WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS
Knowing Your Place In God’s World
Creation: The World Designed by God and People Made in His Image – Unit 5
Read
Life Issues Booklet 2: Do Non-Christians Really Deserve Eternal Punishment?
Leader Resources
Exercises
- Review the memory verse of the week and talk about how it relates to the Truth section.
- Review the Pentateuch, Historical books, Poetic books, Major and Minor Prophets of the Old Testament.
- Include time for one or two JG members to recite all 66 books of the Bible.
Suggested Discussion
- Truth – You can discuss any of the in Bible questions you would like to address. Here are some tips that may help:
- Psalm 8 – This psalm shows us David wrestling with his humanity. What does it mean to be human? Why would God bother with me when He could tend to the grandeur of the heavens? Yet, David understands that though he is physically small and weak, God has crowned human kind (including David) with glory and commissioned them to His service. From this we get the sense that David understood how wonderfully significant he was in God’s world. Your JG can also draw the same conclusion. What is true of the whole human race collectively is also true of each individual, no matter their position in life.
- Romans 5:5-11; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 – The passage in Romans shows us that God highly values people, even in their sinful state. It is reasonable to assume that this is due to His designing us in His image and likeness. You will want to impress your JG that God’s acceptance of them is not based on their performance, but on Christ’s performance. As a result, they are unconditionally accepted and loved by God. The passage in 1 Corinthians reminds us that God does not evaluate our worth in the way that people do. He does not love or find value in people based on their wisdom, authority or nobility. Nor does He find worth in people based on their physical appearance or accomplishments.
- Truth – Here are the main points about developing a healthy self-image that you’ll want to make clear:
- Our habits of thought influence our emotions and behavior. This is an important principle of spiritual growth that demands that we learn to think rightly about our God, His work and ourselves.
- Those who mean the most to us (parents, peers, and spouse) will significantly shape the self-assessment of our own worth.
- To the degree that these people buy into the world’s system of assessing worth (appearance, intellect, achievements/abilities, wealth and influence), to that degree we will struggle to properly assess our personal value.
- The solution to this problem is to understand and accept God’s assessment of our worth, and to value His acceptance more highly than others’. God’s assessment of our worth is demonstrated by the fact that he crowned us and commissioned us to rule (Psalm 8), and redeemed us with the ultimate payment (Romans 5). Meditating on these truths is the key to conforming our thinking to His, and in so doing, developing a healthy selfimage.
- Equipping – Allow your JG to discuss any of the equipping questions. Help them to see how Scripture applies to their individual stories.
- Accountability – Allow time for smaller groups of 2 or 3 to ask accountability questions and pray for one another.
