July 26, 2025
A video introduction using illustrations, personal stories, metaphors, or active learning examples to begin the discussion.
After the video, prompts are supplied for thinking and sharing with others personal perception and experience. This opening activity prompts participants to think about and relate to the topic, and to share with others.
We See What We See
Think about your stereotypes. It’s hard not to judge others by what we see—or even by what we hear. But what if our first impressions aren’t that accurate?
In the Blind Audio Judgments Study conducted at NYU in 2008, participants listened to recordings of different people reading the exact same paragraph. After listening, they were asked to guess various traits about the speaker, such as their job, race, or personality.
What happened?
Which of the above are surprising or not surprising?
The Bible discussion begins with a careful reading of the whole passage, either from your own Bibles, or from the provided images below.
Then participants are to ask:
In this quiet moment between Jesus and Nathanael we see a miracle of insight. When Jesus says, “I saw you under the fig tree,” it moves Nathanael to confess Him as the Son of God. God sees us not just in our big moments but in stillness, doubt, prayer, and waiting. Like Hagar once said in Genesis 16:13, “You are the God who sees me.”
Philip’s invitation, “Come and see,” is both simple and profound. Sometimes faith begins not with proof but with an open heart. Jesus invites us to see what eyes alone might miss. Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that we walk by faith, not by sight.
Nathanael’s question, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” reveals honest skepticism. Yet Jesus does not correct him harshly. He reveals something deeper. He meets doubt with grace.
Jesus ends with a promise. He says, “You will see greater things.” This echoes Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28, now fulfilled in Christ. In Him, the ladder between heaven and earth has come. What might those greater things be? Could they include what Jesus promised in John 14:12?
A parting video clip with a personal invitation to apply the message to “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ” in the coming week.