks, gadgets, famous faces or things specific to your group or context. (A quick Google search will tell you how to blur images quickly.)
When concluding this game, explain to your young people that you are going to look at a story from the Bible that is all about focus. The story is about two sisters who had very different attitudes towards Jesus when he came to visit them at their house; they focused on two very different things and Jesus was very clear regarding who was focusing on the right thing.
MARY AND MARTHA
15 mins
Give everyone a piece of paper and pen. Ask them to split the page into four. Explain that as you slowly read the passage from Luke 10:38–42, they are going to create a comic strip or storyboard telling the story. When they have finished their drawings ask the group for some suggestions of words that they would use to describe Mary and Martha. Then ask what they think it means when Jesus says to Martha: ‘You are worried and upset by many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better.’
Sometimes doing a good thing might not necessarily be the right thing. Martha wasn’t doing anything terrible or mischievous, if anything quite the opposite. However, it seems she wasn’t doing what Jesus expected of her on this occasion; her focus was on the wrong thing. On the other hand, Mary seemed to be doing exactly what Jesus required, which was simply to sit and listen to what he had to say. It all comes down to having the right focus, Mary had the correct focus which was to listen to what Jesus had to say first, and act later.
KEY POINT 1
We can learn a lot from Mary’s example in this passage. Mary had the right focus; sitting and listening to what Jesus had to say. We must develop our understanding of how we listen to what God has to say to us. How can we have the same focus as Mary? How do we best practise these listening skills as Christians today?
TALK, WALK AND EXPLAIN
20 mins
Sitting at the feet of Jesus was relatively straightforward for Mary as she was sitting in the same room as him, but how do we go about this today? Get your young people to stand in a clump in the middle of the room, explain that you will then ask a question and in order to answer the question they are going to...
- Talk: grab another person close to them and discuss what they think the answer to the question is and why. Allow around two minutes per question.
- Walk: move to the wall that displays their answer (it’s important to explain that it is perfectly ok if they have a different answer from the person they were discussing the question with).
- Explain: be ready to explain why they have chosen that answer and encourage others to pitch in and dig deeper into the discussion.
The following questions should open up some great discussions. You will need to display the words ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘maybe’ on three walls or corners of your room, and for the prayer question use the answers ‘once or ‘less’, ‘twice’, ‘three times and more’.
- How many times should you pray each day?
- Should you read your Bible more than once a day?
- Is it good to spend time with other Christians?
- Does Jesus speak to us as we take time to serve others?
Be careful with the last one, as interestingly this is what Martha was doing! It is important your young people understand that Jesus will speak as we serve others, after all ser others was what he came to do. What is important is that we spend time with him first so that we can be guided towards the best way to serve. Feel free to add some of your own, just remember to adjust your timings as you really want to allow enough time for the ‘explain’ part of the activity.
KEY POINT 2
If we want to grow as followers of Jesus we must begin by simply sitting in his presence and listening to what he has to say. We are often tempted to fill our time with other things (not necessarily bad things), but Jesus calls us to first focus on him. Reading the Bible and praying are two of the most obvious ways in which we can sharpen our focus. Spending time with and learning from other Christians can be another way to help us with this. And as we pinpoint our focus on Jesus there will be a natural desire to want to serve others around us: in our churches and in our wider communities. So let’s start each day, each decision, each project and each new relationship with the right focus.
FELLOWSHIP FOCUS
15 mins
Listen to the song ‘Fix my eyes’ by For King and Country, and encourage the young people to write a prayer asking God to help them fix their eyes on him.
Say: The Bible says in Hebrews 10 that we are to consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another. In our world today there are endless methods of communicating with each other. Think of the one that you and your closest friends use the most (WhatsApp, Facebook etc) and create a group chat and have a think as to how you could use this platform to encourage each other throughout the week to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.
