“BEHIND THE SCENES” YOUTHWORKER GUIDE...Forever My Girl could become one of those movies. This...

“B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S” Y O U T H W O R K E R G U I D E

Page FMG 2 “Behind the Scenes” Youthworker Guide

FOREVER MY GIRL

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READ THIS FIRST!Your preteen and teenaged girls have grown up watching movies. They’ve seen them in theaters, in classrooms, in their living room, and maybe even in their family’s car. They’ve memorized lines of their favorite films. They’ve dressed up as movie characters for Halloween. They are continually being shaped by what they see and hear through the movies they view. There’s no doubt about it; movies are a big part of their lives!

Forever My Girl could become one of those movies. This movie won’t require them to wear 3-D glasses or blow out their eardrums with massive explosions. Seeing Forever My Girl will be a new experience for your young girls because of the way it will engage… their brain.

With your effort and plans, when they see Forever My Girl they’ll use their brain instead of just their eyes and ears. You, a savvy youth leader, will help them discover that movies are more than what is seen on the screen or heard through the sound system. Mov-ies contain messages – ideas and view-points that movie-makers want their audiences to understand and experi-ence. Now that your young friends are old enough to figure these things out for themselves, they’ll start noticing more and more messages in movies.

When your students use their brain while watching a movie, these films become a whole new experience. Using your brain

while watching a movie is like raising your hands in the air while riding a gnarly rollercoaster. The experience and thrills go to a whole new level!

That’s where this “Behind The Scenes” Youthworker Guide comes in.

When you put into action the ideas included here, you’ll help your young friends know what to look for in the film and be better equipped to process the film after seeing it. You and your stu-dents will go see Forever My Girl with some insider info that will help them rec-ognize the film’s messages. The material in this Guide is kind of like one of those “secret decoder rings” that young kids used to play with – but more fun!

THE FILMLiam Page is a country music superstar who left his bride Josie at the altar to pursue fame and fortune. Liam never got over Josie, his one true love, or forgot his Southern roots in the small com-munity where he was born and raised. Now, he must unexpectedly face the consequences of his actions when he returns to his hometown for the funeral of his best friend from high school. This well-made film of missed opportunities and the hard work of forgiveness and reconciliation is sure to be a hit.

This inspirational film will especially appeal to the preteen and teenaged girls in your youth ministry. Girls will be encouraged to be discerning in their relationships – to be strong, and to not allow themselves to be used by guys

who then ask for forgiveness so that they can use them again. The heroine’s struggle to forgive her fiancé, while not ignoring the hurt and damage he caused, is a virtue that you want to foster in all your female students.

THIS MATERIALYou have in this “Behind The Scenes” Youthworker Guide a complete resource that will enable you to use the film for life-changing ministry. Here are the ele-ments that are included:

• Timeline – This is an easy-to-follow listing of what you should be doing in the weeks leading up to seeing the film, and the Sunday morning after experiencing it.

• Session 1 – This session is intended for the week before taking your group to see Forever My Girl. Built around two film clips; the scene when Josie learns that she’s been jilted “at the altar” on her wedding day, and the scene at the graveyard when Josie punches Liam in the gut. The session will guide students to discuss their natural reactions to being hurt, and how the Holy Spirit can overcome our natural responses. The Bible example of Joseph’s betrayal by his brothers and being double-crossed by a friend is used.

• Session 2/Sleepover – This ses-sion can be used after seeing the film, maybe even that same evening. Included are ideas for decorating your room, games to play before or after

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seeing the film, discussion questions to use when having dessert after watching the movie, and a Bible study guide that uses another clip from the film – the scene when Josie tells Liam what happened. The study uses Joseph’s experience of rising from the depths of his circumstance, and reinforces the importance of personal faith, strength, and commitment.

• Session 3 – On the Sunday morning after seeing the film, you should take full advantage of this session. Forgive-ness is a difficult trait to acquire, and yet the Bible is clear: we must forgive those who wrong us – and we need the forgiveness of those we’ve hurt. You’ll show a couple of clips from the film – a scene where the congrega-tion of Liam’s church acknowledge and forgive him, and the scene when Liam explains, “I honestly don’t know why I did it, but the longer I was gone, the more pain I was in, and the harder it was for me to look back. I’m really sorry, Dad.” The Bible study will look at several passages that instruct us to forgive, and finish with Joseph’s recon-ciliation with his family – “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

We hope that this movie will be an important step of reaching and teaching young girls to be strong in their spirit, to forgive those who hurt them, and to see God working in all circumstances. Our prayers are with you!

