"What's Water-Walking?"

Get Out of the Boat
Leaders’ Guide / Lesson Plan

Week One: “What’s Water-Walking?”

First, let me say thanks to each of you for agreeing to lead a small group at SOTH this fall. I think that you’ll truly find that you never learn material like you do when you prepare to teach it, and of all the people in our church, you will be most blessed by this process.

What follows are first some general tips for leading a small group (you may already know these), and then a specific guide for lesson one. My goal will be to post the plan at least a week in advance for each lesson. That goal has long since passed for Tim and Lamar’s group (tonight), but I will try to get next week’s lesson up in addition to this one, a.s.a.p.

So, here we go:

Synopsis

“Get Out of the Boat” will happen in six sessions. We will focus primarily around Peter’s experience of “water walking” with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. Each lesson will be comprised of a video presentation by John Ortberg and lots of group discussion. You are not so much “teaching” this material, in the classic sense of a lecture style, classroom environment, so much as you will be facilitating conversation among a group of Jesus-followers and/or Seekers, who will be exploring their faith together.

This study is all about following Jesus in a powerful, life-changing way that is radical, and particular to each person.

Key Points of Session One:

God gives each of us a tremendous invitation to step out in faith, like Peter, and follow him.


It’s always risky to step out of the boat. It is always scary to leave the security of the boat and face the churning waters of the storm.


Jesus is looking for those who love and trust him enough to step out of the boat and walk with him.

Reading and Materials:
It will be helpful if participants have read chapter one before your first meeting, but they well may not have been able to do that. Things will be fine if they haven’t. The video will do a great job of catching them up. You’ll need your dvd (available in office if you don’t have it yet), dvd player, a tv set, and I’d probably bring along some pencils and paper, and perhaps have some Bibles handy for those who didn’t bring theirs.

Session Outline: (This general outline will hold true for all 6 sessions)

I. Introduction (5 minutes)
Welcome
Study Preview (what this study is all about)
Questions to Think About

II. Video Presentation: “What’s Water Walking?” (14 Minutes)

III. Group Discovery (31 Minutes)

Video Recap (6 minutes)
Large Group Exploration (10 minutes)
Small Group Exploration (10 minutes)
Group Discussion (5 minutes)

IV. Closing Meditation (1 minute)

Detailed Session One Lesson Plan:

I. Introduction (5 Minutes)
A. Welcome : This is pretty straightforward – introduce yourself, welcome everybody and thank them for being there. Host might have some words at this point as well. Open with a word of prayer. Suggestion is that it might be good for you to do this as leader the first time and then share this opportunities with others in your group that you’ve asked ahead of time. Don’t put anybody on the spot with a surprise invitation to pray publicly.

B. What’s to Come : Recount the story of Peter on the Sea of Galilee to the group. Remind them of how Jesus appeared through the darkness and storm. This session will be all about what happened when Peter decided to step out of the boat and the question that we’ll consider is what it might mean for us as Jesus’ followers to accept his invitation and step out in faith and water walk with Him. Tonight we’ll learn that there is always risk and promise associated with being a water-walker.

C. Questions to Think About: Ask the following questions, and give time for someone in the group to speak up and begin a short conversation. There’s not a lot of time here, and remember – the goal at this point is to get them thinking, as much as anything.

1) What kinds of things do you trust in, especially when life gets stormy, that help you feel comfortable and secure rather than fearful?

Anticipate that responses will include: money, career, investments, relationships. This begins to introduce participants to ideas about the high price we pay when we

2) How would you define failure?

Responses will vary – A big part of this session deals with our perceptions regarding failure and how fear of failure keeps us in the boat.

II. Video Presentation: “What’s Water-Walking?” (14 Min.)
A. Play the video – segment one, and you’ll hear a mini-lecture from John Ortberg, summing up much of his work in Chapter One.

III. Group Discovery (6 Minutes)

A. Video Highlights: After the video, and as time permits, explore some of the following:

Q: When John Ortberg and his wife took their hot air balloon ride, the competence of their pilot became very important to them. Why is it so important for us to know the competence and trustworthiness of whoever pilots our lives?
A: Control is difficult for any of us to let go of. When we step out of the boat, we’re counting on the competence of Jesus to come through for us.

