Young People’s Ministries is working with the worship resourcing team from Discipleship Ministries to create reflection pieces that could be used for youth to engage in worship themes found at https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship/worship-planning Blog posts like this one can be used for deeper discussion, or personal reflection, on the worship lessons for the week.

Here are some additional theological questions for consideration:

• The entire context of the scenario that Jesus presents to Nicodemus should not be overlooked. What else was going on in Palestine at the time that is analogous to what was going on at the time of Moses? Is this why Nicodemus came to see Jesus at night?
• When do you think that Nicodemus “connected the dots” and understood what Jesus was telling him?
• Why do you think that God chose a snake as the symbol that would save the Israelites from their plight in the desert?
• Nicodemus could not save Jesus from the cross, despite speaking up for him before the Sanhedrin. Why do you think that he didn’t try harder to help Jesus in his time of need?

And here are some personal context questions:

• Context is the setting, the background, if you will, the stage where our lives take place. How would you describe your context at school? At home? At church? What is similar between those contexts and what is different?
• What is a saying or a phrase, that you use or hear, that would only make sense in one of those contexts?
• What could you do to help the people at your home better understand your context at school? Same question for church?
• Do you find it difficult to take lessons or learnings from one context to another? Why?
• In your own words, why is learning about context so important when we are learning about a person, a saying, or a scripture?