1. What are some ways you have seen God use ordinary people to accomplish his purposes?
2. Do you feel that most teenagers would take offense at being called “ordinary"? Why or why not?
3. What do you think is the difference between being ordinary and recognizing how amazingly God has created each of us as individuals?
4. What are some of the ways in which Jesus, as the Son of God, is not at all ordinary? What makes him God? (If you need help, check out Colossians 1:15–20.)
5. Max imagines what the innkeeper might have said when confronted with the truth about Mary. How do you think you would have reacted to the news that God was inside a teenage girl? Have you ever reacted like that innkeeper to things that happen today? How did you deal with those moments?
6. If Jesus came today, how would people perceive him? How do you think today’s reality TV and celebrity culture would affect Jesus’ mission on earth?
7. Did we deserve for God to become one of us, an ordinary human being, in order to save us? Why or why not?
8. Would you feel the same about Jesus if he had not become an ordinary person like us (while staying fully God)? Why does his becoming human matter to us so much?
9. It’s a big deal to us that Jesus became one of us. It helps us to know that he understands what it’s like to be human. Why do you think it was important to God to send Jesus as a man?
10. Who are some of the ordinary people in your life whom God has used to help you in some huge ways? Does someone have to be special to be used by God for things that really matter?
1. Do you feel that most people your age believe that Satan is real? Why or why not?
2. Does acknowledging Satan’s existence change the way you live each day? Do you think it should? (Check out 1 Peter 5:8 for help with this one.)
3. What is the danger of living like the devil isn’t interested in your life?
4. Do you think most of your friends believe in the devil? How do you think their positions on this issue impact their lives?
5. If you know a lot about how the devil is described in the Bible, can you see ways that some of the best fictional villains are like him? Do they resent the hero getting all of the glory? Is deception one of their best weapons?
6. What was Satan’s strategy when he brought three temptations to Jesus in the desert?
7. The Bible calls the devil and those beings on his side our “enemy.” Do you think they know your weaknesses? How might they use your weaknesses against you?
8. How did Jesus counter the temptation attacks that Satan brought against him? How could you use Jesus’ strategy to do the same thing?
9. One of the devil’s strategies is to get us to question the truth. Have you ever encountered doubts in your life? How do you respond to them?
10. Do you think the devil gets blamed for things he doesn’t do? Why?
1. What makes home “home” for you?
2. What are some of the things that people think will finally make them happy and at home in this life if they can just get to them?
3. Is it wrong to want the best things in this life in order to make ourselves more comfortable, more at home?
4. So what is the problem with living for — or putting our hope in — money or success or friendship or sex or family or sports or fun to make us truly happy?
5. Where do true happiness and satisfaction come from? Why does it make sense to expect that we’ll find ultimate happiness and satisfaction in eternity with God?
6. In what ways do you long for the home God offers us in eternity? What will be there that we do not have here?
7. What questions do you have about your eternal home in heaven?
8. In what ways do you see others disappointed because their present world is dissatisfying?
9. If you already believe your true home is in heaven, why do you think we still struggle so much with believing we’d finally be fully happy here “if only” we could get some other thing?
10. What are some things God does for us here in this life to help us to have joy and peace and purpose until we get to eternity with him?
1. In many fictional stories the main character encounters a mentor, teacher, or wise person to help figure out the best way to live. What do mentors help their students achieve? What mentors do you have in your life?
2. The disciples left their lives to follow Jesus, and they really had no idea who he was yet. Why do you think they followed him? What would make you decide to follow someone you hardly knew?
3. Whose voices do you know you can trust to steer you in the right direction?
4. Why have you come to trust those people?
5. What are some voices in your life that have let you down or led you in a wrong direction?
6. Is there any one person in your life who is completely right all of the time? Could a trusted person lead you astray if they were wrong and didn’t realize it?
7. How is trusting Jesus as God (and trusting the Bible as truth) different from trusting the wise people in your life?
8. Are you convinced that the direction God steers you will never be wrong?
9. What’s the difference between really trusting someone and just agreeing with them about the best direction? (Hint: Think about the story of the blind pilot.)