Q: What do you think about John Ortberg’s comments on failure, particularly the idea that failure has more to do with the way we view the outcome of an event than what actually happened?
A: Participants may agree or disagree – The point is that we can choose to view our “failures” as stepping stones and points of growth on the way to increased faith.

B. Large Group Exploration (10 Minutes)

Read Matthew 14:22-33 (Peter walks on water – have someone volunteer to read this passage)

1) Re-capping the story:
Ask the group – “The disciples obeyed Jesus and sailed on the other other side of the Sea of Galilee without him. What happened as they sailed?”

“What did Jesus say to them and why is this significant today?”

“What happened after Jesus told the disciples who he was? What is significant about Peter’s response to Jesus?”

“What impact did this have on the disciples?”

“What impact do you think this event had on Peter?”

Other “Water-Walking” Invitations – choose a couple of these scriptures, read them and talk about what happened in each instance.

Genesis 22: Abraham and Isaac
Exodus 3:7-10 and Ch. 14: Moses – Red Sea parts
Joshua 3: Joshua leads Israelites across Jordan
Joshua 6: Walls of Jericho
Numbers 13-14: Twelve spies – those who refuse to trust perish
Matthew 19:16-22 : Rich Young Ruler

C. Small Group Exploration (10 Minutes)
Divide into two smaller groups

Group A: Read Psalm 49

Group B: Read Exodus 3:1-4, 11-13

After the groups have had a few moments to read, ask each group to answer aloud –

Ask Group A – “What does Psalm 49 tells us about ‘boats’ that we try to make for ourselves?” (Answer – things of this world are passing away – can’t take it with us – God alone gives eternal life)

Ask Group B – “How did God appear to Moses, and what does he want him to do? How does Moses respond? How does God appear to us and how do we usually respond?”

D. Group Discussion (5-6 min)

John Ortberg mentions how the human heart changes as we resist God’s call, or choose to follow Him. If we keep choosing not to step out of our boats, what happens to us? To the people around us? To our relationship with God?

How can the “boats” we create and refuse to leave sometimes be more dangerous in the storm than stepping out of them would be?

IV. Closing Meditation (1 min)

Take a few moments for prayer concerns and joys – let the group share as much as it will. Here’s a suggestion from the curriculum for a closing prayer.

“Dear God, It’s easier to discuss what happened to Peter during that raging storm on the lake than it is to think honestly about the boats we create to try to shelter ourselves and gain the illusion of control. Please help us to become more aware of the boats we create. Show us how our boats are affecting our ability to hear your call and how we can take steps of faith that will lead to a stronger walk with you. Give us the courage to accept your invitation to step out in faith and walk with you on the water. Feed our desire to experience more of your presence and power as we walk in places we could never walk on our own. Thank you for your promise to be with us, to be there with a helping hand whenever we need you. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.”

Some Notes From Adam:

OK Everybody --- I know this is VERY details -- it's based loosely on the teacher's guide put together by Zondervan Publishing. Some tips --- this is for teachers of all comfort and experience levels. Some of you may like something that is very "paint by numbers" and you can follow this pretty closely and feel sure that you're going to do ok. Some of you are more experienced at teaching, and this may feel too constrictive for you.

PLEASE, by all means, feel the freedom to teach this in the way that you are comfortable. The class will be better if you are comfortable with what you're trying to do. Also, do not freak out over the time guidelines. They're there to give you an idea of how much time you have and how to manage your class's time.

Work hard not to let any one person in your group monopolize the conversation. We'll talk about this as we go along, and if some of you are having problems in that regard, we'll talk specific strategies. Sometimes, folks will force you to say, "great conversation, but we've got to keep moving" -- or something to that effect. It is ultimately your responsibility to keep the train on the tracks, but don't obsess about hitting every time mark. Please don't look at your watch every 30 seconds --- that will make everybody anxious.

OK -- that's it for now. Please call me if you've got any questions -- or some things that you don't understand, etc.

You all are key to a wonderful 6 weeks in our church, and I am praying for you every day.

Grace & Peace --- and HAVE FUN!!!!

Adam

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