Week 3: It’s for the People of Faith
WATCH
Cold open: Hailey
Questions to ask immediately after watching. The goal is to have everyone FEEL the experience of generational poverty, not to draw conclusions, critiques, or fix people:
What was the strongest emotion you felt while watching?
What was the moment that had the greatest impact on you?
Did this short film connect to anything you have experienced or personally witnessed?
Did you have any epiphany while watching, even a small one?
OPEN IN PRAYER
REFLECT
Read aloud 1-2 times:
Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’
— Luke 10:30-35
Question: This is a well-known story. What jumped out this time?
Question: What does this passage say about what God values?
DISCUSS
Jesus tells the Good Samaritan parable in response to an initial question:
And behold, a lawyer stood up and put (Jesus) to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And (Jesus) said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
-Luke 10:25-26
Question: Why is the initial question the lawyer asks significant?
Question: What are we to do with Jesus telling the story of Good Samaritan to answer a question about how to inherit eternal life? Is Jesus elevating behavior above belief?
Question: Is inheriting eternal life here talking about life after death or about experiencing “eternal life” now?
Discuss:
Like the Samaritan, what are some places we “pass along the road” where we could do what Jesus would do: street corners, local schools, social services, etc.?
Like the Samaritan, what are some everyday-talents that we could provide to a hurting person?
Who is the “stranger” (a person from a different background, tossed aside and in need) in your neighborhood? Where are they?
APPLY
Read:
And if you offer yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the need of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness,
And your gloom will become like midday.
And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.-Isaiah 58:10-11
Question: What does this passage say happens when we do what JESUS DOES?
Question: The Good Samaritan helped someone who was discarded, in need and different than himself. How is a struggling child like the stranger in the Good Samaritan or in the exhortation in Isaiah 58?
Question: How does all this apply to literacy; how might we be blessed by being a reading mentor? What is the one idea you are taking away from today’s discussion?
CLOSE in prayer