TWO ISSUESThis movie was created by a mainstream film company that realized its faith com-ponent made it relevant to youth groups. We agree. While the church environment permeates the film, there is no indica-tion either way about Josie’s or Liam’s personal faith. We realized that there are two issues that you need to be aware of.

First, the heroine, Josie, tells Liam (who abandoned her at the altar on their wedding day) that she discovered two weeks after they were supposed to get married that she was pregnant. Yes, that means that the couple engaged in sex without being married. The story does not tell us how Josie handled that situation. She might have confessed to her parents, and Liam’s pastor/father, and received their forgiveness and sup-port. But, we don’t know. What we do know is that she decided to have and raise the baby, with the support of her family and community.

The second issue is the use of alcohol in the film. Much of it is clearly negative, which very obvious to the audience and important to the storyline. One incident, when Josie “needs a beer” in order to tell Liam what happend since he left, might need some evaluative interpreta-tion for your students.

TIMELINEToo often youth leaders have a “ready, fire, aim” mentality when dealing with opportunities like Forever My Girl. The

demands of youth ministry do call for much flexibility, creativity, and “just in time” delivery of awesome program-ming. The nature of teenagers means that we have to adapt, make do, and generally roll with the punches.That kind of off-the-cuff ability works well much of the time – but sometimes an opportunity comes along that is too big, too exciting, and way too cool to let slide. Occasionally we are given a chance to create a ton of ministry effectiveness ONLY if we plan, prepare, promote, and perform with the best of our ability. For-ever My Girl is just such an opportunity!

Since we understand youth ministry (being youth leaders ourselves), we’ve created this resource to help you make the most of the upcoming Forever My Girl movie. All the planning has been done for you – all you have to do is make this strategy happen. Easy!

NOWBecome an “Insider” —Go to http://fmgyouth.com if you haven’t already signed up to be an “Insider.” You’ll receive all kinds of practical resources that will help you make the most of this movie opportunity in your ministry with teenaged girls.

❏ Determine when you’ll take your group to the movie – Many youth leaders will want to take their groups to see Forever My Girl on January 19th. That’s a Friday night – perfect for the “sleepover” that your girls can attend. Or, have them spend Saturday night the 20th at the church, and stay through your


FOREVER MY GIRL


Sunday morning program. Either way, plan your show date, and then back-fill all the ideas listed below.

FOUR WEEKS OUT (the third week of December)Start Praying – Have your girls identify two “I wanna ask ’em” friends that your church’s prayer team can start praying for.

❏ Keep Promoting – Place movie posters in the best places, and have lots of flyers available.

❏ Start Selling Tickets – Do what some professional sports teams do and sell only pairs of tickets. That way you’ll encourage your students to take an unchurched friend with them to the movie.

❏ Show The Trailer – The more that your students know about the film, the more likely they will be to invite their unchurched friends to attend a showing of the movie with them.

THREE WEEKS OUT (the week between Christmas and New Year’s)

❏ Keep Praying – Your church’s prayer team could plan a prayer chain to be in action during your Forever My Girl movie showing and event.

❏ Keep Promoting – Encourage your students to use social media to tell their friends about the movie. Keep sending out those emails and hand-ing out those flyers. Have a FMG insert about your event placed in your church’s bulletin, and ask to make an announcement from the pulpit during your church’s services.

❏ Keep Selling Tickets – By now you should have an idea if you need to reserve even more seats for the showing at the theater.

❏ Announce Special Meeting – Make a big deal out of the pre-movie ses-sion you’ll be having at your regular youth group meeting time.

❏ Make Sure Guys Are Invited Too – While your focus on this ministry event are the girls in your ministry, guys will enjoy the film too. Let them know that they won’t have to turn in their Man Card if they see Forever My Girl!

❏ Show The Alex Roe Video #1 – Alex talks to your group about the film, and the opportunity it represents.

TWO WEEKS OUT (the first week of January)

❏ Keep Promoting – The more that your students know about the film, the more likely they will be to invite their unchurched friends to attend a showing of the movie with them.

❏ Show the movie trailer, or the Alex Roe Video #1.

❏ Keep praying for the kids, promoting the movie, and selling tickets.

