Sermon Tone Analysis

Activity | Have or Have-Not?

Let's play the Have or Have-Not Game! Give me a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to each of these statements and let's see how we compare.

INSTRUCTIONS: Prepare a list of statements that your students may or may not have done or experienced.

Each time you give a new statement, have them look around the room and ask a student or two to share more details about their answer, or have them all share with a neighbor.

We'll give you a few suggestions, but feel free to come up with your own that would be a hit specifically for your group.

"I have a hidden talent."

"I have a bad habit."

"I have never seen a Marvel movie."

"I have a crush on a celebrity."

"I have gotten a really bad haircut."

"I have never fallen in public."

"I have a few insecurities."

"I have never compared myself to others."

Admit it — you hesitated to answer some of those questions until you saw how everyone else was responding.

It's okay!

We all compare ourselves to others sometimes.

IT’S EASY TO COMPARE

Have you ever found yourself looking at a big, beautiful new house and wishing it was yours?

Maybe you've made your own "vision board" of the kind of home you'd love to live in someday — complete with a pool, a yard, and a built-in movie theater.

Or maybe you dream about the kind of career you're going to have someday — like a famous musician, or successful producer, or wealthy doctor or businessperson.

There's nothing wrong with dreaming, but sometimes our dreams reveal less about who we actually are, and more about who we think we need to be to compare or keep up with others.

When we walk the halls at school, or watch a YouTube video, or scroll social media, we can become painfully aware of how we compare with others.

We might think . .

.

"My life isn't as exciting, successful, or fun as other people's lives."

"I'm not as interesting, popular, or attractive as everyone else."

"The real me isn't good enough."

When we feel inadequate, sometimes we even create a false version of ourselves — someone we pretend to be because we think that's better than who we really are.

hat story you told about that cool and impressive thing you did?

It was a bit of a stretch, if you're honest.That selfie you just posted?

You wanted people to believe it was effortless and candid, but it took 25 takes and you had to Google "really good caption ideas" first.That joke you just laughed at?

You didn't really get it, but you wanted the person who said it to like you, so you played along.We pretend to be someone we're not when we're afraid we can't measure up to all of the stuff, skills, or popularity other people seem to have.But for the next few weeks, we want to help you think about who you are in a new way.

We want to help you focus less on what you think you don't have so you can better see what you already have.

That story you told about that cool and impressive thing you did?

It was a bit of a stretch, if you're honest.

That selfie you just posted?

You wanted people to believe it was effortless and candid, but it took 25 takes and you had to Google "really good caption ideas" first.

That joke you just laughed at?

You didn't really get it, but you wanted the person who said it to like you, so you played along.

We pretend to be someone we're not when we're afraid we can't measure up to all of the stuff, skills, or popularity other people seem to have.

But for the next few weeks, we want to help you think about who you are in a new way.

We want to help you focus less on what you think you don't have so you can better see what you already have.

So let’s talk about the first thing each of us has, and why that thing we all have is so valuable.

You have a past.

Discussion |

What's one of your favorite childhood memories?

Why do you love that memory?

In one word, how would you describe your past?

How about with one positive and one negative word?

On a scale of 1-5, how comfortable are you with telling others about your past?

Why?

WE ALL HAVE A PAST

Usually when you hear someone "has a past," it's not a good thing.

It usually means they've got baggage or secrets.

But we all have a past.

That's just a fact.

You didn't appear out of thin air just now.

You have a history, and your history is a part of you.

Sometimes we don't own our past because . . .

Our story is too painful or messy.

Our story is too boring or ordinary.

Our story feels incomplete.

We want someone else's story.

If that sounds familiar, you're not the only one.

Scripture | (Summary)

In the book of Exodus (which is in the Old Testament of the Bible), we read about a guy named Moses.

Here's a quick summary of Moses' life:

God's people, the Hebrews, were enslaved by the nation of Egypt.

Moses was a Hebrew baby, born to Jewish parents who were living in Egypt.

When Moses was born, the Pharaoh (ruler of Egypt) ordered all male Hebrew babies to be drowned in the Nile River because he feared the Hebrew slaves would revolt against him.

Moses' mom was able to keep Moses safe for a few months, but to save his life, she eventually placed him in a basket in a shallow part of the Nile River and waited to see what would happen.

Moses was found by the Pharaoh's daughter and raised as her own.

Moses grew up knowing he was an adopted child living in Pharaoh's palace.

He probably had a stutter.

One day, Moses saw an Egyptian soldier beating a Hebrew slave.

Overcome with a sense of injustice, Moses murdered the soldier to protect the man who was a slave.

Then he ran away, fleeing the country.

Moses' past was pretty exciting and interesting, but it was painful too.

Moses' past was pretty exciting and interesting, but it was painful too.Maybe some of Moses' stories sounded familiar to you.

Maybe you resonate with his story of adoption, or his stutter, or his angry outburst.Or maybe none of Moses' story sounded familiar.

Maybe your family, childhood, and story so far are all pretty average.Whether you think you share any similarities with Moses or not, there is at least one part of Moses' story that I think we can all relate to in some way: sometimes we run from our pasts.

Maybe you . .

.Are sometimes ashamed of your family.Wish you'd had a different childhood.Wish you had different skills, friends, opportunities, or things than you had as a kid.Are haunted by something you did, or something that was done to you.But God was about to show Moses that he had value, and so did his past.

The boring parts, the challenging parts, the good parts, and the in-between parts — God was going to show Moses that no part of his past had to be wasted.

God can use every part of our past for good.

Maybe some of Moses' stories sounded familiar to you.

Maybe you resonate with his story of adoption, or his stutter, or his angry outburst.

Or maybe none of Moses' story sounded familiar.

Maybe your family, childhood, and story so far are all pretty average.

Whether you think you share any similarities with Moses or not, there is at least one part of Moses' story that I think we can all relate to in some way: sometimes we run from our pasts.

Maybe you . . .

Are you sometimes ashamed of your family.

Wish you'd had a different childhood.

Wish you had different skills, friends, opportunities, or things than you had as a kid.

Are haunted by something you did, or something that was done to you.

But God was about to show Moses that he had value, and so did his past.

The boring parts, the challenging parts, the good parts, and the in-between parts — God was going to show Moses that no part of his past had to be wasted.

God can use every part of our past for good.

Scripture |

We'll talk about this more next week, but here's a teaser: God used the things that happened in Moses' past to do something good in Moses' present and future.

As an adopted kid with a stutter, in a culture that was not his own, Moses likely felt isolated and different.