Act One

A Great Story and the Call to Adventure

Scripture: Genesis 37:1-28

Learning Objectives and Main Ideas

• To recognize the importance and power of good stories

• To understand the "hero's journey" as a model for stories and recognize how it can apply to our lives and the story of Joseph

• To describe the character of Joseph in Genesis 37 and understand his Call to Adventure

• To begin seeing our lives as stories, potentially great stories

Prepare

Read act one of What's Your Story? by Sarah Heath, and make a note of the main points. In the spaces provided in the book, respond to the questions, quotations, and other prompts. Identify which ones you would like to use in the group discussion below.

Read over the lesson plan below to familiarize yourself with it, and decide in advance which questions you want to be sure to discuss. Remember, there are several opportunities for you to choose among multiple options. You may choose these in advance, or you may wait and decide when you come to these places based on how your discussion is going.

Decide also which of the three optional activities you wish to use, and gather the supplies you will need for them.

Be sure to have the following supplies on hand:

• Copies of the Bible (multiple translations are OK)

• Pens or pencils for each group member

• A DVD player and television or projector and screen

• The What's Your Story? DVD

• A markerboard or large sheet of paper and markers

Welcome and Opening Prayer (1 minute)

Welcome group members as they arrive, and then begin your session with a prayer. Use the one below if you wish, or pray on your own.

Dear God, we know that you are the author of the greatest story ever told, and we know that you are still writing it even today. We want to understand our own stories better and to cowrite them with you. Help us to see your hand at work in the story of Joseph and in our own lives. Amen.

Begin the Session (10 minutes)

Since this is your first meeting as a group, allow the group members to introduce themselves. Choose one of the questions below as an icebreaker. Begin with a volunteer and proceed clockwise until all members have spoken. Invite each member to share his or her name and to answer the question you have chosen:

• Describe one memory from your late teenage years.

• If you had to categorize your seventeen-year-old self as a character, what category would you choose? What role do you think you were playing? (Answers might include the hero or protagonist, the antihero that no one saw coming, the villain or antagonist, the sidekick, or the love interest.)

After everyone has introduced himself or herself and answered the icebreaker question, choose and ask one of the following questions:

• What are the most memorable stories that have formed you in some way? (These may be stories from your childhood that you still remember or ones you encountered later in life.) What is it about these stories that has had such a significant impact on you?

• What was the last book you couldn't put down? What made the book so compelling?

• What is your favorite true story, and how did you encounter it (podcast, radio, documentary, personal conversation, interview, or some other medium)? What drew you in and caused you to connect with this story?

Ask: How did the reflection in act one of What's Your Story? help you better understand the makeup of a good story?

View the Video (10 minutes)

Introduce the video for the group, and prepare to play the What's Your Story? DVD. Briefly explain to the group that in each video, author Sarah Heath will introduce the story of one person who illustrates the themes and key ideas of each act in What's Your Story? During act one, you'll hear from Mike McHargue, otherwise known as "Science Mike." He's the author of Finding God in the Waves, the host of the podcast Ask Science Mike, and co-host of The Liturgists Podcast. Mike is a Christian who lost his faith and then found it again through science. He's now a leading voice on matters of science and religion.

Play act one of the What's Your Story? DVD.

After viewing the video, invite the group to discuss the question Sarah posed at the end. Ask: What is a time in your life when you stepped outside of everything you knew and began an adventure?

Continue discussing the video by asking one of the following questions:

• How did Mike's story illustrate the need to leave the life we know in order to begin a hero's journey? What aspects of his story stood out to you as components of a good story?

• Do you think seventeen-year-old Mike would recognize the Mike of today? What does this say about the nature of our stories?

• How did Mike understand his life as a part of a bigger story? What role(s) in God's story do you think he is playing?

Engage the Lesson (30 minutes)

Invite the group to recall what God's story is about according to act one of What's Your Story?

Ask: How does this idea of God writing a story shape your understanding of Scripture? How does it shape your understanding of your own relationship with God?

Choose and ask one of the following questions for the group to discuss:

• Why do you think Jesus told parables? Why did he use stories as a key method of teaching and communicating?

• When you read a story in Scripture, how do you find yourself connecting with it?

• Recall the examples from What's Your Story? about non-Christians who are fascinated by the story of Christ. Think also of anybody you know who might be described in this same way. What is it about the Christian story that is so powerful for them? Do you experience the power of the Christian story in the same way?

• Have you ever thought about the Christian liturgical calendar as a way of storytelling? How does this ongoing encounter with the Christian story in worship shape our faith?

Choose one of the following activities to help the group engage and apply the main ideas of this act regarding great stories and good characters.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY 1: SHARE YOUR JOURNAL RESPONSES (10 MINUTES)

Invite each person in your group to share his or her responses in the journaling sections of act one of What's Your Story? Choose one or two questions or prompts that you found most relevant to the lesson, and ask group members to share their responses to those. Or you may invite group members to share whatever they found most compelling, allowing them to show their work and explain their responses.

Encourage group members to ask questions and comment on one another's responses.

Ask: What new insights into today's lesson do you gain by seeing and hearing the responses of your fellow...