ONE THING Go around the group and have everyone share: ONE THING from the message this morning that stood out to you.
SEE-FAIL-TRUST-REPEAT To complete this card, stand together in a circle. Ask for a volunteer to be the Player One of the group. (This will be explained in a second.) Establish a rhythm by saying, See, Fail, Trust, Repeat. (Keep saying this over and over as a group until everyone is in rhythm.) As the group continues to say See, Fail, Trust, Repeat together, Player One will begin to do a gesture to the rhythm -like snapping, clapping, tapping your head with your left hand, etc. Once Player One has done that gesture one time through the phrase, the person to his/her left (Player Two) will start to do that gesture for the next time through the phrase, while Player One begins a new and different motion. The next time through, Player Three (Left of Player Two) takes the first gesture, Player Two takes the second gesture, and Player One comes up with another new gesture. This continues until the gestures make it all the way around the circle back to Player One. To not fail at this, you must pay attention to the person on your right!
#FAIL If you haven t noticed, today is all about failure. Pretty fun, huh? Here are five quotes about failure Failure isn t fatal, but failure to change might be. - John Wooden It s failure that gives you the proper perspective on success. - Ellen DeGeneres I have not failed. I ve just found 10,000 ways that won t work. - Thomas Edison The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. - Henry Ford Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. - C.S. Lewis Have each person in your group share the quote he/she likes the most, and why they chose that particular quote.
TEN FINGERS Everyone hold up 10 fingers. Go around the group and say something that would be considered a FAIL. (Try to guess something others may have done but you haven t.) - If you have ever done what is said, take one finger down. - The last person to have a finger up is the winner! Examples: Received a speeding ticket Fell down stairs Flunked a test
FOOT-IN-MOUTH DISEASE Share a story of a time when you stuck your foot in your mouth, or when your words and actions didn t align. Make this something fun and light-hearted something you are able to laugh about now. See if anyone else in your group is willing to share a FAIL story of their own. It s OK if they aren t too serious Pray this prayer for your group: Father, it s tough for us to admit failure sometimes. None of us are perfect. We have all messed up at some point in our lives. We ask that you help us today. Help us to be able to deal properly with our failures and shortcomings, and receive from you the grace and mercy that we need. It s in the perfect and faultless name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.
JESUS & PETER Have four different people read the following passages out loud for your group. As the passages are read, listen for similarities and differences in each account: Luke 22:31-34 & 54-62 Matthew 26:30-35 & 69-75 Mark 14:26-31 & 66-72 John 13:36-38 & 18:15-18 Together as a group, come up with two things that are the same and two things that are different from these accounts. Write them on one of your tiles. Same: o o Different: o o
HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND? Often when people talk about failing, they mean it in somewhat of an innocent way - you just missed the shot, struck out, fell because you tripped, or got an answer wrong on a test. The response to this kind of failing is: Don t give up! Try harder! Do better! Don t quit! Believe in yourself! That s not really the type of failure that today is about. Today s kind of failure is when we mess up, fall short, or get it wrong - but in a way that is against God s will. It s when we tell Jesus (and others) we ll do one thing, but we don t live up to the words we proclaim. - What do we do when our failure is against Jesus? - How did Peter respond when he realized what he had done? Divide into two groups and look up the following scriptures that help us know how to respond to our failures. Group 1: 2 Corinthians 7:10 (Repentance) Group 2: 1 John 1:9 (Confession) Once groups have had a few minutes to read their passages, have each share how we should respond when we sin.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL??? Maybe you ve heard the term GOSPEL used in church, or elsewhere - but what does it mean? Take five minutes together as a group to discuss how you might finish this sentence: THE GOSPEL IS. After you ve discussed it, write your group s answer on one of your tiles and take a picture of it. Post it on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtags #thegospelis and #ciymove.
A FEW VERSES Have different people from your group read the following verses and then answer the questions that follow: Mark 10:45 Romans 5:8 Romans 6:23 Romans 8:1 2 Corinthians 5:21 2 Corinthians 8:9 1 Timothy 1:15 1 John 4:10 Revelation 5:9 Do these verses change the way your group would have finished The Gospel is? What does the Gospel have to do with failing?
PRAY UP! Have your group huddle up again and pray to close out your time. Pray these three things: Thank God for something that your group learned or discussed this morning. Ask God to continue to show each person in your group what He wants you to see today. Pray that your group would all be able to understand and respond to Jesus today. On AMEN have your group do their Spirit Animal sound!