This page is dedicated to conversation topics. Of particular interest are stories that teach us something--call them redemptive stories. I collect stories I experience, hear, or read about for future use or clip Newspaper articles that generate discussion. Jesus used illustrations and stories very effectively. In ministry to Muslims, its a big plus to be able to tell stories well to keep the listener engaged. Each context will determine how far you can take it spiritually. This can be a fun time of getting to know each other. Enjoy!
Conversation Ideas(click) that Joy developed over the years with spiritual questions embedded in the plans. Most the topics apply to men.
Advocate
From a Florida prison cell in June 1962, Clarence Earl Gideon wrote a note asking the United States Supreme Court to review his conviction for a crime he said he didn't commit. He added that he didn't have the means to hire a lawyer. One year later, in the historic case of Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court ruled that people who cannot afford the cost of their own defense must be given a public defender--an advocate--provided by the state. With this decision, and with the help of a court-appointed lawyer, Clarence Gideon was retried and acquitted.
1. What does an Advocate do?
2. Do you think that even a guilty person needs an Advocate?
3. Did you know that Jesus becomes the Advocate for all his followers? 1 John 2:1.
RBC
Blindness
Jordyn Castor was born blind. But this doesn't hold her back from living a full and productive life. The documentary Can You See How I See? tells her story. She excels at school and with a little help she enjoys biking and downhill skiing.
Of her sight, Jordyn says: "If I could give my blindness back, I wouldn't do it. I think God made all of us the way we are for a reason...and I think my blindness is part of what I am going to do with my life." She is now a university student majoring in computer technology. Her dream is to assist in developing new computer software that will help the blind.
How can Jordyn maintain such a positive outlook on life? As a Christ-follower, she understands that God is in control of the circumstances of life.
RBC
1. Do you know any blind person? Describe this person.
2. Does Jordyn feel sorry for herself? Why?
3. What does Jordyn want to do with her life?
Christmas(Birth of Jesus)
About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books.2 These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3 Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed.4 So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David’s hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David’s family.
5 Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, 6 and while they were there, 7 she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. 9 All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord’s glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. 10 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. 11 This very day in King David’s hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. 12 You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay.”
13 Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said:
14 “Praise God in heaven!
Peace on earth to everyone
who pleases God.”
Peace on earth to everyone
who pleases God.”
15 After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.” 16 They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay.
17 When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. 18 Everyone listened and was surprised. 19 But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant.
20 As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.
1. Where was Jesus(Issa al Masih) born?
2. What did the Angel tell the Shepherds?
3. Why was Jesus special?
Injil, Luke 2
1. Where was Jesus(Issa al Masih) born?
2. What did the Angel tell the Shepherds?
3. Why was Jesus special?
Injil, Luke 2
The Boy with the Nuts
A boy saw some nuts in a pitcher. He wanted the nuts. He put his hand into the pitcher and grabbed a handful of nuts. The boy could not pull his hand out of the pitcher because the opening in it was small. The boy began to cry. A man saw the boy. The man said, "Your hand is too full. Don't take out so many nuts. If you take a few nuts then your hand will come out of the pitcher.
Moral of the story: It is better to be content with half than to lose all.
What it means: Don't be greedy. You will be happier if you get a few things. You will be sad if you get nothing.
1. How many nuts did the boy want?
2. Why was that a problem?
3. What lesson can we learn from this boy?
Contentment
Upon winning $314 million in a 2002 lottery, a happy business owner expressed noble desire. He wanted to start a charitable foundation, put laid-off workers back on the job, and do nice things for his family. Already wealthy, he told reporters the big win wouldn't change him.
A few years later, a follow-up article described a different outcome. Since winning the biggest of all lotteries, the man had run into legal problems, lost his personal reputation, and gambled away all his money.
A thoughtful man by the name of Agur wrote words that anticipate such a heartbreak. Brought low by the awareness of his natural inclinations(Proverbs 30:2-3), Agur saw the dangers of having too much or too little. So he prayed, "Give me neither poverty nor riches--feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God"(vv.8-9).
Agur saw the special challenges that come both with wealth and poverty, but also with our own tendencies. Each gives us reason for caution. Together they show our need for the One who taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily break."
Lord, as we seek Your face today to ask for what we
need, help us to keep in mind that You are as wise in
what You don't give us as what You do give us. So
often, You rescue us from our own sinful tendencies. Thank-you.
Discontentment makes rich people poor, while contentment makes poor people rich.
RBC
1. Was this man happy before he won the money?
2. What did he want to do with the money?
3. Was he happy after he won the money?
4. What lesson can we learn from this story?
1. Was this man happy before he won the money?
2. What did he want to do with the money?
3. Was he happy after he won the money?
4. What lesson can we learn from this story?
Fear
For years after the Great Depression, the stock market struggled to win back investors' confidence. Then, in 1952, Harry Markowitz suggested that investors spread their stock holdings over several companies and industries. He developed a theory for portfolio selection that helped investors in uncertain times. In 1990, Markowitz and two others won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their theory.
RBC
1. Does fear of failure or betrayal hold me back from trying anything new or developing new friendships?
2. How can I help bring out confidence in my kids and friends?
3. How can I recover from guilt and shame when I've had a moral or ethical failure?
4. How does God deal with my failure? "He delights in mercy." (Micah 7:8,18)
Freedom
RBC
1. Does fear of failure or betrayal hold me back from trying anything new or developing new friendships?
2. How can I help bring out confidence in my kids and friends?
3. How can I recover from guilt and shame when I've had a moral or ethical failure?
4. How does God deal with my failure? "He delights in mercy." (Micah 7:8,18)
Freedom
The elephant is the largest land animal on earth-and one of the most powerful. Yet it takes only a strong rope to restrain one. Here's how it works. When the elephant is young, he is tied to a large tree. For weeks, he will strain and pull, but the rope holds him fast. So eventually he gives up.
