A Life of Submission

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Matthew 3:13-17 Session 3.2

Video/NotesA Life of Submission | Matthew 3:13-17 Session 3.2

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NEW SESSION PAGE: Create

This session introduces a new session page approach: “Create.”

The Create page offers a “writing” and a “visual” approach to

engaging each session. Let us know what you think of this new

option!

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Get Started!

1. Select a session page you like

(there are 4 to choose from. Print

it if you wish.

2. Watch the Bible Background

Video

3. Follow the session page

instructions to lead the session.

4. Media & Youth pages may

include links. These are now

clickable on these pages.

5. Get more help here!

MentalPrepare in Advance

• Retrieve, review, and have ready the videos listed below (links are provided on this session’s webpage).

• Have the Bible Background Video ready to view.

Radical Statement and Radical Affirmation

As you begin, ask the following introductory question: Today we will read the story of Jesus’ baptism. From your own understanding of baptism, was it really necessary for Jesus to be baptized? Explain.

Have someone read Matthew 3:13-17 aloud. Then show the Bible Background Video. Then use the following information and questions to encourage discussion.

Say: Nikki reminds us that baptism was already a powerful statement in Jesus’ time, a sign that someone was giving up other obligations to follow God.

• With this understanding, what do you think Jesus was essentially saying with his baptism?

• Why was John reluctant to baptize Jesus? What do you think Jesus meant by his cryptic response in verse 15?

• We have no record that Jesus ever baptized anyone, as John suggested. Why do you think Jesus chose not to do this?

• What signs did Jesus receive that he was doing the right thing? How might this affirmation have made Jesus feel?

• Do we receive similar signs of affirmation when we are baptized? Explain.

The Launch of a Ministry

Say: This was obviously a crucial event for Jesus: He didn’t just drop by to see John while he was “in the neighborhood.” Matthew tells us that Jesus made the trip down to the Jordan River especially for this event.

• Why is it significant that Jesus chose to be baptized before he began his public ministry? Do any modern professions have a similar kind of “inauguration?”

• Viewing baptism as a kind of inauguration, why is it significant for believers to be baptized at the beginning of their journey in Christ, rather than in the middle or end?

Closing

Some in your group may have been baptized many years ago, others more recently. Allow group members to reflect on their baptism – what did it mean to them at the time? What does it mean to them now? If we are baptized as a way of following Jesus, how will our journey and work compare to his?

By Jon Parks

A LIFE OF SUBMISSION | MATTHEW 3:13-17 SESSION 3.2

Visit www.thefellowship.info/assembly for more info.

© Copyright 2011 FaithLab, LLC., All Rights Reserved. Visit www.thefaithlab.com and www.faithelement.com.

MediaPrepare in Advance

• Retrieve, review, and have ready the videos listed below (links are provided on this session’s webpage).

• Have the Bible Background Video ready to view.

Submission

Show the Bible Background Video followed by the “Catch Me If You Can” and “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” videos, if possible, then use any or all of these questions to promote discussion:

• How do these videos compare to the scriptures?

• In what ways does your congregation typically talk about concepts like “submission?”

• What kinds of changes and behaviors do you think are officially and unofficially required in order to be an accepted member of your congregation? Why might there be a difference between the two?

• What kinds of “payoff ” do you believe your congregation offers, officially and unofficially, for making such changes?

• Beyond the concerns of your immediate community of faith, how does “submission” affect your understanding of faith?

React to This

Play the “Tooth Fairy” and “Happy Gilmore” videos, stopping briefly after each for any comments, and ask questions like:

• What do these videos add to or take from the previous conversation?

• Describe a time when you were at odds with another person and you gave in or compromised. Why did you do it? What did you ultimately gain from having done it?

• In what ways was that transaction like or unlike your experience of faith?

• There are those who say that a faith relationship is like any other relationship in that you have to work hard and be prepared to give things up in order to make it work. What do you think about that and why?

• How do you know when someone has truly repented and submitted to the demands that God might place upon them?

Close

Invite individuals to share their answers to this question: “What kinds of things do you think you could give up in order to have a deeper experience of faith?” Pray for the ability to identify the things that keep you from having a deeper faith and the courage to give them up.

By David Adams

A LIFE OF SUBMISSION | MATTHEW 3:13-17 SESSION 3.2

Visit www.thefellowship.info/assembly for more info.

© Copyright 2011 FaithLab, LLC., All Rights Reserved. Visit www.thefaithlab.com and www.faithelement.com.

MysticPrepare in Advance

• Arrange chairs in a circle around a table. On the table, place a bowl of water and any other Christian symbols/décor desired.

• Have the Bible Background Video ready to view.

Entering the Text (10 minutes)

Prior to the session, arrange chairs in a circle around a table. On the table, place a bowl of water and any other Christian symbols/décor desired.

After participants arrive, invite a participant to read today’s text and speak an invocation.

