HI! MY NAME IS ...
October 8-10, 2004
prep materials for Fall 2004 HYC
SMALL GROUP #1 (Friday, 8:30 p.m.) … getting to know you …
Comedian Paul Reiser once wrote that a girl named Trixie is ten times more likely to get into a van with a bunch of guys and go to Seattle than the exact same girl named Ruth. So, he concluded, be careful what you name your children!
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What is your
name?
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Is there a story
behind your name? Do you know why your parents named you that way?
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What do you
like about name? Or … what don’t you like about your name?
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Have you ever
wished you had a different name? If you could pick one, what would it be?
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Name three
things about you that you’d want a new friend to know.
SMALL GROUP #2 (Saturday, 9:15 a.m.) … God is …
“A girl I knew was brought up by ‘higher thinking’ parents to regard God as a perfect ‘substance’; in later life she realised that this had actually led her to think of Him as something like a vast tapioca pudding. (To make matters worse, she disliked tapioca.)” – C.S. Lewis, Miracles
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Open by asking
somebody to read Exodus 3:1-14 (see attached page).
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God’s name is
“I-AM”? What does that mean?
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Close your
eyes and think about God. What images pop into your mind?
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What images
are worthy of the way you imagine God really is? (Are there any at all?)
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What was your
first experience of God?
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How have your
images of God changed since you were little?
SMALL GROUP #3 (Saturday, 12:42 p.m.) … Christ is … Christians are …
“For a child has been born to us, a son is given to us; he will bear the symbol of dominion on his shoulder, and his title will be: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Hero, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6
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Although
Isaiah wrote these words about 700 years before Jesus was born, we use these
words to talk about Jesus. Christians disagree about whether Isaiah predicted
the coming of Christ, but we all agree that Jesus is all these things for us:
counselor, hero, father, prince … wonderful, mighty, eternal, and a bringer of
peace.
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The name Jesus
was very common among Jews in first-century Palestine. It comes from the Hebrew
name Jehoshua, which means, “God is salvation.”
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We have the
name “Christian” applied to us. What does it mean to be a Christian?
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What are some
of the reactions you’ve experienced when people find out you’re a Christian?
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What reactions
do you have when you find out other people are Christians?
SMALL GROUP #4 (Saturday, 3:07 p.m.) … I am …
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What makes you
“you”?
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How do you see
yourself? What labels do you apply to yourself? How is your view of yourself
different than it was a year ago? Several years ago?
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How do your
peers see you? What are the labels they apply to you? How is their view of you
different than it was a year ago? Several years ago?
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Some
Christians talk about “getting right with God.” How do you imagine that God sees
you? What labels would God apply to you? Do they change from one day to the
next? How much does God’s attitude toward you depend on your behavior?
SMALL GROUP #5 (Saturday 8:00 p.m.) … ch-ch-ch-ch-changes …
One of the most common things people write in yearbooks is, “Don’t ever change!” But what if you went to your 20-year high school reunion and found that none of your classmates had changed at all? Personally, I can’t think of a worse curse to lay on someone.
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Our culture
tells us we should be ourselves—that we should be fiercely independent and not
let anyone try to change us. How true is this?
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Our culture also
tells us we should improve ourselves by getting a boyfriend or girlfriend, by
dieting, by purchasing certain products, by getting a college education, by
getting a good job, by getting a nose job—whatever. How true is this?
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We are all
constantly changing. Think about who you once were, who you are now, and who
you’d like to be in the future. What is one change you’d like to make about
yourself?
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What is one change you don’t
want to make, but feel you should?
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What is one
change you could make but know you should avoid?
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After leaving
HYC, what’s the first step you will take toward a change you would like to make?
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Pick a
partner; this is your “change partner.” Exchange email addresses and chat from
time to time between now and the next HYC. Talk about changes you’d like to make
in your life and ask your partner to support you in these changes.