ONE WEEK OUT (the second week of January)

❏ Pre-Movie FMG-themed Meeting – Use the first Leader Guide and Student Guide included with this material. It uses another Alex Roe video and a clip from the film.

❏ Finalize Transportation – Make sure you have enough vehicles, drivers, and all the materials you plan to have in each vehicle.

❏ Confirm Tickets – Make sure you have ordered enough to handle inevitable last-minute additions.

❏ Keep praying for the kids, promoting the movie, and selling tickets.

MOVIE WEEK (the third week of January)

❏ Reconfirm Transportation – Make sure you have one or two cars on standby in case you have a lot of “walk ups” – kids who just “show up” to see the movie and who you had no idea were coming.

❏ Reconfirm Ticket Count – See “Reconfirm Transportation” – You’re better off having a few too many tickets than too few.

❏ Sleepover – A complete plan for a Forever My Girl sleepover is includ-ed in these materials. This could be a significant event in the lives of your young female friends!

SUNDAY MORNING AFTER THE FILM (January 21)

❏ Follow-Up Meeting – Use the Lead-er Guide and Student Guide includ-ed with this material. It takes advan-tage of another Alex Roe video and another clip from the film.

❏ Within 24 hours – Have your volun-teer leaders personally contact each student who attended the movie.

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PROMOTION IDEASRaising awareness about a film like Forever My Girl in the middle of all the other marketing noise, the din of social media, and the whiz-bang of YouTube can be a challenge. That’s why we’ve brainstormed a few ideas that you can use to make your youth group anxious to see this movie. Take a look.

MOVIE TRAILERSAs of press time, there is a “teaser” tailer for the film – we’ve linked to it on the Forever My Girl Insider webpage.

The official trailer will be available on November 6th!

ALEX ROE VIDEOAlex Roe, the male lead in Forever My Girl, is a popular young British Actor who many of your students will know. As a part of your “Behind The Scenes” Youthworker Resources, Alex will be talking to your youth group! On video, that is. Plan to use the first of his videos (there are others for the three sessions) in the few weeks leading up to the mov-ie’s opening weekend.

POSTERS OF HUNKSStart putting up posters of handsome men (Alex Roe – from the movie – and any other stars the girls may find attrac-tive) and images from the movie. These are the same posters you’ll use for your “Forever My Girl Sleepover.” Just hav-ing them on the wall will get the kids wondering what’s going on.

SLEEPOVER FLYERSYou might be surprised at the numbers of “new” girls who will come to your sleepover, if invited by a friend. Make inviting friends easier by making up some flyers for your girls to have in their backpacks, ready to hand out to their friends. We’ve included a template on the last page that you can use.

ONLINE RESOURCESThe producers of the film have a couple of places online where you can get news, media, and information about the film.

• Check out the Forever My Girl – The Movie 2017 Facebook page.

• In addition, you can find resources at the official website for the movie. A good place for “insider” info, from the movie industry perspective, is the IMDb site for the movie.

• And, Rotten Tomatoes already has a page for the film, and reports that 95% of their users want to see it!


FOREVER MY GIRL


SESSION 1

THEMESBetrayal, Difficulties; Hope Within, Rejection

OBJECTIVEStudents will identify their normal reac-tion to being hurt or disappointed by others, and will discover how the Holy Spirit can enable them to overcome their natural tendencies.

WARM UPWink ’Em – This time-tested youth group game is a lot of fun. Half of the players sit in a circle on chairs. The others form a circle outside the chairs, each chair having a guy or girl behind it. One chair is empty (while still having someone behind it). When the game begins, the player standing behind the empty chair has to wink at one of the players sitting down. The player sitting down then must try and quickly stand up and go to the open chair. The goal of the person standing behind the seat of the person winked at tries to tap the sitting down player on the shoulders before he or she can get away. If the player gets away without being tagged, he or she goes to the empty chair and the person behind the now-empty chair is the new person winking. If the player is tagged before getting away, he or she must sit back down and the same person who winked before continues

to. Players standing behind chairs must keep their hands behind their backs until it’s time to tag. Most groups have all guys standing with all girls sitting, and then switch roles after playing for a while.

TRANSITIONExplain that, sometimes, boyfriend/girlfriend situations can sometimes feel like “Wink ’Em” – you can’t be sure that your relationship will last. The pain of rejection can be intense for many people. Forever My Girl is a film that the group will be going to see – it deals with this very issue.

