LAUNCH
Xavier is having lunch in the cafeteria with some of his friends when one of his friends starts talking about a recent church service she attended. “I’ve always heard that Jesus is God, but I don’t know if I believe it,” she said. “Maybe he’s a prophet, but I don’t think he’s God.” “I don’t think he’s either,” another friend chimed in. “I just think he’s a good, moral teacher.” “I think Jesus is a myth,” a third friend said. If you were in this conversation, what would you say about Jesus?
EXPLORE
Read Mark 2:1-12
1. Read verses 1-4, describe what’s happening in your own words.
2. In verse 5, what stands out to you about Jesus’ response to the paralytic and his friends?
3. In verses 6-9, how do the religious leaders react to Jesus?
4. Why did Jesus say what he said to the religious leaders?
5. Read Mark 2:10-11. What does Jesus do to show his authority as God?
6. How does the crowd react to what Jesus did?
APPLY
7. How would you have felt if you were there and saw what Jesus said and did?
8. Think about Xavier’s lunch conversation with his friends. What would you say about Jesus now?
9. Jesus wants to meet our deepest need for forgiveness. Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sins? Have you invited him to be the Leader of your life?
10. Jesus is a good God who meets our obvious needs in ways that are best – like he did with the paralytic. What’s an obvious need in your life you’d like Jesus to meet?
EXTRA STUFF
LAUNCH
If you had to go through a flood, hurricane, tornado, or earthquake, which would you choose and why?
EXPLORE
Read Matthew 7:24-27
1. This passage talks about weathering the storms of life. What analogy does Jesus use?
2. What is the difference between the two houses?
3. What point is Jesus making with this analogy?
4. Jesus refers to “these words of mine.” What is so great about Jesus that his teaching gives us such a strong foundation in life?
5. From studying Jesus’ life, we can know that Jesus is loving, good, and powerful. How could knowing those things about Jesus help you trust his teaching more?
APPLY
6. Whose advice do you value and why?
7. Think about a part of your life where it’s hard to submit to Jesus’ teaching. How does this discussion encourage you to put Jesus’ words into practice in this area?
8. You can’t follow Jesus’ teaching if you don’t know what it is. What can you do this week to understand more of Jesus’ teachings?
THE STUDY
LAUNCH
You’re living in Jerusalem in 33 A.D. You see a bloody, beaten man named Jesus stumbling down the street, struggling to carry a wooden beam on his shoulders, surrounded by soldiers leading him and a crowd wanting to see what’s happening. You follow Jesus and the crowd to the edge of town, where the soldiers pound iron spikes through his arms and legs into the beam he carried and crucify him. You hear someone say Jesus claimed to be God and is getting what he deserved. What would you be thinking? What would you be feeling?
EXPLORE
Read Colossians 1:19-22
1. Verse 21 states that we were enemies of God. Why would God consider you his enemy? What have you done that would make you God’s enemy?
2. Verse 20 uses the word reconcile. What does reconcile mean?
3. Where else is the word reconcile being used in this passage? Who is being reconciled in each place? How are they being reconciled? Why would God want to reconcile you, his enemy, to himself?
4. Read through the passage and find places where it refers to Jesus being God and Jesus being Man. Why is it important that Jesus is both God and man?
5. In addition to forgiving our sin and bringing us back to God, what else does verse 22 say Jesus does for us through his death?
APPLY
6. How do you feel knowing that Jesus suffered and died to forgive you and bring you back to God?
7. How do these verses motivate you to trust Jesus to forgive you?
8. If someone asked you, “Why did Jesus have to die?” what would you say? As a group, come up with an answer using all of the truths we learned from this study.
9. The Bible describes these verses as good news. Why do you think these verses are good news?
10. Who would you like to tell this good news and why?
11. If you haven’t yet trusted Jesus to pay for your sins, what do you think is the biggest thing holding you back?
THE STUDY
LAUNCH
Jasmine is in your last period class, and she’s been talking to you about her interest in Christianity. One afternoon as you leave class and walk to your lockers, she tells you she’s started going to church. But she’s confused because they’re talking in church about Jesus dying for our sins and returning to life three days later (she says they call his return to life the resurrection). “That sounds crazy!” Jasmine says. She doesn’t know if she believes that actually happened. “And even if it did,” she tells you, “Why is it such a big deal?” What would you say to Jasmine?
EXPLORE
1. Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-6. These verses say a few things are most important in the Christian message. What are they?
2. Why is it important that Jesus died for our sins and was buried?
3. Read John 11:25-26, Romans 4:25, and Romans 6:4. Why does it matter that Jesus was raised from the dead?
4. What difference does it make that he appeared to many people?
5. 1 Corinthians 15:3 says “just as the Scriptures said”, referring to parts of the Bible that were written several hundred years before Jesus’ birth. These Scriptures predicted that Jesus would be killed, then raised from the dead. Why is this a big deal?
APPLY
6. If you have placed your trust in Christ, how does Jesus’ resurrection make you more confident that God has forgiven all your sins? (If you have not placed your trust in Christ yet, how does it give you confidence that he can?)
7. Read Romans 8:11. Think about something you’re struggling with right now. Maybe it’s a hard situation, addiction, or a bad character trait. How does it help you face this struggle to know Jesus’ resurrection power lives in you if you’ve trusted in him?
8. Because Jesus is “the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25), we can know we’ll live with God forever if we’ve trusted in Jesus. How could this change the way you approach life?
9. How does this change the way you think about death?
10. God loved you enough to have his Son die for you and had enough power to bring him back to life from the dead. How does knowing about his love and his power shown through the resurrection, help you trust him with all the things in your everyday life?
11. If you’re still considering whether to trust and follow Jesus, how does what we’ve discussed today help you with that decision?
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