10. Do you think we sometimes believe we’re trusting God’s direction when we really just happen to be going that way because it also makes sense to us? Has your faith in him ever been tested because his way didn’t make any sense to you?
1. Here’s a hard question: How much guilt do you carry around with you? Is there one bad thing (or several bad things) you’ve done — or that you still want to do — that is always on your mind?
2. Does it make sense to feel guilty about our sinful actions? Why or why not?
3. You might believe that God forgives all of our sin through faith in Jesus. But are there any sins that still feel unforgivable to you? Or do you ever feel like you, personally, are unforgivable?
4. What is the difference between being guilty and feeling guilty? Can you feel guilty for something you have not done or that has already been paid for?
5. Do you believe that God is powerful enough — that Jesus’ death on the cross for your sin was powerful enough —to take the fact of your guilt for your sin away? Why or why not?
6. If you are a Christian—if you believe God is powerful enough to forgive sin through faith in Jesus’ death for sin on the cross — why do you think our feelings of guilt don’t always match the fact that we have been made guiltless in God’s eyes?
7. What are some Bible verses that can help you remember the fact of God’s forgiveness? Use these verses to tell your feelings the truth that you have been forgiven. (Look back through the chapter for many examples. Don’t be afraid to underline the best ones.)
8. The Bible tells us that God gives us credit for Jesus’ perfect, sinless life when we trust in Christ. Would you rather be judged on Jesus’ performance or your own? Why?
9. If someone told you they could never be loved or used by God because of the sinful things they had done, what would you tell them?
10. Do you know anyone who has done some truly terrible things who is now being used by God in new and powerful ways? Why is that possible?
1. What’s the scariest thing about dying? Why?
2. How many people have you known personally who have died? Has their experience of death changed how you feel about it?
3. Do you ever think about your own death? Does it frighten you?
4. Can you think of any hero stories in which the hero dies (or appears to die or pretends to die) and then comes back to life? Name one or two of them.
5. Is there any point to Christianity if Jesus did not come back to real, physical life from the dead? (See 1 Corinthians 15:12–19 to see how the apostle Paul answered this question.)
6. Why does it matter so much that Jesus was raised from the dead after dying on the cross?
7. Do you ever think about coming back from the dead yourself, about being resurrected? How does that change how you feel about death?
8. Would you rather live forever in the life and body you have now or be raised from the dead to a new life and body in eternity? Why?
9. If we believe that those who are in Christ go on to their best life ever after they die, why are we still so sad? Is it okay for us to feel that way?
10. If you’ve ever been to an amazing memorial service for someone who was a Christian, talk about what made it so exciting and meaningful.
1. For God to be God, he has to be powerful. What are some stories from the Bible, history, and your own life in which you see his power?
2. Imagine you are Peter, sitting outside Jesus’ trial. How would you have reacted in that moment? (Really think about it.) Now think about what Peter became after Jesus’ resurrection—complete confidence. How do you see God doing “Peter-sized changes” in your life?
3. Although Jesus became fully human, he was also fully God. He had supernatural power. Why does it matter that he showed who he was by using that power to do miracles while he was here on earth?
4. How would Jesus’ story be different, do you think, if he had never showed that he had the power of God (because he is God)?
5. We read from the Bible in this chapter that when Jesus left earth, he promised to send supernatural power to his followers through the Holy Spirit. What are some of the things Christians can do with that power?
6. In the Bible, God tells us how he wants Christians to live. Do you ever feel like those commands are just too hard?
7. Why do you think we try to live the life God asks us to using only our own power?
8. What are some areas of life in which you’ve noticed God giving you the power to do what he wants you to do or to feel what he wants you to feel?
9. In what areas of your life do you feel like you could use more of God’s power to do what he wants you to do?
10. Can you think of anyone you know whom you have seen change from being weak in some areas to being strong in the way that God wants us to be? If so, talk about what that change looked like.
1. Can you think of a time in your life when what you wanted to happen seemed impossible, but then everything lined up just perfectly to make it come together? Tell that story.