MEDIAShow the movie trailer.

TRANSITIONTalk through what your students noticed in the movie trailer, covering these kinds of questions:

• What do you think the storyline of this movie is?

• Who would you imagine is the good guy in this movie?

• Who is the bad guy?

ALEX ROE VIDEOShow Alex Roe Video #2.

TRANSITIONExplain that the film deals with a young woman whose fiancée left her stranded at the altar on their wedding day to chase fame and glory as a musician. When he comes back home for the funeral of his best friend, he’s confronted with the anger and pain he caused.

MOVIE CLIPSShow the Movie Clips #1 amd #2: the scene when Josie learns that she’s been jilted “at the altar” on her wedding day, and the scene at the graveyard when Josie punches Liam in the gut. Follow up with these discussion questions:

• What is your natural reaction to betrayal? Anger? Hurt? Bewilderment? Violence? Determination to get even?

• Why do people react so strongly to that kind of rejection?

• Do you think our natural reactions are justified?

• How might we respond rather than react to rejection and betrayal?

BIBLE STUDYExplain that a well-known Bible char-acter experienced severe rejection and betrayal: Joseph. He was sold into slav-ery by his jealous older brothers, but then worked hard to achieve success in the family business of his owners. But then his owner’s wife hit on him, but he refused her advances, so she accused

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HIM of hitting on her, and he was thrown in prison. While in prison, he excelled, and the warden depended on him to keep everything under control. Joseph befriended a fellow inmate – who promised to plead his case to the powers that be upon his release. But when he was freed, he forgot his prom-ise. Two years later, he finally remem-bered Joseph, and recommended him to be freed.

Soon, at the age of 30, Joseph was second in command of the whole nation. (That’s a quick summary of Genesis 37, 39-41.) Here are three points you want to make from Joseph’s experiences:

You WILL experience rejection.

Through no fault of his own, Joseph was severely mistreated. Even when

he did the right thing, like spurning the advances of his owner’s wife, he got in trouble. Because evil exists, you will feel its effects.

Work against your natural reactions and emotions.

Joseph could have decided that life was so unfair that he needed to gain some revenge. He must have seethed with anger against his brothers, his owner’s wife, his owner, his cellmate – but he did not act on that anger. Instead, he did his best, and God granted him favor in the eyes of oth-ers and success in his endeavors. That leads to the final point…

Even though others betray you, God is right there with you.

Being betrayed and rejected does not mean that God has abandoned you too.

In fact, the Holy Spirit lives within you, and helps you to respond to difficulties with love, joy, peace, patience, kind-ness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

WRAP UPExplain that Forever My Girl has a mes-sage for each of us – of finding our way past anger, beyond wanting to get even, and experiencing forgiveness and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Show the movie trailer again, and encourage your stu-dents to take their friends with them to see Forever My Girl.

Student Guide

FOREVER MY GIRL

TRAILERWhat do you think the storyline of this movie is?

Who would you imagine is the good guy in this movie?

Who is the bad guy?

MOVIE CLIPSWhat is your natural reaction to betrayal? Anger? Hurt? Bewilderment? Violence? Determination to get even?

Why do people react so strongly to that kind of rejection?

Do you think our natural reactions are justified?

How might we respond rather than react to rejection and betrayal?

JOSEPH’S BAD DAYSAs your leader gives you an overview of Joseph’s story (from Genesis 37, 39-41), outline the bad days he experienced.

3 BIG LESSONS

You _______ experience ______________.

Work ______________ your natural

______________ and ______________.

Even though others ______________

you, ______________ is right there

______________ you. (Galatians 5:22-23)

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FOREVER MY GIRL


SESSION 2 GIRLS’ SLEEPOVER

THEMESPerseverance, Determination, Difficulties; Hope Within

OBJECTIVEGirls will have a great time together, see the Forever My Girl film, and interact about having the inner strength and determination to make the best of whatever difficulties they encounter.

INTROA “sleepover” is an excellent opportu-nity to get your girls talking and thinking about spiritual issues. We’ve given you a ton of ideas here to help you make your Forever My Girl Sleepover the coolest, and most meaningful, event possible! (Of course, once you see what’s planned here, you might think of even better ideas than ours!)

Where you have your Forever My Girl Sleepover depends on what resources you have. If you have a cool youth room at the church that you can take over and transform, that’d be a natural. Or, one of the parents of your girls might be willing to host the event at their home.