Invite participants to watch the Bible Background Video.

Entering the Water (30-40 minutes)

Share with participants that they will hear the text twice in the next few minutes and will touch the water twice. The first touch will be a touch of memory and the second a touch of sharing.

Touch of Memory

Invite participants to listen to today’s text. After hearing the text, invite participants to dip their hand in the water, return to their seats and spend a few minutes remembering their baptism. Invite participants to silently recall and consider the sights, sounds, people, words, smells and other sensations they remember. (10 minutes)

Touch of Sharing

Invite participants to listen to the text again. After hearing the text this second time, invite participants to dip their hand in the water again, return to their seats, and as they feel led, share memories of their baptism. (20-30 minutes)

Closing

After all who to share have shared, invite a participant to speak a benediction.

By Jim Dant

A LIFE OF SUBMISSION | MATTHEW 3:13-17 SESSION 3.2

Visit www.thefellowship.info/assembly for more info.

© Copyright 2011 FaithLab, LLC., All Rights Reserved. Visit www.thefaithlab.com and www.faithelement.com.

CreatePrepare

Facilitator: In advance of the session:

• Provide pens/pencils and paper for the writing option.

• Provide crayons or colored pencils for the visual option.

• Have the Bible Background Video ready to view.

Fear, Trust, and Prayer

Ask someone to read Matthew 3:13-17. Then, show the Bible Background Video.

Say: In this passage, we view the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. The scene is rich with images and emotion. With John the Baptist, we marvel at the submission of Jesus shown in his baptism.

Today, we will consider baptism and the power of submission to God and the needs of others.

Distribute copies of this page. Invite each person to choose either the Writing or the Visual approach and spend the next 20-25 minutes with that experience.

Create – Writing

Write at least one of these options:

• Remember your own baptism and retell that experience in writing. Be sure to include sights, smells, and feelings in your writing.

• Write a brief retelling of Jesus’ baptism from the perspective of another person in line that day to be baptized by John the Baptist.

• Write a poem about either submission, your baptism, or the baptism of Jesus.

Create – Visual

Using crayons or colored pencils and paper, create one of these visual items:

• Select a scene from Jesus’ baptism and sketch/color it or sketch a scene from your own baptism.

• Create a visual expression of the notion of submission.

Share

Call the group together. Ask for volunteers to share their creations and explain their meaning, or tell the stories behind them.

Close

Offer a prayer thanking God the example of Jesus.

(After the session, consider finding a way to share the creations of the group - on a bulletin board, on the church website, or in a portfolio kept on a public table in the church).

By David Cassady

A LIFE OF SUBMISSION | MATTHEW 3:13-17 SESSION 3.2

Visit www.thefellowship.info/assembly for more info.

© Copyright 2011 FaithLab, LLC., All Rights Reserved. Visit www.thefaithlab.com and www.faithelement.com.

YouthPrepare in Advance

• Retrieve, review, and have ready the videos listed below (links are provided on this session’s webpage).

Meaning

Watch the “When Zachary Beaver Came to Town” clip. Use these questions to facilitate discussion.

• What did Zachary’s friends, and Zachary, have to go through to get him baptized?

• Why did Zachary’s friends think it was so important that he be baptized? What do you think his baptism meant to him?

• If you have been baptized, tell everyone about the process and what the experience was like for you? What did that experience mean to you then? Now?

Baptism

Read Matthew 3:13-17. Watch the Bible Background Video for this session.

• Why do you think Jesus desired to be baptized? What do you think his baptism meant to him?

• Why did John resist the instruction to baptize Jesus? Why did he feel this way? Why was the idea of Jesus coming to him to be baptized such a shocking request?

• How did John’s understanding of Jesus’ message differ from Jesus’ fulfillment of that message?

• What does Jesus’ baptism say about the way Jesus intended to live?

• How was Jesus’ baptism an act of submission? How does your own baptism symbolize your submission to God?

Submission

• What authorities in your life are you expected to submit to? What happens if you don’t submit to those authorities?

• Does the idea of submission usually carry a positive or negative connotation? Why?Show the “Facing the Giants” Clip.

• Why would God want us to respect, serve, and submit to others even if we feel they don’t deserve it?

• The coach told Matt that he is not responsible for what other people do, but for what he himself does. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? In

light of this statement, why do you think God wants us to submit to others? How does submission to others lead to a submission to God?

• If you are truly submitted to God, how do you think you will treat other people, including those who are your authorities?

• What areas of your life do you need to learn to live a life of submission?

By Don Breeden

A LIFE OF SUBMISSION | MATTHEW 3:13-17 SESSION 3.2

Visit www.thefellowship.info/assembly for more info.

© Copyright 2011 FaithLab, LLC., All Rights Reserved. Visit www.thefaithlab.com and www.faithelement.com.

© Copyright 2011 FaithLab, LLC., All Rights Reserved. Visit www.thefaithlab.com.

faithelement.com

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