COMMUNITY TIME
Announcements
 Welcome visitors and invite to sign in.
 Middle School Retreat – Have over 30 Youth on Retreat today. So you may be missing
seeing some familiar faces and notice you have a place to sit today! I had an awesome
time, but came back early this morning to be with you all.
 No Youth Group Tonight. But a week from tonight we continue our TV series with
America’s Got Talent! We will get into teams and each perform for our judges. If you
like to sing, dance, play an instrument, or act – you get to do that! If not, you can help
your team in other ways by creating props or doing sound/lighting or being a judge. We
will discuss how we can use our gifts for God’s honor and glory. And of course dinner
and small groups.
 Ski Trip Deposit is due FRIDAY! If you have not paid it please do so or you could lose
your spot.
 High School Mission Trip – Informational Meeting a week from today after church. Get
info on the trips, how you can sign up, costs, and how you earn money through
fundraisers.
Decision Making Game – This or That, Would You Rather
1. Cake or Pie
2. Chick fil A or Zaxby’s
3. Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift
4. Mountains or Beach
5. White or Wheat
6. Harry Potter or Hunger Games
7. College Football or NFL Football
8. Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper
9. Pancakes or Waffles
10. 90 degrees or 40 degrees
11. Duck Dynasty or Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives
12. Math or English
13. Instragram or Twitter
14. Board games or video games
15. Multiple choice questions or essay questions
16. Mexican Food or Italian Food
Intro topic of Quadrilateral
Pray
WELCOME AND GREETING
Invite youth to share a High-Low or Happies-Crappies from their week. They may also share
something they are looking forward to or are anxious about this week.
OPENING ACTIVITY OPTION 1- MAGIC 8 BALL
Hold up a Magic 8 Ball and ask the youth if they know what this is. If they do not, explain that it
is a Magic 8 Ball and has been used for decades (since 1950) for seeking advice and making
decisions. There will be a Magic 8 ball available for use in the classroom.
To use the ball, it must be held with the window initially facing down. After "asking the ball" a
yes-no question, the user then turns the ball so that the window faces him. When the die floats
to the top and one of its faces is pressed against the window, revealing the message. Do not
shake the ball as this causes bubbles and can make the answer hard to read.
Invite a few volunteers to ask the ball and question (out loud) and share the answer with the class. If
youth have trouble thinking of question, you can suggest the following to help them think of ideas.
 Will my team win our game this week?
 Will I make an A on my test/project that is due this week?
 Will I get into my first choice of college?
 Should I go on a mission trip next summer?
 Should I go to my friend’s party on Saturday?
OPENING ACTIVITY OPTION 2 – YOUR OWN MAGIC 8 BALL
Divide into small groups of 4-6 people. Give each group 10 index cards. Five question cards and 5 answer
cards. Questions cards should have a large “Q” written on one side and the answer cards a large “A”
written on one side.
Instruct groups to come up with five questions, one for each card that they might ask a Magic 8 ball.
Should I go to college? Will the Packers win the Superbowl? Will I get a car when I turn 16?
On the answer cards they write five different possible answers a Magic 8 ball could provide:
 Not in a million years
 Outlook not good
 Don’t hold your breath
 Yeah, right.
 Definitely.
Have youth turn in the cards and make two piles (on for Q and one for A)
Invite volunteers to draw one card from each pile and read them to the class.
This should make for some fun and also a good way to introduce the topic of discernment.
DECISIONS DISCUSSION
1. What are some decisions that you make easily? What decisions are more difficult for you?
a. Some ideas to throw out to discuss are: What to wear, what to do on the weekend,
whether to study or not, where to sit at lunch, what colleges to apply for, what extracurricular activities to do, whether or not to come to church, how to spend money.
2. What are some things you do to help you make decisions?
Write some or all of these on the board and invite youth to share which they feel are most
helpful/lease helpful to them in making decisions.
Invite youth to add to the list if they have an idea that is not on there.