SCHEDULE

4:00 Girls Arrive – greeted with a dance party! In a room plastered with posters of handsome men (Alex Roe – from the movie – and any other stars the girls may find attractive) and images from

the movie. Create your own soundtrack – songs from the 80’s are great (“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, “Love is a Battlefield”, etc.)

4:30 Alex Roe Video #3. Alex will wel-come your girls and encourage them to make the most of this evening’s experiences.

4:35 M&M Mixer – Take some time to get to know the girls, as there may be some new faces. Supplies: Single serve/King Sized package of M&M’s (depends on group size) Have the girls all sit in a circle -passing the bag one at a time, each girl takes an M&M. Based on the color she will tell something to the group…

• Red: Something about yesterday• Orange: Something you do well• Yellow: Something about your

childhood• Blue: Something you learned

last week• Brown: Something you can’t

live without• Green: Something you watch/

listen to

Play until the candy runs out or each girl has shared at least 2-3 different things (any remaining candy can be saved for the ice cream bar after the movie).5:00 Dinner – Pizza is always a hit!

5:30 Make-Overs – Do it up right! Do the girls’ hair, make-up, mani-cures, and outfits! (May work best to prepare the girls before the event so they can bring their own supplies and outfits for this!) When

everyone is ready, take photos – TONS of photos!

7:00 Go to the movie!

9:30 Ice Cream Bar! – Let the girls build the biggest ice cream sundae they can! Supplies: bowls, spoons, ice cream (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla), chocolate syrup, sprinkles, gummy bears, chocolate chips, cherries, bananas. As the girls eat their sundaes, talk about the movie.

9:45 Alex Roe Video #4. Alex encour-ages your girls to discuss the film, and to be open and authentic as they talk about the issue of perse-verance and determination even when hurting.

9:50 Movie Feedback. Discuss:• What did you like about the film?• What did you NOT like about it?• Have you ever been dumped?• How would you react if you

were Josie – if the guy you loved left you at the altar (or prom, or whatever)?

• Was forgiving him easy for her to do? Why/why not?

• Would it be easy for you to for-give someone like that?

• Would it be easy for you to move forward with such a seemingly life-altering rejection?

• Has your world ever been rocked – completely turned upside down? What happened?

• How did you respond to the situation?


FOREVER MY GIRL


SESSION 2/SLEEPOVER (CON’T)

10:00 Bible Study – Use this information about Joseph’s experience of rising from the depths of his circumstance to reinforce the importance of personal faith, strength, and commitment.

You might remember a story in Genesis in the Old Testament – Joseph was the youngest of ten brothers. He was the favorite of his father—who showed this by giving Joseph a highly decorated robe. (Genesis 37) When Joseph was 17 he had a dream that one day his brothers would bow down to him. His brothers hated him – they were jealous of him and of his relationship with their father – and so they attacked Joseph, stripped him of his robe, threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery. It’s safe to say Joseph’s world was turned com-pletely upside down.

• How would you react if your siblings turned on you? What would you do?

So, Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar (the captain of Pharaoh’s guard). He worked hard, was blessed by God, and rose in the ranks of slaves to become favored by Potiphar and over-seer of his house.

• Would you so willingly accept this lot in life?

• Would you be like Joseph – offering “service with a smile?”

Joseph wasn’t on top for long, though. Potiphar’s wife noticed him – the Bible says he was very handsome – and made a pass at him. (Genesis 39) When he didn’t

respond favorably, she turned on him, and accused him of taking advantage of her. As a result, he’s thrown into prison.

• What do you think happened next?

Despite it all, Joseph held on to his faith. While he was in prison, he interpreted dreams of the other prisoners – Pha-raoh’s cupbearer and baker. Pharaoh, we’re told, then had a dream of his own. (Genesis 41) The cupbearer, having been freed from prison, remembered Joseph’s gift of dream interpretation and told Pharaoh about him. Joseph told Pharaoh that his dreams foretold a time of plentiful harvest followed by a time of famine. Because of Joseph’s gift, Egypt was able to prepare for the famine.

Pharaoh was impressed with Joseph and put him in charge of his house. Joseph was now in charge of the largest household in the country—probably the world. He was in charge of storing food for the famine.

