Equipping you for intentional gospel conversations with your teen
Parents, we hope our Newsletters are a helpful tool to disciple your teen. We are united to help you guide your student to live out their faith in Christ personally and publicly. Together, we represent a community of believers pointing students toward God in every circumstance. We are praying for you!
Joshua Overview
We are starting a series exploring the book of Joshua. The points and discussion questions below are intended to help you engage in Biblical conversations with your student(s) about what they are learning on Wednesday nights.
Week 1
Points
Joshua 1:1-9
- The Commission from God
- The Promise from God
- The Obedience of God’s People
Discussion questions
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Why is it important that we, as believers, live out the commission that God has placed on our lives? (Matt. 28:16-20)
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Do you find it hard to tell others about your faith? Why or why not? What would you need to have more confidence?
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How has relying on God's promise that he will always be with you helped you through tough times in your life?
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Why does relying on our own strength to get through these times often fail? How can we better trust God in the storms of life?
Week 2
Points
Joshua 2
- God uses the most unlikely people to accomplish His purposes.
- A person’s past does not determine their influence.
Discussion questions
Week 3
Points
Joshua 6
Colossians 3:5-10
- God uses the most unlikely people to accomplish His purposes.
- A person’s past does not determine their influence.
- We are to kill the sin in our life.
Discussion questions
- How familiar are you with the story of the Israelites marching around Jericho? Would you say you’re still moved by the story, or are you more indifferent to it?
- The strategy God laid out for Joshua to take Jericho was unconventional, to say the least. They wouldn’t invade or attack; they would walk, shout, and play their instruments. Has God ever given you what felt like odd instructions? What were they? How did that situation play out?
- In what ways does the story of Rahab show God’s love for all people? What does her story teach us about God’s faithfulness?
- What challenges or strongholds are you experiencing right now? Are you actively trying to defeat the stronghold in your life right now?
- Why did God command Israel to “completely destroy” the city? In each of these battles, whether it was in Jericho, Ai, the southern cities, or the northern cities, the text is clear: Joshua destroyed everyone and everything “as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded” (10:40). How do you process these passages? For what reasons would the Lord command his people to kill and destroy everyone and everything?
- What reason did the Israelite people have to remain holy? Does God’s warnin still apply to us today? Must we be as vigilant as the Israelites in keeping ourselves holy? If so, what does that look like in our lives?
- As Israel was to do with the neighboring nations—put them to death—so we are to do with our sins. (optional read Colossians 3:5–10) When you read Paul’s list of the things belonging to “the earthly nature,” you’re reading a list of attitudes, actions, and behaviors that war against us and seek to destroy us. So, Paul tells us to put them to death, every one of them. In what ways do these attitudes, actions, and behaviors have a grip on you? To what extent are they pulling you away from holiness and from worshiping the one true God?
- Putting sinful attitudes, actions, and behaviors to death can feel like an ambiguous command. How do you “kill” a behavior or attitude? Practically, killing sin is about proactively putting a stop to them. To what lengths should you go to put your sinful attitudes, actions, and behaviors to death? Are there any practical steps that you can take today to be more proactive in killing your sin? If so, what are they?
Week 4
Points
Joshua 21:43-45
2 Timothy 2:13
Hebrews 10:23
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God promises are connected to our faith and obedience to Him.
- God promises cannot fail no matter what enemies we face in life.
- God is faithful to fulfill every promise made to His children.
Discussion questions
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How have you personally experienced God's faithfulness in your life?
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Share a specific time when you felt uncertain, but God came through in a way that affirmed His faithfulness.
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Discuss some promises from God's Word that you find particularly reassuring in challenging times.
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How does knowing that God is faithful to His promises impact your perspective on current circumstances?
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How can the reminder of God's faithfulness influence the way you approach challenges or uncertainties in your daily life?
Week 5
Points
Joshua 23
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God’s faithfulness to his people demands their faithfulness to him in response.
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The Lord empowers faithfulness in his people. We are simply to follow him in faith and obedience.
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Unfaithfulness to God only brings about destruction, whether we see it immediately or not.
Discussion questions
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Why would Joshua feel the need to address the people with this encouragement and warning?
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Why is it important that God is faithful?
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Why is it important for us to be faithful in response?
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What is an area of your life where you find faith and/or obedience to God to be difficult? Why?
Week 6
Points
Joshua 24:14-28
Matthew 22:37-39
Revelation 3:14-22
- You have a choice to make
- You fully surrender to God
The Big Idea - You have to go all in with God to experience God going all in with you
Discussion questions
- When you survey your life, can you honestly say that you are all-in with God?
- The choice before Israel was to either fear and worship the One true God or fear and worship “the gods fathers worshiped” or “the gods of the Amorites.” Our decision is much the same. Who are we going to serve? What “gods” are we tempted to worship other than the Lord? Materialism? Pride? Self-fulfillment?
- What do we find so enticing about those false gods?
- We said You have to go all in with God, to experience God going all in with you. Life with God only truly works when we are fully surrendered to God. Half-in or 90 percent Christianity isn’t enough; we must surrender everything. Being only half or even 90 percent in with God isn’t true faith. Life with God requires that we give him our whole life. Are you fully surrendered to God? If not, what’s keeping you from going all-in with God? What would it look like for you to take one more step toward full surrender?
- Joshua writes that God is a jealous God. How do you personally interpret the concept of God being described a jealous or zealous? How does understanding God’s jealousy or zeal impact the way we worship and serve Him?
- This summer when faced with decisions everyday about who you are going to worship how can we as a group remain accountable to one another to help each other when we inevitably fail and choose to worship other gods? How can we celebrate one another when we choose to worship the one true God?