2. Think of a time (maybe it’s going on right now) when something that seemed like it would be a really good thing just wasn’t happening. All of the circumstances of your life seemed to be lining up to keep it from happening. Now tell that story.
3. How much do you think God has to do with our circumstances coming together to open or close the doors to where we want to go? Do you believe he is involved in opening and closing doors?
4. What are some reasons that God may open or close doors to the things we want to do, even things that seem like they would be good? Can we ever really know what those reasons are?
5. Have you ever noticed someone become angry or disappointed with God because of a closed door in that person’s life? Can you understand why someone would feel that way?
6. Can you think of a time when you were not able to do what you wanted and then later realized that if you had done what you wanted, things would have turned out worse for you? Talk about that story.
7. How can God saying no to us through a closed door in our circumstances be a loving thing?
8. Have you ever had to tell someone no for their own good? How did that feel?
9. Does an open door—or the ability to go in a particular direction—automatically mean that’s what God wants for you? How can you know the difference?
10. Are there any open doors in your life right now that you feel God is asking you to walk through? What is holding you back?
1. In the story of your life so far, how big of a role has God played? How involved has he been in the plot, in the major moments, in the darkest days?
2. Do you believe God has been involved in all of your life? Do you believe he has been there every moment, acting out of his love for you? Why or why not?
3. When you believe God is involved in every moment of your life, how does it change the way you think about your story?
4. This chapter talks about one of the famous verses written by the apostle Paul: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). How do you feel about this verse when you think of some of the hardest parts of your life or the lives of other people who have gone through hard times?
5. Do you remember any of the hard times in Paul’s life after he became a Christian and started teaching people about Jesus? How many bad things can you name that happened to him? (Check out 2 Corinthians 11:23–29 if you want an exhaustive list.)
6. If all of those things happened to Paul, how could he write what he did in Romans 8:28?
7. Do you believe God is all three of these things: powerful, good, and loving? Why or why not?
8. Have you noticed God working for your good or someone else’s good even in the middle of really hard things? Tell a story about that.
9. What happens to your confidence about the story of your life when you believe that God is at work for good in all the details, even on the hardest days?
10. How will you determine whether your life has been “good” or not?
1. Can a story be good if it doesn’t have a good ending?
2. What are some of your favorite endings to stories, books, or movies that you really liked? What made the ending so good?
3. Can you name any movies or books that you were enjoying until they were ruined by the ending?
4. Is the ending to God’s story, to your story, really an ending? Why or why not?
5. How is the ending to God’s story, to your story, as described in this chapter, also a beginning?
6. What will be the best part of Jesus’ return: the ending of this part of the story of all of history?
7. Does the idea of Jesus’ return scare you at all? Does it excite you?
8. How does knowing that Jesus is coming back change the way you live from day to day? Should it change how we live?
9. How does it feel to know that one day everyone will understand that Jesus really is the Son of God, that we were right to believe in him? Do you think you will feel vindicated or sad for those who did not believe?
10. Does knowing this day is coming motivate you to tell people about Jesus, about how faith in him has saved you from the consequences that will be faced by those who must pay for their sins on their own?
1. Did reading this chapter make you feel emotional at all? Why do you think that is?
2. Do the best stories always have happy endings? Why or why not?
3. Does it scare you a little to be hopeful for the happy ending of heaven and your eternity with God? Why or why not?
4. For you personally, what do you imagine will be the best part of graduating from this life to the eternal one?
5. Do you ever wish the next life would get here more quickly? Do you ever feel lonely for that life, for being with God?
6. What are the best parts of your life right now? Which of those things will continue in eternity and which do you think will be left behind? Why?
7. What are the most difficult parts of your life right now, the ones that will definitely be completely gone when you get to eternity?
8. Have you lost any loved ones who were Christians whom you look forward to being with in eternity with God? What do you imagine it might be like to see them again?
9. If God is involved in all of the details of your story, including your eternity in heaven with him, do you think that eternity will be perfectly satisfying to you?
10. Does knowing that he has prepared a forever home for you make it easier to trust God in the middle of this messy life? Why or why not?