During the time of famine, we return to Joseph’s brothers. They have run out of food. Their family and children are starving. So, Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt in search of food. (Now remember the last time Joseph saw his brothers, they’d stripped him, thrown him in a ditch, and sold him off.)

• How do you think he reacted to see-ing his brothers again?

• How would you react?

Joseph had pity on his family. He gave them food, all the while keeping his identity hidden (they don’t recognize him when they bow before him asking for food). Twice his brothers come to

him asking for food. Unable to keep his identity hidden, he revealed himself to his family and brought them to Egypt. (Genesis 46) He made room for his brothers, their wives and children. He forgave them.

Joseph could’ve easily given up on life. He could have spiraled into an anger-filled depression, but he made the most of his situation – continuing to seek God’s leading and favor.

In the movie tonight, Josie does the same thing. She doesn’t let Liam’s aban-donment break her. Sure, she takes time to mourn, but then she continues mov-ing forward. She had a child to care for. She had a business to run. And she had God to serve.

Show Movie Clip #3 – the scene when Josie tells Liam what happened. Discuss:

• So what’s going on in your life that seems to be the end of it all?

• What are some ways you can find the strength to power through?

Hand out the Student Guides and pens. Allow for time before lights out for quiet and meditation. Encourage the girls to “journal” their thoughts Have them con-sider what’s going on in their lives. Are there Scripture passages that speak to them? Maybe they can write them down —and go back to read them when life gets rough.

11:00 As the girls fall asleep, pray that they will continue in their faith despite the struggles that life may throw at them. Pray for God’s con-tinued guidance, love, and peace.

Student Guide

FOREVER MY GIRL

JOURNALIn the quiet moments before you fall asleep, do some thinking, and journal your thoughts. What’s going on your life? How are you experiencing something like what Joseph had to go through? Are there Scripture passages that speak to you? If you can, write them down too, and go back to read them when life gets rough.


FOREVER MY GIRL


SESSION 3

THEMESForgiveness, Reconciliation

OBJECTIVEStudents will learn that forgiveness isn’t easy to give or receive, and yet it is an essential virtue for experiencing happi-ness and fulfillment.

WARM UPUndo – You’ll need to recruit four or five of your outgoing students to participate in an “improv” (a drama method where the actors make up their lines and actions on the fly) skit titled Undo. The actors are given a scenario to portray (usually determined by the audience), and begin acting. However, you (as the Director) will call “Undo!” at random intervals. When you do, the actors do everything they’ve just done, only in reverse! (They don’t have to say the words or sentences backwards, how-ever.) They keep “undoing” until you call “Action!” Then, they continue from that point with new lines and actions than they did before. Let the process con-tinue until the play is at a convenient stopping point.

TRANSITIONHand out the Student Guides and say to your group, “Don’t you wish there was an ‘Undo’ function available to your actions or the actions of others? You

say something stupid or hurtful, and you could ‘Undo’ it immediately. You choose to act in a way that God forbids, and have the ability to ‘Undo’ your sin. That would be great! While God did not create an Undo function in our life, He did provide the forgiveness function.”

ALEX ROE VIDEOShow the Alex Roe Video #5. Alex introduces the topic of forgiveness, and encourages your group to serious con-sider this issue.

MOVIE CLIPExplain that forgiveness is a difficult trait to acquire, and yet the Bible is clear: we must forgive those who wrong us – and we need the forgiveness of those we’ve hurt. Show Movie Clip #4, when Liam explains, “I honestly don’t know why I did it, but the longer I was gone, the more pain I was in, and the harder it was for me to look back. I’m really sorry, Dad.”

TRANSITIONDirect the group’s attention to the first section of the Student Guide (“How Do I?” – an actual email I received) and have them discuss what they would tell the writer.

Explain that we all need to experience forgiveness for the wrongs we have done. 1 John 1:9 gives us an “If/Then” statement that is a promise: if we con-fess, we are forgiven.

MOVIE CLIPWhile receiving forgiveness is awe-some, the more difficult task is to forgive someone who has really done us wrong. We want to make the other person, or team, or business, or nation, really pay for the harm they’ve done. We love to be angry for a good reason, right? As we learned last week, we need to rise above the harm done to us. Today, let’s think about actually forgiv-ing those who have done us wrong.

Show Movie Clip #5 of the scene where the congregation of Liam’s church acknowledges and forgives him.

