Leader Guide
Artist: Matthew West
Artist: Matthew West
URL: https://www.mattewwest.com
Album: Brand New
Label: Story House Collective
Song: Truth Be Told
By: Sarah Taylor
Gulf Cove United Methodist Church
Port Charlotte, Florida
[email protected]
Theme
Discontentment, God’s Love, Brokenness
Objective
To remind students that, despite their brokenness, they are never alone and are deeply loved by their creator.
Warm-Up
Play a round of Two Truths and a Lie. Have students come up with three facts about themselves – two of them must be true, one of them a lie. Have each student take a turn telling their facts. The group must decide which is the lie.
Transition/Video
Do you ever act like things are okay when they’re really not? You know, maybe someone asks how you’re doing and your immediate response is fine…or okay…but really you just feel like crying, or screaming, or cursing.
Do the pictures on your Instagram page tell the true story of who you are?
Matthew West wrote a song about the masks we wear. Take a look at this video.
Bible Study
Read 2 Corinthians 4: 7-10
Provide paper and pens for students and spend some time in prayer. Replay Matthew West’s video and encourage students to write down the things they need to confess.
Confession is a scary thing to face, admitting you don’t have it all together – that you’re not perfect. We make ourselves vulnerable, and ultimately open ourselves up for judgement. But, God calls us to live in community, to carry one another’s burdens in love. And, like the song reminds us – there’s not a mistake we’ve made, there’s not a thought we’ve had that God isn’t aware of. The only way to get out from under the burden of our mistakes and sins is to release them to God. You don’t have to carry them and struggle alone. Let Him carry the burden for you, allow Him to forgive you!
Artist: Matthew West
Artist: Matthew West
URL: https://www.mattewwest.com
Album: Brand New
Label: Story House Collective
Song: Truth Be Told
By: Sarah Taylor
Gulf Cove United Methodist Church
Port Charlotte, Florida
[email protected]
Theme
Discontentment, God’s Love, Brokenness
Objective
To remind students that, despite their brokenness, they are never alone and are deeply loved by their creator.
Warm-Up
Play a round of Two Truths and a Lie. Have students come up with three facts about themselves – two of them must be true, one of them a lie. Have each student take a turn telling their facts. The group must decide which is the lie.
Transition/Video
Do you ever act like things are okay when they’re really not? You know, maybe someone asks how you’re doing and your immediate response is fine…or okay…but really you just feel like crying, or screaming, or cursing.
Do the pictures on your Instagram page tell the true story of who you are?
Matthew West wrote a song about the masks we wear. Take a look at this video.
Bible Study
Read 2 Corinthians 4: 7-10
- Do you think Paul meant for his words to be read in the year 2020 by American students?
- How do these words impact you? Do they give you hope? Do they inspire you in any way?
- What does Paul mean when he says, “we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus”?
- Why do you think it’s so difficult to glorify God when we’re going through tough times?
- Is it an easy thing to rely on God for strength? Why/why not?
- Does it ever feel like God is ignoring the bad stuff that’s happening around us? Like maybe He’s causing the bad stuff to happen?
- How does that make you feel?
- How does reading this Psalm affect you?
- David, the writer of so many Psalms, often prayed to God asking him to take his troubles away – even blaming God for the troubles he faced. Why do you think we blame God when things don’t go our way?
- Do you think God uses bad stuff to punish us? How does that balance with what we know of God from Scripture?
- Why is it so hard to confess our mistakes/sins to others?
- Is there something you need to confess – maybe to a friend, a family member, maybe even to yourself?
Provide paper and pens for students and spend some time in prayer. Replay Matthew West’s video and encourage students to write down the things they need to confess.
Confession is a scary thing to face, admitting you don’t have it all together – that you’re not perfect. We make ourselves vulnerable, and ultimately open ourselves up for judgement. But, God calls us to live in community, to carry one another’s burdens in love. And, like the song reminds us – there’s not a mistake we’ve made, there’s not a thought we’ve had that God isn’t aware of. The only way to get out from under the burden of our mistakes and sins is to release them to God. You don’t have to carry them and struggle alone. Let Him carry the burden for you, allow Him to forgive you!