Use this humorous discussion starter to stimulate and generate questions from your young people. Find out more about what they find hard to believe or understand. What are their barriers to faith? What questions do they have about the Christian life?
These are genuine statements found on insurance claim forms, where car drivers attempted to summarise the details of an accident in the fewest possible words.
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Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don't have.
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I thought my window was down, but I found it was up when I put my head through it.
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I collided with a stationary truck coming in the other direction.
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The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.
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I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.
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The accident happened because I had one eye on the lorry in front, one eye on the pedestrian and the other on the car behind.
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In an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telegraph pole.
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I had been driving for forty years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.
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My car was legally parked as it backed into the other vehicle.
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An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.
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I told the police I was not injured, but on removing my hat found I had a fractured skull.
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The pedestrian has no idea which way to run so I ran over him.
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I saw a slow moving, sad faced old gentleman as he bounced of the roof of my car.
REFLECTION
Organised and consistent Christian teaching is a vital element of youth
ministry. But do you sometimes feel you're answering questions no one is asking? Using simple discussion starters like this gives your young people an opportunity to set the agenda.
Would you believe it? What questions do you have about Christianity? What things bug you? What about when the Bible says this? My friend asked me?
Ask the young people to take a few moments to think about a question they want to ask. Perhaps something they have never understood or an issue they struggle with. The questions are then written on slips
of paper (anonymously) and placed into a hat or bag. Take a short break. Review the questions and select several you want to begin with.
Acknowledge and affirm ALL the questions.
Remember this is not an exercise to show your group how clever you are!
Encourage thoughts and comments on each question from others in the group. Do others find this difficult too? What do you think? Where appropriate, add your own comments, experiences, bible passages to
review and teaching.
If you don't know the answer - say so! But promise to go away and find
out more. This can mean a lot to a young person asking about a genuine question of belief. Work on it and have some further thoughts and study for the next time you meet. Some questions could also be used a primers for further Bible study.
NOTE
I've had these quotes for a long time and I'm not sure of the original source, although they are genuine. I believe they come from Australian insurance claims. However, I hesitate to say too much about that to avoid an antipodean backlash :-)
OTHER DISCUSSION STARTERS
For more, click on discussion starters in the category list.
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