Asking for parent’s advice
Praying about it
Reading a horoscope
Waiting a day or two to decide Asking a friend
Asking a trusted adult for help
Considering consequences
Making decision quickly
Flipping a coin
Doing what you think is best
Doing what others do
Let someone else decide for you
Look up scripture for direction Going with your gut (feels right)
3. Share why this is helpful or not helpful to you in making decisions.
THE QUADRILATERAL AND DISCERNMENT
ASK: Has anyone ever heard of the word DISCERNMENT? What do you know about discernment? What
do you think it means?
Discernment is a process of prayer, study, and reflection that helps us clarify our path, make decisions,
and know God’s will. It helps us see if there is a difference between what we want and what God wants.
As United Methodists we have a unique approach to discernment called the Wesleyan Quadrilateral –
which means it is a process that has four parts, just as a quadrilateral has four sides.




Scripture
Tradition
Reason
Experience
United Methodists believe that one of these is more important and bears more weight than the others.
SCRIPTURE is most important.
SCRIPTURE
We are going to learn how using the Quadrilateral can help us discern the right path to take or the right
choice to make in a given situation, but first, since scripture is the most important part of the
Quadrilateral, we will discuss for a bit what we believe about scripture.
Use the Bible Statements Handout to discuss these issues about Scripture. You do not have to use all of
them, but can pick the ones you feel are most important or that the youth will engage in conversation
around the most.
You can invite conversation in either of the following ways:
Large group: Designate one side of the room as “True” and the other side as “False.” Read the
statement and invite youth to stand where they feel best describes their belief about scripture. (Can be in
the middle or closer to one side or the other) Invite volunteers to share why they chose to stand where
they did.
Small Groups: Divide into small groups of 3-6 people. Assign each group one or more of the statements
to discuss and share their findings with the large group.
FROM THE
BIBLE STATEMENTS HANDOUT
1. Just 10 people were responsible for writing the entire Bible. (False)
❥ No one knows for certain how many authors there were originally.
❥ We do know that there were many authors, and some of the books seem to have had more
than one author.
2. Many different kinds of literature are present in the Bible. (True)
❥ Some of the types of literature include poetry, history, prophetic writing, law, gospel, letter,
liturgy, song, saying or proverb, and apocalyptic.
❥ Just as we would today read a book of poetry in a different way than we would read a
newspaper, it’s important to think about and consider the type of literature in the Bible when
we read a particular part of it.
3. Each book in the Bible was written especially for a particular person or group of people at a
particular time in history. (True)
❥ The authors were not necessarily thinking about us when they put quill to parchment.
❥ The Bible is absolutely useful, meaningful, important, and inspiring to us today, even if it was
written for a particular audience.
4. God told the authors what to write down, and they did so.
❥ Some Christians believe that God spoke the books of the Bible, word-for-word, to its
authors.
❥ Other Christians believe that the writers of the books of the Bible chose their own words but
that God was present with them and the Holy Spirit guided them as they wrote. This
perspective is common among United Methodists.
5. When we read and interpret the Bible, it’s important to have some idea of what these
books meant to their first audiences.
❥ The Bible is a source of wisdom, guidance, and inspiration to people in every time and place,
even if they are unaware of the historical context of the books of the Bible.
❥ Still, we need to be careful not to put our own spin on passages of Scripture. Therefore, it
helps to be able to put books of the Bible in their historical context and to understand what
they meant to their original audience. You don’t need to be able to read Greek or Hebrew, but
some basic knowledge of ancient Israel and the first-century Roman world is helpful.
6. The Old Testament isn’t very important, so Christians shouldn’t spend much time with it.
(False)
❥ The various books in the Old Testament were the books that Jesus would have read, studied,
memorized, and taught from.
❥ These books are still useful, instructive, and inspiring in our own time.
❥ Reading the Bible without reading the Old Testament is like reading a biography without
reading the first two-thirds of the book. The Old Testament gives us a much richer
understanding of God’s story and God’s relationship to humankind and all of creation.
John Wesley studied the Scriptures daily. He prayed before studying that God might reveal
truth to him. He would pray after that he might be able to apply and live out the scriptures in
his life.
TRADITION
DISCUSSION
1. What is tradition?
2. What are some examples of traditions? From your family? From sports? School?
Church?
