Note to the Teacher

This week’s theme calls the church to rejoice in both creation and community, imagining a world renewed by God, where peace, justice, and joy replace pain, oppression, and scarcity. The icebreaker, “Small Acts of Kindness,” invites students to share small acts of kindness they have seen by creating a story together. The discussion explores things that need to be transformed in our world and how that might happen. For the activity, students will compose their vision of transformation in the style of Isaiah.

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

Icebreaker: Small Acts of Kindness (10 minutes)

Sometimes we forget about the small acts of kindness that people do in our lives, such as when a mom fixes a stray hair before the child gets out of the car or a friend offers a stick of gum when they take one for themselves. Today, ask students to describe three small acts of kindness they have seen people do or have done for them. Then tell them that they will create a story together. The first person will begin the story saying, “Once upon a time, there was a person named [a name] …” and then that person names one of the kind things they have seen. The following person continues the story, incorporating one kind thing, until everyone has used all their time or time runs out.

Bible Reading (5 minutes)

Read Isaiah 65:17-25.

Discussion Questions (10 minutes)

Themes: In a world renewed by God, peace, justice, and joy replace pain, oppression, and scarcity.

Isaiah offers a vision of a transformed world. Look back over the text and name some of the different parts of the world that he says God will ultimately transform into something better.
Look at that list now and talk about the reality of our world today. What is the problem in each of those areas currently? You can think locally and globally.
Why do you think the promised transformation hasn’t happened yet?
Take the list you made and talk about one thing you could do as individuals to help bring about the transformation Isaiah envisioned. Do the same as a group.
Talk as a group about which of those things you’d like to try to do this week.

Active Learning Activity (20 minutes)

Tell students that they are going to write a vision of change similar to Isaiah’s. Invite them to take a problem, big or small, and think about what would be different if it were fixed. For example, eliminating homelessness might mean that all people would be healed of their mental health problems, there would be clean water and places to bathe for everyone, everyone’s stomachs would be full, and everyone would have a roof over their head. Once the students understand the idea, have them look at the passage in Isaiah and similarly write their vision. They can even take some of the verses and simply replace some words with words from their topic.

Once students have finished, invite them to read their visions for the future.