Seeking Path · Lesson 6: Why the Cross?
This lesson in one sentence: Salvation is not earned; it is a gift: God himself came to reconnect us, walking the road we could not walk.
Timing (about 55 minutes)
- Food and catching up10 min
- Read Together10 min
- Discussion25 min
- To take home and think about5 min
- Closing (prayer optional)5 min
Read aloud at the start: you don’t have to speak · you can ask anything · no pressure
Opening
What is the most unexpected gift you have ever received?
Read Together
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 · WEB
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God.
John 3:16-18 · WEB
Discussion
- Many people feel that ‘doing more good to cancel out the bad’ is fairest. What do you think?
- “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves” (Ephesians 2:8-9)—does the idea of ‘not by our own effort’ make you feel relieved, or is it hard to get used to?
- “through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19)—how would you put this in your own words?
- If it is really true that “The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new,” (2 Corinthians 5:17) which part of your life would you most want to begin again? (You can think without saying.)
To take home and think about
A gift can only be received or not. This week, think about this: what makes it hard to receive a gift for free?
Closing
The leader prays briefly (optional), or simply thanks everyone for coming and agrees the time for next session.
Tips for the leader
- Don’t press anyone to decide in this session. ‘How to begin to believe’ comes next time, and even then no one is pressed.
- If someone asks, ‘That easy? So doing wrong doesn’t matter?’ that is a good question. You can say that someone who truly receives the gift longs for a new life—the New Believer’s Path talks about that.
General principles for leaders
- The leader is not a teacher but someone who walks alongside everyone.
- Give everyone a chance to speak; with someone who talks a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s also hear from friends who haven’t spoken yet.’
- Don’t rush to give answers. If someone is silent, wait a few more seconds.
- For a question you can’t answer, you can say, ‘I don’t know either; let’s look it up together,’ and note it down for next time.
- What is said in the group stays in the group.
- At the opening, the leader can give their own answer first, showing that it can be simple and honest.