Glee week 3 and 4

So my computer died and I am a bit behind on stuff so here is our Glee lessons from week 3 and 4....

Lesson 3 -  Born this Way?

“The thing you most want to change about yourself is the most interesting part of you.”   God made you beautiful and unique; there is no part of you that is a mistake.

We watched season 2 episode 18.  

First question:   Santana said that if you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see then you should chane it.   Agree or disagree?   How would you respond to her if she said this to you?

Second question:  Mr. Schuester said that the “thing you most want to change about yourself is the most interesting part of you.”  And Mercedes said “the thing that makes you different is the thing people use to crush your spirit.” Is your school the same way?

Third question: Do you have a place where you feel people appreciate you for your differences? Where? Youth group? Sports team? Dance class? With certain friends?

Fourth question:  Mercedes says that Glee Club has no problem with acceptance, that they love each other. Mr. Schuester says they love each other but they do not love themselves. Do you think it is easier to love differences in other people or in yourself? Why? Do you pick out the differences in others or do you just see them as people?

Fifth question:  Quinn brags to Rachel about how beautiful Quinn is but then she sings about feeling unpretty. We later find out Quinn has had a nose job herself. Do you think the people who you see as beautiful feel the same way about themselves or are they insecure too? How does it make you feel to know that everyone is insecure about something?

Sixth question: When you try to change something about yourself, you’re just announcing to the world, “I don’t like myself very much” Do you think this is true?

Seventh question: Tina says that she realizes that she needs to “be the change you want to see in the world,” (Gandhi). How does this view relate to our own insecurities?

Eighth question:  The lyrics to “Born this Way” say, “I’m beautiful in my way, ‘cause God makes no mistakes/I’m on the right track, baby I was born this way.” What does it mean to say God makes no mistakes and you were born this way? How does that change the way you view yourself?

Read Psalm 139: 1-3, 13-16

This Scripture talks about God creating us each individually. If we really believe that the God who created the universe and called it good but called humans very good has personally created each of us to be just the way we are, then it’s hard to think of ourselves as ugly or flawed like society tells us we should. This belief is paralleled in the lyrics from “Born This Way”: “I’m beautiful in my way, ‘cause God makes no mistakes/I’m on the right track, baby I was born this way.” Realizing that God made you and God made beautiful things is the first step in learning to love every part of yourself.  What does it mean to say that God has searched us, knows us, and is familiar with all our ways (verses 1-3)? How does it feel to know that God already knows everything about you?  What does it mean to believe that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (verse 14)?  How do you feel knowing that “all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed” (verse 16)?  How does this Scripture relate to the clips from Glee for this week?  How does the Scripture relate to our lives?  What does it look like to live a life that says, “I’m proud of who God created me to be?”

Action: Everyone make a t-shirt with the things on it that you wish you could change.  What makes you who you are. 

Lesson 4…. You Could Be the Answer To Someone’s Prayer

  We watched  season  2 episode 3

1.       Kurt felt alone and hopeless when his mother died.  Have you ever felt the same way?

2.       What kept Kurt going when he had no hope?  Does love keep you going when you feel despair?

3.       The guidance counselor tells Finn that God doesn’t always answer prayers and sometimes the answers are just coincidences.  Is that true?  Does God always answer prayers?  Does God ever say no or not now?

4.       Why do some people have miraculous healings and other people just die when they get sick, even though both were prayed for?

5.       When Finn realized that his prayer were not being answered, he freaked out.  Have you ever felt the same?

6.       Had God ever answered your prayers? How?

7.       Do you ever feel like God doesn’t care?  Like God is distant?                      

8.       Why did Mercedes make such a big deal about Kurt going to church?

9.       What would you do to convince Kurt to come to church?

10.   Why is it important to invite people to church?

The Verses – Scriptures

Read Luke 4:18-19; 9:10-17

 We don’t often see God “in the world” because many (most?) Christians don’t act like Christians to the people who need God. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus made it very clear why he came to Earth: to help the oppressed in every way. If we are to be like Christ, then shouldn’t we also bring good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed? Shouldn’t we, then, look for ways to be the answer to someone’s prayer? To the homeless man on the corner, shouldn’t we at least give him a second glance? And perhaps a meal? To the battered woman and child, shouldn’t we help get them to a safe place? The poor, the blind, the captives, the oppressed don’t often ask outright for help. If we open our eyes to their needs, maybe we will be the answers to their prayers, however small those prayers might be. If we pray to God, not for what we need but for what someone else needs, then will we be living as Christ lived?

In Luke 9:10-17, the disciples had plenty of doubt that they could feed 5,000 people who had come to be healed and to hear Jesus speak. When they put their faith in Jesus and did what he asked them to do, the disciples became the answer to hungry people’s prayers. Throughout the four Gospels, Jesus sends the disciples and other followers of Christ to go out from their homes to heal the sick, cast out demons, and proclaim the Kingdom of God. Those who were healed were crying out for God; when they were healed, their prayers were answered. Their answers came in the form of disciples—of regular men who were fishermen, even tax collectors. Those “regular guys” trusted Jesus and followed his will to spread the good news and became the answer to people’s prayers.

1. According to Luke 4:18-19, why did Jesus come to Earth?

2. If we are supposed to be Christ-like then how should we practice being like Christ?

3. What keeps us as Christians from living like Luke 4:18-19?

4. In Luke 9:10-17 the disciples wanted to send the people away to go eat, but Jesus didn’t. What kept the disciples from helping the hungry people? Where those just excuses?

5. Do we make excuses today on why not to help people? What excuses have you heard or even said yourself?

6. What did Jesus do to overcome the disciples’ excuses? How can Jesus help us overcome our excuses?

7. Jesus wants us to be the answers to people’s prayers. Using the clip that we saw, how could you be the answers to Kurt’s, Finn’s, and everyone else’s prayers?

8. Where was Jesus in all the pain and suffering in the clip?

9. Would your church be like Mercedes’ church? How were their actions Christ-like?

10. How can you be the answer to someone else’s prayer?

11. If we all decided to be the answer to people’s prayers, how would school and youth group be different?

On a rock write the name of someone who you are going invite to church.

In the clip, we saw that every person in the episode struggled with their faith and with trusting God, but when Mercedes and her church stepped up and lived out their prayers that the students found solace. This goes to show that we will all struggle and we need to be there for each other, just as Jesus is always there for us.