The Manhood Talks | Week 2

    Week 2: Faith, Strength, Courage & Love

Before the Meeting | Preparations

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Download as PDF

MEETING PREP CHECKLIST:

1. Listen daily to the audio guides.

2. Check in daily on your discussion group.

3. Watch the Week 2 Leader Video (4 min).

4. Review this Leader Guide & prep for the challenge.

5. Preview the Week 2 Group Video (13 min).

BRING TO THE MEETING:

1. Bible, journal, pen, & this guide.

2. Video display with Week 2 Group Video cued up.

3. Snack.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK:

Pizza. Men bond over food. Feed them!

Ingredients: Crust, sauce, cheese, toppings. Prep: Order pizza. Open box. Serve hot.

WEEK 2 GOALS:

Establish four pillars of godly manhood: faith, strength, courage & love. Begin to redefine each of those according to God’s terms.

LEADER TIP OF THE WEEK:

What not to do for great discussions! Do not… talk too much. As you talk, aim for 30% you, 70% them. Do not… teach too much. They heard teaching all week. This is time to process. Do not… answer too much. Easy answers are easily forgotten. Let them search, and they will remember what they worked for. Do not… handle hard issues alone. Talking about identity can bring up complex issues, so find good resources and call for backup.

DISCUSSION PREP: Men bond over words. Guide them!

This week’s audio guides walked through the creation story in Genesis 2 to find four key gifts of God to mankind and with those the foundations of our four pillars of godly manhood.

Faith: Mankind was made in God’s image (Gen 1:27). Faith is crucial because by it we see the image we were made in.

Strength: God set Adam in the garden to work (Gen 2:15). Work requires strength in many forms (skill, power, wisdom, etc.).

Courage: The Lord gave Adam free will, with the freedom to eat any fruit in the garden but a restriction against one (Gen 2:16). Courage is the key to choosing right and resisting wrong.

Love: God’s greatest gift to Adam was also the solution to his aloneness: the gift of others (Gen 2:22). Love is both the key to relationships and the primary reflection of God’s image in us.

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Group Meeting:

GROUP CHALLENGE (10 MINS):

 Circles of Difficulty! Click for directions. Modify to your group.

ICE BREAKER (8 MINS):

What’s the toughest thing you had to do because you’re the man? Do you see themes in the answers (courage, responsibility, etc.)?

GROUP VIDEO (13 MINS):

Faith/Strength/Courage/Love

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (30 mins)

Start with prayer & the Rules of Engagement: Speak with Grace, Listen with Humility, & No Shaming. Ask your guys what they thought of TeDese’s story and how they relate to it. (See link to TeDese’s full interview below). Then open your journals to discuss these:

Re-Definition #1: Faith. Share your definitions of the word faith. (See journal for Day 2).

• Read: Hebrews 11:1 for God’s definition of faith. How do your answers compare?
• Think: We are all made in God’s image. How does faith help us reconnect with that?

Re-Definition #2: Strength. Share your definitions of the word strength. (See journal for Day 3).

• Read: Proverbs 16:32. How does that verse change the way we view strength and power?
• Think: Work is a gift from God. What different forms of strength do you need for work?

Re-Definition #3: Courage. Share your definitions of the word courage. (See journal for Day 4).

• Read: Joshua 1:9. How does “the Lord your God will be with you” affect your courage?
• Think: God gave mankind free will. How does courage help us live out that will?

Re-Definition #4: Love. Share your definitions of true love. (See journal for Day 5).

• Read: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. How do your definitions compare with the list here?
• Think: How does loving others relate to being made in God’s image. (Hint: 1^st John 4:8).

Take Home Truth: We are all made in God’s image. By faith we see God and reflect His nature more clearly. As we grow in faith, we redefine strength, courage & love by His nature.

WRAP-UP

WRAP-UP: Review the take-home truth. Remind everyone to listen daily to the Manhood Talks plan and share answers to the daily discussion.

Share this link to watch TeDese’s full story later.

Next week: bring Bible, pen, & journal. Anyone who doesn’t have a journal yet… man up!