Term 2, Week 2: Where's Your Line?

Leaders Notes:
This term is all about looking at where our line is or are boundaries are. There are four weeks of studies including 1 intro + 3 topical areas:
Part 1 (alcohol, drugs, party pills, smoking) - Gav
Part 2 (physical intimacy, pornography, gay/lesbian) - Gav
Part 3 (lying, gossiping, promise/keeping your word) - Bex

The other weeks involve social activities, a week with TeenMania (tbc), and a combined service with Ranui.

This first week is an intro where we want to get them thinking about what are some of the blurry lines, the issues/moral issues in life that are hard to know where to stand and also to think about what in general helps form where these lines are.

This Weds I will start off with a few mini dramas that illustrate some of the day-to-day issues and decisions that we way face and the lines that we are forced to draw in some way. From here, I'm going to try and illustrate how different Christians can be in where they draw their lines and challenge them to start thinking about what has determined where theirs are.

From there it's into about 30mins or more of group discussion (see below). You will need to be familiar with these scriptures before hand so that you know what to draw out and are aware of some of the questions that might result from them.

Group discussion
1) Read Romans 14 (whole chapter)
a. What is the key message of this chapter?
b. What verses talk about how we should treat our ‘brothers’ that have different lines/opinions to ours? What do those verses say to us?

2) What are the areas that you see Christians have different lines on?
(Examples if stuck: Physical intimacy, drugs, alcohol, gossiping, tithing, going to church, giving to the poor, material possessions, smoking, gay/lesbian, keeping your word, stealing (music etc.), going out with non-Christians)

3) Which areas do you most struggle with working out where the line should be?

4) What factors do you think should determine where our lines should be?
(Examples: if stuck Cultural, who we are rolemodels/examples to, personal experiences/beliefs, God’s Word, Ten Commandments)

5) What do the following verses say to you and what is hard/frightening/frustrating/encouraging about them for you personally?
a. 1 John 5:3 and 1 John 2:3-6
b. 1 John 2:6
c. 1 John 15-17