Then, when the elephant reaches his full size and strength, he won't struggle to get free, for once he feels resistance, he stops. He still believes he's held captive and can't break free.
Satan can play a similar trick on us to hold us captive, The Bible assures us that there is "no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...Rom. 8:1.
RBC
1. From this story, why doesn't this elephant try to escape when he is so strong and the rope is so small?
2. Have people told you anything that keeps you from trying new things?
3. Do you sometimes hear an inner voice that says you can't do something?
1. From this story, why doesn't this elephant try to escape when he is so strong and the rope is so small?
2. Have people told you anything that keeps you from trying new things?
3. Do you sometimes hear an inner voice that says you can't do something?
Gratitude
Following the death of computer pioneer Steve Jobs in 2011, more than one million people from around the world posted tributes to him online. The common theme was how Jobs had changed their lives. They said they live differently because of his creative innovations, and they wanted to express their appreciation and their sorrow. The screen of one tablet computer said in larger letters: iSad.
Gratitude fuels expression, which is exactly what Psalm 107 describes: "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so..."
RBC
1. Has anyone done something for you that changed your life?
2. How did this happen?
3. Is there any way that you can help change someone else's life?
RBC
1. Has anyone done something for you that changed your life?
2. How did this happen?
3. Is there any way that you can help change someone else's life?
Honesty
Man Returns $80,000 found at Tim HortonsDecember 10, 2008 London, Canada
Yes, it was tempting--but bus driver Rick Bazinet knew all along what he'd do with the bag containing $80,000 he found at a London, Ont., Tim Hortons. Bazinet gave it back.
"In hindsight, I guess it would have been nice to have," Bazinet, 34, said Tuesday. "And Christmas sure would have been great, bit it wasn't mine. That's the way I was brought up and it's what I teach my children," he said of turning over the bag filled with "brick" $20 bills, "But I'm sure some people might have wanted to keep it."
Bazinet found the Brinks bag on Monday night as he stopped on his London Transit route for a coffee and washroom break. Bazinet said he suspects the bag was left behind by Brinks guards filling the ATM in the store a little earlier.
FP
1. If someone gave you $80,000, how would you spend it?
2. Why do you think Rick chose to return the money to Brinks?
3. Do you think he made the right choice? Why or why not?
Names
The name of the southeastern Asian nation of Indonesia is formed by combining two Greek words which together mean "island". That name is appropriate because Indonesia is made up of more than 17,500 islands spanning nearly 750,000 square miles. Indonesia--an appropriate name for a nation of islands.
RBC
1. Were you named after someone? Why?
2. Do you like your name? What does it mean? Do you live up to your name?
3. Isn't it amazing that an angel told Joseph what to name Mary's baby even before he was born? "You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)
Piñata
There cannot be a Mexican party without a piñata--a carton or clay container filled with candies and treats. Children strike it with a stick and try to break it, hoping to enjoy its contents. Monks used piñatas in the sixteenth century to teach lessons to the indigenous people of Mexico. Piñatas were stars with seven points that represented the seven deadly sins(from the Bible). Beating the piñata showed the struggle against evil, and once the treats fell to the ground, people could take them home in remembrance of the rewards of keeping faith(not sinning).
1. Have you seen a piñata or hit it until it burst open?
2. Have you ever heard about its beginning?
3. What are the 7 deadly sins referred to in the Bible? (envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth, wrath)
4. Why do you think they are called this?
RBC
The United States Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Kentucky, is a fortified building that stores 5000 tons of gold bullion and other precious items entrusted to the federal government. For Knox is protected by a 22-ton door and layers of physical security: alamrs, vidio cameras, minefields, barbed razor wire, electric fences, armed guards, and unmarked Apache helicopters. Based on the level of security, Fort Knox is considered one of the safest places on earth.
As safe as Fort Knox is, there's another place that's safer, and it's filled with something more precious than gold: Heaven holds our gift of eternal life. The apostle Peter encouraged believers in Christ to praise God because we have "a living hope"-a confident expectation that grows and gains strength the more we learn about Jesus.(1 Pet. 1:3)
RBC
1. Do you feel safe in this country? Why or why not?
2. Do you sometimes worry about safety?
3. Where is the safest place we could ever be?
Treasure
In March 1974, Chinese farmers were digging a well when they made a surprising discovery: Buried under the dry ground of central China was the Terracotta Army--life-size terracotta sculptures that dated back to the third century BC. In this extraordinary find were some 8000 soldiers, 150 cavalry horses, and 130 chariots drawn by 520 horses. The Terracotta Army has become one of the most popular tourist sites in China, attracting over a million visitors annually. This amazing treasure lay hidden for centuries but is now being shared with the world.
1. Have you ever found a treasure? Do you know the story about it?
2. Often very talented people are viewed as a treasure discovered. Do you have any hidden talent?
3. Paul in the Injil(New Testament) talks about us as clay jars containing the message of Christ and his love.
RBC
Truth
Four guys decided to skip classes one sunny morning and go for a drive along the beach. When they returned, their teacher asked where they'd been.
"We had a flat tire," said one, while the others nodded in agreement. "That's why we're late."
"Oh, okay," said the teacher. "We had a test, but you can now make it up now. Each of you sit well apart from each other and pull out a fresh piece of paper. Now, write down the answer to this question: Which tire was flat?"
1. What is the meaning of 'skip classes' and 'make it up'?
2. Why did the teacher ask the boys "Which tire went flat?"
3. Was this a good or bad method of finding out the truth?
4. Is telling the truth important?
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