Let Mutual Love Continue

Overview

• Icebreaker: Compliments or Trolley Problem Bowling
• Bible Reading: Hebrews 13:1-8 and 15-16, CEB
• Discussion Questions
• Active Learning Activity: Blob Tag or the Mutual Love Puzzle
• Prayer

Note to the Teacher

The key phrase in this scripture (for this lesson) is “Keep loving each other like family [...] because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it.” The lesson concerns “the blueprint for the life of faith [is letting] mutual love continue. [...] Let us be the sign that there is love in the world.”

The icebreakers either invite youth to share in their mutual love for one another through compliments or to act out a classic ethical thought experiment. The discussion encourages them to delve deep into their integrity, asking themselves questions about their personality and their faith. The activity demonstrates how we’re all connected and how we can make connections to one another.

Times are based on a fifty-minute lesson period but may be adjusted.

Icebreaker (10 minutes): Exploring mutual love or exploring the philosophy of ethics.

Option 1: Compliments (No Tech, No Prep)

For this exercise, students will mingle about the room. When you call out a random number, they must hurry to get in groups of that number. (It’s okay if the groups are uneven. You won’t be able to divide the students evenly every time.)

1. Have teens mingle about the room as you all say, “Give me compliments, I said give me compliments. Give me compliments, I said give me compliments.”
2. Shout out a random number (between two and half of how many teens are present).
3. Teens hurry to get into groups of that number.
4. Then, each person must say one compliment to everyone else in their group. Challenge them to not use the same compliment twice during the game.
5. Play a few rounds, varying the number of players so they form different groups.
6. End by calling out, “One!” Teens must shout out a compliment about themselves.

Option 2: Trolley Problem Bowling (No Tech, Low Prep)

Supplies: Bowling pins (or similar), bowling ball (or similar), post-it notes, tape

Prep work: Tape post-it notes to each of the pins. Draw sad faces on them.

For each round, set up three to ten bowling pins in a triangle formation, then one by itself a few feet to the right. Teens will take turns with the bowling ball. They have to decide whether they want to knock down the entire large group of pins or just one. Caveat: For the teens not currently rolling the ball, have all but one stand to the side of the triangle of pins (out of the way), and have one teen stand to the side of the lone pin. These teens will cry when their pin(s) are knocked over.

This exercise illustrates the “Trolley Problem in Ethics” – a philosophical thought experiment in which a trolley is set on a track, and an individual must decide how to divert it. It explores intuition, sacrifice, and moral justifications.

Discuss what the teens were thinking and how they made their decisions.

Bible Reading (5 minutes)

Our scripture reading comes from the Book of Hebrews, which was “written by an unknown hand to an unknown and scattered audience.” This passage is about how we should live out our faith. We should abide by the commandments, do good works, imitate the faith of those who are guiding us, and know that God is always with us.

Read Hebrews 13:1-8 and 15-1.

Discussion Questions (15 minutes)

Themes: morality, integrity, faith.

• How does your faith influence your interactions with others?
• As a Christian, what are your priorities in life?
• Do you think all Christians share those priorities? Do different churches seem to inspire different priorities for how we live our lives?
• Do you think most people are good or bad? Do you think you are generally good or bad? Why do you think that?
• Integrity is who we are - the consistent actions we take when we know we are being watched and when we believe no one is looking. Take a moment to reflect on who that person is by looking within yourself. Who are you (and what are your main characteristics) when no one is judging you, when no one has any expectations of you, and if you believe there are no real consequences to your actions?
• Do you act differently when you know someone is watching? Have you heard of churches that use this logic to inspire good behavior or encourage people to resist sin and temptation?
• It’s human nature for our personalities to be flexible. Who we are around our parents isn’t always the same as who we are around our siblings, friends, classmates, teammates, strangers, neighbors, and others. But at the end of the day, what do you want to be known for? When someone talks about you to someone else, what do you want them to say about your true nature?
• We are called to “be the sign that there is love in the world.” What are some ways you work to demonstrate love and care for yourself, for others, and all creation?

Active Learning Activity (15 minutes)

Making connections and being connected to one another

Option 1: Blob Tag (No Tech, No Prep)

1. Locate a spacious playing area with clearly defined boundaries but without any obstacles.
2. Choose one student to be “Center of the Blob.”
3. Once the Center of the Blob tags someone, that person becomes part of the Blob by holding the Center’s hand.
4. Now. whomever either of them tags joins the Blob by holding their hands.
5. The Blob will grow larger and become increasingly difficult to avoid as more teens are tagged.

Note: This is a game of teamwork! The Blob wins by tagging everyone. The Blob loses by falling apart. Stay together by not going faster than anyone else in the Blob.

Option 2: Mutual Love Puzzle (No Tech, No Prep)—for youth of all abilities

Supplies: Poster board, markers, scissors, tape.

1. Take out a poster board and explain that the entire class will work together to create a puzzle. Theme: our mutual love and connection
2. Everyone should take part in designing and coloring the puzzle. (Challenge them to leave no space undecorated – large empty spaces will make it hard to put the puzzle back together again later.)
3. When the poster is done, select a few students to cut it into puzzle pieces, working together to make the pieces roughly the same size and not too small.
4. Mix up all the pieces and see if the class can put the puzzle back together again.
5. When they’re successful, tape it together and display it in the room.

Prayer (5 minutes)

Close the session.

Pray with the students, asking God to help us be signs of love in the world.

You can also ask if anyone has any joys (things they want to thank God for) and any concerns (things they want to ask God to help with). Ask different students to pray over each joy and concern to encourage participation from everyone.

Supplies

Icebreaker (“Trolley Problem Bowling” option)

• Bowling pins (or something similar)
• Bowling ball (or similar)
• Post-it Notes
• Tape

Active Learning Activity (“Mutual Love Puzzle” option)

• Poster board
• Markers
• Scissors
• Tape