Length: 10-20 mins

As a group, practice taking everyday words and ideas and finding some of the ways the gospel connects to them.

Link to printable version coming soon

Brainstorm

Have each member of the group brainstorm one word: it could be a topic they’re interested in, an idea that came up in their life this week, the one word that popped into their heads. It can be silly or serious. You are just looking for a list of random words and topics to start from.

  • Write down the list of words.


The Gospel

Today, we’re going to practice making gospel connections. So, let’s start with a quick overview of the gospel.

  • Ask: How would you summarize the gospel message?

One simple way of saying it is that the gospel is God’s big story. He created a good world, but humans chose their own way instead of trusting him. Over and over again, as people put their trust in other things, they don’t experience the fullness of God’s goodness. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God rescued our broken world. Now, we can know him and his goodness and be a part of his work of making things right in the world.


Making Gospel Connections

Going through the list one by one (or feel free to choose just two or three of the words to use), ask the group to try to connect each word or topic to the gospel.

  • Ask: What are some ways to connect ________ to the gospel?

You could ask the group to go into the week looking for gospel connections in their everyday conversations, and bring back one example to share next week.



Helpful Tips

  1. Remind the group that there are usually many ways to connect a word or idea to the gospel; we’re not looking for a “right answer” here, but some of the many possible right answers.

  2. Suggest that it might take more than one “step” to get from a word to the gospel. If it makes more sense, think about how to get from the given word to a deeper topic of conversation, and then from there to a spiritual topic, and then from there to the gospel specifically.

  3. If needed, you could read a list of gospel-related words as well, so the group has ideas about what types of connections they could try to make.

    • Here’s an example list of gospel words to read:

      • Creation

      • Goodness

      • Love

      • Fall

      • Brokenness

      • Sin

      • Redemption

      • Jesus

      • Rescue

      • Resurrection

      • Grace

      • Restoration

      • Renewal

      • Relationship

      • Mission

  4. It may help the group to hear an example. You can choose a word from the list and draw a gospel connection yourself, or you can use one of the following examples, if you prefer.

  • Starting word: Bumblebee

    • Bumblebees have such an important function in how plants and trees grow, and they don’t even know it. They reflect how beautiful and detailed nature is in general. Nature demonstrates how beautiful God’s creation is and how he designed everything to work together in such good ways.

    • Bumblebees are an example of what restoration and renewal can look like. As they go about their lives, according to how they were designed, they bring with them little bits of pollen that help plants grow into the beautiful creations they were meant to be. A life of faith can be like that, too – living out of who God created us each to be and bringing life to the people around us as we go.

  • Starting idea: Friendship

    • Friendships are such a big way that we experience being loved and understood. Good friendships can be like a mirror for our relationship with God, showing us what it means to be loved and also how to love others.

    • Friendships are so important, but close friendships almost never come without conflict. It’s a reminder that there are good things in the world, but even the best things are broken. God wired us for meaningful relationships with other people, but our sinful natures make that hard to live out.