THE SPAGHETTI MESSAGE
5 mins
Split your group into several smaller teams and give each group a tin of alphabet spaghetti. When you say ‘go,’ get them to open the tin and try and use the spaghetti to write the verse from John 3:16. (If they don’t know it, give them a Bible to look it up.) The last team to finish the challenge has to eat their cold spaghetti. Make the point that it can be a little tricky to try and share the message of the gospel sometimes.
EVANGELISM LINEBACKER
5 mins
Show the ‘Evangelism linebacker’ clip from the links section of the Premier Youthwork website. Make the point that sometimes we can feel pressured into sharing our faith.
LISTEN
10 mins
Play the song ‘God of Justice’ by Tim Hughes. Encourage your group to listen to the words and think about whether they are willing to ‘give and go’. Have a short discussion about why it can be hard to do these things.
READ AND DISCUSS
20 mins
Read Luke 4:14-21 and then discuss these questions as a group:
• In what state did Jesus return to Galilee?
• What does the scroll say?
Say: in this passage Jesus is full of the Spirit and reads a passage from Isaiah which talks about how the Spirit will lead the Lord’s servant to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. It highlights that Jesus is filled and sent out. This is Jesus’ mission statement and it comes right at the start of Luke’s Gospel. The rest of Luke’s Gospel shows Jesus full of the Spirit doing these things. It highlights that the Spirit helps Jesus make the good news known.
Read Acts 1:8 and then discuss these questions:
• What reason does Jesus give to the disciples about why they will receive the Spirit?
• What does it mean to be Jesus’ witnesses?
READ AND DISCUSS
10 mins
Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 and then discuss these questions:
• Why do you think Paul felt weak and fearful when he first shared his faith with the Corinthians?
• Have you ever felt like this?
• What does Paul say marks his preaching?
• What do you think he is getting at by saying this?
PRAY
10 Ask your group to stand and wait on God. As you wait, listen for anything God might want to say to your group. Perhaps some feel a little bit scared and weak as they think about sharing their faith - pray and ask the Spirit to fill them with faith and courage.
Perhaps some find it hard to hear God - ask the Spirit to open their ears to help them hear what he is saying. Perhaps some are feeling compassion for their friends who are living lives trapped or enslaved by certain things - pray that the Spirit would give them a compassion that not only feels but serves. Perhaps God wants to give your young people vision for reaching out beyond their church to the village, town or city - ask God to speak and fill them with eyes that see what he is doing. As you pray ask God to speak to your group about how they might begin to reveal the good news to their friends and family.
KEY POINT 1
As the Spirit fills Jesus to make the good news known, so the Spirit fills and empowers us to make the good news known too. It’s like Jesus handing on the baton to us. Jesus healed, restored and told people about God’s love; Jesus set people free and announced the favour of God. Jesus gave his life to this mission and now calls us, and empowers us, to live it too. As we seek the Spirit of God we join in this naturally supernatural adventure of Jesus’ mission bringing healing, forgiveness, freedom and favour to a hurting, confused, trapped and hardhearted world. The Spirit isn’t just given for us - he is poured out to equip us to be witnesses to others.
KEY POINT 2
Sometimes our words, clever arguments and preparation aren’t enough to help people find Jesus. Paul suggests that what is needed is not human wisdom but a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. This isn’t about us having to perform massive miracles in sharing our faith, but more about walking in step with the Spirit, listening to his voice and being bold, despite our fears, to live out what he says. It means that as our friends tell us they have a headache we hear the Spirit prompt us to pray for them. It may mean that when we see our friends looking discouraged we ask God what encouragements he wants us to speak to them. This is not random acts of kindness but deliberately listening to the Spirit and doing what he says. Like Paul, living this naturally supernatural life can feel a little scary but it draws us closer to Jesus and brings the lost closer to him. Later on in this passage Paul writes that ‘the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God’. This means that the Spirit knows (because he is God) the things God wants to say to a person and the best way to reveal Jesus to that person. Our job is to listen and be bold in joining in.
For more on these sessions check out the Naturally Supernatural teaching on the Soul Survivor Youtube channel