BIBLE STUDYBriefly summarize Joseph’s story – he was sold by his jealous older brothers as a slave to some Egyptians, but over the years ascended to the second-highest position in the nation. Describe how bit-ter, angry, and resentful he could have felt about his brothers. Describe how a famine in that part of the world drove his brothers to seek food in Egypt. Then, have volunteers read, one verse per volunteer, Genesis 45:1-9. Have your young friends take notes as you explain these three points.

Sometimes, forgiving others is the only way to get past the pain. (v.1-2)These two verses make a big deal out of Joseph’s cathartic weeping. The deep emotion being portrayed in these verses is significant because men in that time

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and culture did NOT express most emo-tions. Joseph’s crying was the result of his lifelong experience of undeserved difficulty. That he could forgive his broth-ers was, to the people in that time, hugely unusual. It was a “God thing” for him, and it was what enabled him to get past his pain and built-up anguish.

Sometimes, those who hurt us are afraid we’ll hurt them back. (v.3-5) Note the words used to describe the brothers’ reaction to discovering that their little brother had not only survived slavery, but had become so powerful that he could have ordered them to be tortured to death: terrified, distressed, and angry with themselves for selling him. Imagine their reaction when Joseph told them to come close to him – like a child with a stolen cookie being told to come close to his mom, but even worse! They knew that they were guilty, and were certain that they were about to pay for their misdeed. However, Joseph’s attitude of forgiveness and love took them completely by surprise!

Sometimes, bad things happen for a good reason. (v.5-9)We can never be sure what God is doing when we are going through unde-served difficulty – but sometimes we can look in the rearview mirror and be able to discern that “in all things” God was working “for the good of those who love Him.” (Romans 8:28) Joseph could look back on his experiences and see what God was doing. His faith helped him to reinterpret his troubles – instead of being undeserved painful experi-ences; God was getting everything set up so that He could save His people. Joseph even changed the event from “you sold me as a slave to Egyptians” to “God sent me here.” What faith! Such a view of God’s involvement helped him to be reconciled with his brothers.

WRAP UPHave the students fill out the “This Gets Personal” part of their Student Guide that instructs them to:

• If you’re holding a grudge against someone who has hurt you, maybe now is the time to forgive and get past the anger and the pain. Identify whom you need to forgive (just use initials or something that only you would rec-ognize), and what you can do to offer forgiveness and reconciliation.

• How might God use your experience for good? Get creative and imagine a future situation where what you’ve gone through will be an asset.

When they’ve finished working, let your students know that you’re available to help them process their situations (some might be quite painful and evil), to pray with them, and help them. Close in prayer.

This Forever My Girl “Behind The Scenes” Youthworker Guide

written by:

Ken McCoyJumpStart Ministries

Charlotte, NC

Sarah Taylor Gulf Cove UMC

Port Charlotte, FL

Proofed by: Dale Weed

interlínc Franklin, TN

Student Guide

FOREVER MY GIRL

HOW DO I?From: NameChanged <[email protected] >Reply To: [email protected]: CoolDude <[email protected]> Subject: How Do I?

Dear CoolDude,

I hope you are having a great week and that God filled you with many bless-ings this week. I actually am writing because I have a huge question. I have come to learn that one of the toughest battles for me with my walk with Christ is forgiving myself for past experienc-es. I am trying to find Scripture to help me surpass this and forgive myself. I trust that you have the knowledge to help me try and grow closer with God. This is one of my daily struggles and I really want to try to overcome it, so if you could try and find some stuff I could read or study, I would greatly appreciate it. No rush on finding that...

Thanks,Name Changed

GENESIS 45:1-9

Sometimes, ______________________

others is the only way to get past the

____________________________. (v.1-2)

Sometimes, those who _______________

us are _________________________ we’ll

___________________ them back. (v.3-5)

Sometimes, ___________________ things

happen for a ________________________

reason. (v.5-9) Romans 8:28

THIS GETS PERSONALIf you’re holding a grudge against someone who has hurt you, maybe now is the time to forgive and get past the anger and the pain. Identify whom you need to forgive (just use initials or something that only you would recognize), and what you can do to offer forgiveness and reconciliation.

How might God use your experience for good? Get creative and imagine a future situation where what you’ve gone through will be an asset.

W E A R E G O I N G !

“BEHIND THE SCENES” YOUTHWORKER GUIDE...Forever My Girl could become one of those movies. This...

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