3. What are some positive things about tradition?
Tradition’s value in discernment: A lot of time has passed since the Bible was written. During
this time many faithful people have lived and passed on their faith through tradition. Some
examples are hymns, art, prayers, and even creeds we recite to this day. (Historic Sanctuary
attendees say the Apostle’s Creed most Sundays.) Tradition weeds out the things that are not
meant to last. The most important things that can teach us the most and help us in our
discernment remain.
EXPERIENCE
John Wesley was assured of God’s goodness and grace is because he had experienced them in his own
life. Although tradition establishes the evidence a long way off, experience makes it present to all
persons. If you ask a Christian who was once blind but through some miracle can now see “Why do you
believe in God?” You may not get a deep theological explanation or interpretation of lengthy passages
of scripture. The person may simply say “I was blind, but now I see.” The person’s experience is evidence
of God’s love and grace.
In the same way, each of us has probably experienced God’s realness and love and grace in our own
lives. Maybe God healed you or someone you care about. Perhaps you were moved in a deep way
during a worship experience. Maybe you felt God’s presence during a mission trip while painting a house
or through a relationship you made.
1. What is an experience you have had in your life where you felt God’s presence and love?
2. If someone asked why you believe in God, what would you share from your own
experience?
REASON
Have youth come up with 4-5 topics that are controversial that cause people to have strong
opinions and they and a friend may often take opposite sides on. These can be a mix of serious
and silly. Examples include:



Are zero tolerance policies helpful or hurtful.
School uniforms yes or no
What is the better pet dog or cat
Divide into groups of 4-6 people. Let each group select one topic to discuss or assign each group
a topic. Instruct groups to spend 2-3 minutes in their small groups debating the topic. Remind
them that the main point is to have fun and meaningful conversation, not to win. So be
respectful of everyone.
Stop the debate
Invite volunteers to share about their debate/discussions.
DISCUSSION
1. What role does our faith play when it comes to controversial topics?
a. Why we believe the way we do, how we discuss/debate, can we disagree with
someone and still love them and remain close to them, trying to see from another
person’s perspective.
2. How can focusing on what we disagree on be frustrating or cause division?
3. How can focusing on what we agree on or (as John Wesley said ‘agree to disagree’) or
on what we have in common help us move forward?
CLOSING – USING THE QUADRILATERAL
For this activity, you can either divide into small groups – assigning each group a scenario - or
walk through the process together as a class.
For each have youth discuss how
SCRIPTURE – TRADITION – REASON – EXPERIENCE
Could play a role in helping make the right decision in this situation.
SCENARIOS
1. A guy/girl you like only as friends invited you to the homecoming dance at their school – a
different school than you attend – and you said “yes.” The next day a guy/girl you really like a
lot invites you to come to a party at your house the same night as the homecoming dance.
2. You have a tough math test tomorrow that is worth a lot of your grade. You have studied but
just don’t know enough to pass the test. If you do not cheat, you will fail. You know people have
cheated in the class before and gotten away with it.
3. You are trying out for the cross country team. About halfway through the course, you see a a
group of 3 guys/girl who you know but are not close friends with cut a large corner which will
cut several seconds off their time. You know you are right on the cut-off line of making the
team.
4. Outbreak – Group must make recommendation to president whether or not to bomb a city to
contain a deadly virus that threatens the entire U.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ6zQZ9GGTY
Search: “ J.T. Walsh scene from the movie Outbreak Great Acting”
5. Field of Dreams – A man must decide whether to sell his farm or face foreclosure to keep his
baseball field full of ghosts not everyone can see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw
Search: Field of Dreams People Will Come
You make 1000 decisions every day. Some are minor, while others are important ones. The
Wesleyan Quadrilateral is a great tool to help you discern how to choose the decisions that God
would want you to make and the ones that will steer you down the right path.
The next time you have a big decision to make, I encourage you to consider incorporating…
Reading SCRIPTURE
Considering TRADITION
Using REASON
Remembering your EXPERIENCE
You might be surprised how clear the right choice becomes!
PRAY