THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE: MATTHEW 28:1-10
PREPARATION: Get the video ready to play and collect pens and paper for the activities.
WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
5 mins
Invite the group to divide into smaller teams and give them pens and paper. The teams must pick people (famous or otherwise) that they would choose for the roles you will call out. Once all the roles have been filled get them to share results and vote on the best suggestions. The team with the most votes wins. Here are the roles:
- You are creating the world’s best boy band: which four people would you choose?
- You have a limitless budget for a new football team: which three players would you choose first?
- You can choose the next President of the United States: who would you choose?
- You are casting the new Star Wars films: which actors would you choose?
Close this activity by highlighting that when choosing people for roles, we are drawn to the best or most famous: the most famous boy band members or the very best actors we can think of. What about Jesus – does he choose people the same way?
READ ALL ABOUT IT
10 mins
Read Matthew 28:1-10 and invite the group to have a quick think about the following questions:
- Is there anything in here that is unusual?
- What do you find inspiring in this passage?
- What does it tell you about how Jesus chooses people?
KEY POINT 1
This is an extraordinary passage. Jesus chooses Mary as the very first evangelist, the first person told to go and tell others that he is alive. To give a woman such high honour was unheard of in those days. Jesus is breaking social norms and choosing unexpected people for incredible roles in his story.
LIKE A GIRL
5 mins
Watch the ‘Like a girl’ video (see here). In Jesus’ time women were treated as inferior. We like to think that in our day and age, girls are not thought of as inferior. Ask the group to discuss: are we doing a good job of being like Jesus and honouring each other?
THE FIRST EVANGELIST
10 mins
Get into smaller discussion groups and think about the following questions. Give time for discussion and feedback.
- Mary Magdalene was the first evangelist – how does she inspire you?
- Why do you think Mary was chosen for this role? (Maybe check out John 19:25.)
KEY POINT 2
Mary was entrusted with this role, not just because Jesus was making a point about gender, but because she had proven herself faithful to him even in the most desperate and lonely times.
DISCUSSION
10 mins
Returning to your smaller groups, discuss and feedback the following questions:
- Mary obeyed Jesus and went to tell the disciples – how do you think she felt?
- Mary stepped up to a role that society would never have given her or trusted her to do – what example is she setting for us today?
- How could we be more like Mary?
A LETTER TO MYSELF
10 mins
Each young person will need a pen and piece of paper. Invite them to write themselves a letter (of no more than five sentences) to the 90 year-old version of themselves. They could write something like:
Dear [own name], I hope that you have lived with the courage of Mary; that when the world has given you limitations, you have walked, with Jesus, straight through them. I hope that you have found hope in the loneliest times and found joy in telling others about Jesus. Love from [own name].
Invite the group to share their letter (if they want to) and then take a photo with it and post it to social media.
KEY POINT 3
We can be each other’s biggest cheerleaders as we say ‘no’ to limitations and ‘yes’ to the role God has for us in his story. Whether we feel sure of the part we have been given to play or not, we have great opportunities to be like Jesus and live in a way that honours everyone and includes people that society might think are inferior.
ACTIVE PRAYER
5 mins
Set up two prayer spaces for people to spend time at. They can visit them both, or just pick one.
Prayer area one: Cut up red paper into a vague brick shape and invite people to write on their brick anything that they think stops them being courageous for Jesus. For example: people’s opinions of me, finding time to spend with Jesus, doubts in faith. Once they have written on their ‘brick’, ask them to fold it up into a box and write ‘courage’ in the palm of their hand. This is a symbolic act of putting down our fears and taking up Jesus’ courage.
Prayer area two: Who are the people that we have thought of as inferior? It might be people in school who behave differently to us or wear different clothes. It might be people we come across in daily life: the girl in netball who can’t throw, the man behind the checkout at our supermarket or the homeless lady finding shelter in a doorway. Grab a piece of paper and write about that person as God would write about them. Keep the piece of paper in your wallet so that you don’t forget that God honours everyone.
