A. High Lights of the week
B. Breaking News of the world
C. Short Story: A Social Media Fast
Nowadays many people are social media fanatics. They are always looking at their mobile phones or tablets, and updating their Twitter or Facebook accounts. They are taking pictures of what they eat, or taking pictures of themselves, which is called "selfies". When people are not oversharing, they are constantly reading or looking at what friends and family members are posting. Social media is becoming addicting.
Research shows that most people spend on average almost 4 hours a day on social networking sites. That's almost 30 hours a week. While some people need and use social media for work or to stay in touch with friends, other people find that using social media so much causes anxiety and stress. People also tend to use social media as a way to procrastinate. So just as many religions ask people to abstain, or not to have certain foods or drinks for a certain time, many people are taking social media fasts. They are not updating their statuses, and they are also not reading what other people are posting. They choose to stay away from social media for 30 days.
Ironically, the details of these fasts can be found on social networking sites all over the Internet. The reasons people undertake a fast are varied. Some people want to reconnect with their families or friends by disconnecting from their cell phones. Some people want to be more productive at work. What did some fasters do instead of logging on? Some decided to connect with friends by actually sitting down and having face-to-face conversations. If friends or loved ones were far away, they would call them on the telephone instead. Some even wrote handwritten postcards or letters. The results were mixed. Some people felt that not using social media made them more anxious. Others developed more positive habits like journaling or meditating.
D. American Idioms
- A hot potato
- A penny for your thoughts
- Cry over spilt milk
- Cross that bridge when you come to it
- Costs an arm and a leg
- Caught between two stools
- Burn the midnight oil
- Blessing in disguise
- Bite off more than you can chew
- Best of both worlds
E. Bible Lesson:
A Story About Forgiveness
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone[d] won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times.[e]
23 “So God’s kingdom is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 The king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several thousand pounds[f] of silver. 25 He was not able to pay the money to his master, the king. So the master ordered that he and everything he owned be sold, even his wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.
26 “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27 The master felt sorry for him. So he told the servant he did not have to pay. He let him go free.
28 “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’
29 “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’
30 “But the first servant refused to be patient. He told the judge that the other servant owed him money, and that servant was put in jail until he could pay everything he owed. 31 All the other servants saw what happened. They felt very sorry for the man. So they went and told their master everything that happened.
32 “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant. You begged me to forgive your debt, and I said you did not have to pay anything! 33 So you should have given that other man who serves with you the same mercy I gave you.’ 34 The master was very angry, so he put the servant in jail to be punished. And he had to stay in jail until he could pay everything he owed.
35 “This king did the same as my heavenly Father will do to you. You must forgive your brother or sister with all your heart, or my heavenly Father will not forgive you.”
Discussion Questions:
- What was your reaction when the servant refused to forgive the man who owed him a little money?
- How were the two servants alike and different?
- How were the first servant and the master alike and different?
- Why did the master punish the first servant?
- How do you think that servant felt now?
- How could things have been different for the king's servant?
- What does Jesus say about forgiveness?
- What do you think we should do about forgiving someone who isn't sorry?
- As people who have been forgiven for our sins, what does this parable tell us?
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