October 4 - Middle School
What we’re learning this week:
The Bible is a big book and can feel challenging to understand, but did you know it tells one story? During this series, we will look at each major scene of the story and, use the animal that represents that scene as a visual to show our students that they can understand the story of God!
As we work through the New Testament and read about the early Jesus followers, we are going to learn about some of the tensions between the Jewish Jesus followers and the Gentiles who were interested in following Jesus. Through a vision about unclean animals, God confronts Peter’s favoritism and tells him to welcome Cornelius (a Gentile) into the family of God. As we walk through the story, some students will be challenged to invite people into God’s family, while others will be reminded that if they have felt counted out by others, God still welcomes them to Himself!
Bottom Line: Don’t count out who God has invited in.
Scripture: Acts 10:9-31
Small Group Discussion
Series Key Verse: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. 2 Timothy 3:16a
Review the key verse for the series (we will return to this every week!)
Ask your students the big question! “Did anyone make a decision to follow Jesus for the first time tonight?”
If anyone says “yes!” celebrate as a group and make sure they connect with a campus staff member tonight. We want to help them take their next steps!
Choose 1-3 small group questions to discuss
Share prayer requests
Close in prayer!
The story we learned about tonight had two challenges: the challenge to Peter (not to count others out with God) and the challenge to Cornelius (not to count yourself out with God).. which of the two challenges do you need to remember more right now? Why?
Are there types of people you naturally assume wouldn’t be interested in God, Lifeline, or the church? If yes, what makes you think that?
(Yes or no question) Is there a person in your life that you have counted out and don’t think they will ever care about God? – If yes, commit to praying for them this week by name! That they would experience God in a new way.
Was there a time that you didn’t think God could love you or accept you? Did your mind change on that? Share a bit with the group!
In one sentence, what is one thing you want to remember from tonight’s conversation?
Extra Info
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Don’t forget about the Lifeline Leader Toolkit. To learn more about this, check out this information page.
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If you’d ever like to reference the Lifeline handbook, we have a digital version of that available here on our website.
