May 24, 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.
Agree or Disagree
Saying something mean or negative out loud makes it feel more real—and can actually make you believe it more over time.
Agree or Disagree?
Hurtful words tend to stick in your memory longer than kind ones—unless you choose to focus on positive things on purpose.
Agree or Disagree?
The words people say to you—good or bad—don’t just affect your feelings. They can change how your body reacts too, like your heart rate or stress level.
Agree or Disagree?
What Brain Science Says About Words that are Spoken:
1. Words affect more than feelings—they shape your brain and body.
2. Hurtful words trigger stress and shut down clear thinking.
3. Saying something out loud makes it stick in your brain.
4. The brain holds onto negative words more than positive ones.
5. Kind words can calm your body and reduce anxiety.
6. Encouraging words can even help you heal faster.
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:
Read Mark 15:27-32
27 With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left. 29 Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself by coming down from the cross.” 31 Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.
In Mark 15:27–32, the crowd mocked Jesus with words like, “Save yourself!” But Jesus didn’t come to escape pain—He came to stay and save. Real love holds steady, even when it is hard. When they said, “He saved others, but can’t save himself,” they meant it as a taunt, but it was actually true in a deeper way. Jesus’ mission was never about showing off power—it was about laying down His life in love.
The crowd demanded a sign: “Come down from the cross, then we’ll believe!” If Jesus had saved Himself, He would have been just another man. Instead, by staying on the cross, He became the Savior of the world.
What’s even more striking is how Jesus responded. He didn’t shout back or curse His enemies. He prayed, “Father, forgive them.” That kind of strength—quiet, selfless, forgiving—is still the kind that changes hearts today. True power doesn’t need to prove itself. It shows up in love.
As Paul writes, “But God shows his love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In the same way, we are called to respond to opposition not with anger, but with goodness, silencing critics by our actions (1 Peter 2:15).
A parting video clip with a personal invitation to apply the message to “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ” in the coming week.