TALENTS

Scripture:

Matthew 25:14-30

14 “For it [the Kingdom of Heaven] will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Teacher: Josh

Message:

The heavenly perspective of our lives is different from how we see it. In God’s view, we are stewards of His gifts to us to ultimately reflect and multiply His glory on the earth. Our lives are not our own; we are His. And He will come again to settle accounts with us. Comparison to others, doubt in God, apathy to life, nor fear of risk will be excusable. What has God entrusted to you? How do you not waste it?

Group Goals:

Set the tone for the week. Every camp, we slowly go through the gospel in four general steps: (1) God and His design for us, (2) sin and our need for the gospel, (3) response, (4) Great Commission.
Build trust with students and gauge where they are spiritually. It’s more important tonight to get to know the students tonight than to get through every question. Remember, trust precedes vulnerability. We’ve got 3 more days!
Help students see their God-given design and responsibility to not waste their lives. Many students will need a shift in the internal narrative they are telling themselves. We want to instill dignity and hope tonight. There is no pressure to go long tonight.

Discussion Questions:

Icebreakers:

(at minimum get their name and school)

Option 1: If you could only listen to one artist for the rest of your life, who would it be?
Option 2: If you could remove one popular trend from existence, what would it be?
Option 3: If I gave you a thousand dollars right now, what would you do with it?
Option 4: What’s your worthless hot take?

(Save some of these for later if they would help your group be more relational!)

Story the Parable of the Talents.
What are some examples of what talents could look like today?
What are some of the beautiful things that God has entrusted you with?
Are there any pains or sufferings in your life that God might want to use for good?
What’s keeping you from stewarding what God has given uniquely to you (things like comparison, fear, shame, doubt, indifference, or distraction)?
What does it mean to not waste your life?
What walls in your life do you hope get torn down this week?

Tuesday Night

We Are Barabbas

Scripture:

Mark 12: 1 – 9

And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant[a] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

Teacher: Dalton

Message:

The purpose of tonight is to communicate the Gospel with a specific emphasis on taking ownership of our sin. We are going to be diving into the parable of the tenants and then transitioning to the story of Barabbas. The whole point is for the students to see that Jesus took our place for our sin.

Group Goals:

Feel out the moment and see if any kids are wanting to surrender their life to Jesus.
Be Gospel focused, and let the conversation be what it needs to be.
Press in on the students that claim to be followers of Jesus but haven’t been baptized or are not in a discipleship relationship.

Discussion Questions:

How do you feel God is working in your heart right now?
Why is it so hard for people to take ownership of their sin?
What is the good news that Dalton shared tonight?
Who needs to surrender their life to Christ tonight?
What walls in your life do you need Christ to tear down?
If you’ve encountered Christ tonight, what’s next?
1. Baptism // Public profession
2. Discipleship // Following Jesus forever
If you have anything you need to share or ask, the conversation doesn’t stop at the end of small group.

Wednesday Night

4 Soils

Scripture:

Mark 4:1-20

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that

“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,

and may indeed hear but not understand,

lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”

13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Teacher: Josh

Message:

People respond differently to the gospel. Some people are indifferent because Satan keeps it from penetrating their hearts. Others respond passionately but fade away because they have no depth or root. The third group of people hear it but get consumed by the pleasures and worries of life. The first person clearly doesn’t respond, and the second and third persons do show a response, but none of these three people are saved. But the fourth soil is different; the gospel takes root in their lives, and the result is that they endure, grow, and multiply. Do you only follow Jesus when it’s easy (like at beach camp)? Is life too hard or too good to follow Jesus? What does a 4th soil life look like?

Group Goals:

Let the Holy Spirit convict. Sit in the tension. There are students who refuse to be moved by the gospel; this could be their breaking point. There are students who only follow Jesus at camp and go right back to the way they were; they need to be psuehd, not coddled. There are those who always choose the easy path; they need to be challenged.
DTR: Define the Relationship. At this point everyone’s heard the gospel, but now is the time for students to respond and surrender. Follow the Spirit’s prompting in how to go about this.
Commit your Life to Jesus, not just your week. Help them count the cost of following Jesus. Commit to growing with Jesus and growing with others. Push relational discipleship.

Discussion Questions:

Story the Parable of the 4 Soils.
It’s easy to say we all hope we’re the 4th soil, but which of the other three soils do you identify with the most?
1. How do you respond to the good news of Jesus:
  1. Indifference
  2. But life is too hard
  3. But life is too good
Recap: What is the gospel?
Response: What is the cost of believing and following Jesus?
What would the 4th-soil life look like back home in Knoxville next week, next year, 5 years from now?
What is God calling you to do?

Thursday Night

Commission and Audacious Authority

Scripture:

Matthew 8: 5 – 13

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant,[c] ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel[d] have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Teacher: Dalton

Message:

The message that we want the students to leave with is that they have each been individually put on mission by the Lord of the harvest. But that they will reap the harvest through Faith, and through the power of Christ in them. We want them to be empowered and to be full of Faith in Christ, not themselves.

Group Goals:

Feel commissioned.
See the need of being discipled.
Give them real and obtainable touchdowns for the kingdom as high school students.

Discussion Questions:

What does it look like to live on mission as a high school student?
What changes in your life do you need to make to win big?
Who is someone that we can pray for together that you can pursue to know Christ?
Who is someone in your life that can disciple you, who is someone that you can disciple?
What specific skills and disciplines do you need to grow in, in order to share the Gospel with others?
How do you plan to maintain and monitor your own spiritual health after beach camp?
How have you seen God tear down the walls of your life this week?
How can we pray for you, and the person you will be pursuing to bring to Christ?