Open the Word

• In the session, read the Bible passage together, look at the Bible notes and Make connections sections. Use this conversation spark to provoke first reactions from the group: ‘I am more confident in facing a new situation if I have someone with me.’ Do you agree?
• For the young people to work on the Explore section you will need to give them a copy of the reading and a pen so they can work in pairs to discover what it might reveal to them. 
• End with the Live in faith and Send out prayer items for the week.

Young people

• Encourage the group to respond to their discussion using one of the respond activities in the CYP Respond to the Word section. There is a specific activity for Young People which you may like to look at first.

• Three chapters have passed since the disciples’ ‘first call’ (Mark 3.13-15). They were told then what was involved. Now, after a period of observation, they are going to do it themselves. This is a time-honoured method of training people, formerly known as ‘Learning from Nellie’, and is exemplied in the TV game show The Cube. The disciples know the risks and they can go into the task realistically. They must identify people in the local context who will be strategically supportive, and be prepared and realistic about the local situation.
• Many organisations, from the Scouts to management training groups, participate in survival exercises, where people are sent to face challenging circumstances with little to help them. The purpose of this is to develop teamwork. In the situation in which they nd themselves, members of the group very quickly become dependent on each other, and on the environment they are in. Relationships have to be made and they have to work. The disciples are sent out with very little, not for ascetic reasons, but so they have to make relationships. There are many stories, historical and contemporary, of missionaries finding the house that welcomes them.
• There are some shining contemporary examples of mission in pairs. Some years ago, the Catholic and Anglican bishops of Liverpool, Derek Worlock and David Sheppard, worked in partnership to inspire Christians in their then troubled city.
• The challenge for those involved in mission is discerning when it is time to move on. The gospel is not to be forced on people: if visitors are not welcome, they need to leave. There is a balance to be struck between long-term faithful commitment to a place or a role, and the value of the new broom. How do we discern what God is calling us to? How can we persuade others that it is time for a change?

Jesus is identified by wearing a white T-shirt.

You will need a couple of people to interrupt Jesus and a small group to represent the disciples who follow him. The characters will need to be prepared.

Jesus walks to the front of the building and starts teaching the congregation. He could start saying something about the Old Testament reading, for example. A few people, including children and young people, move to sit around him. Then a few begin to mutter.

Someone stands up and says, ‘Who do you think you are?’

Another voice joins in: ‘You can’t preach to us. We know you are Bob and Jill’s son [use real names for effect]. We know what you did when you were a lad!’

More people stand up and get cross. Jesus shakes his head. Then he says: ‘Nobody appreciates who you are in your home town.’ He walks away, the small seated group going with him to a second place in the church.

Jesus begins to talk to the group who followed him. He tells them they are to go out in twos, and that they are to heal people and set them free.

Someone asks him: ‘What do I need? Will I need my make-up? My waterproofs?’ Jesus laughs and says, ‘You don’t need anything at all. Just take a stick for the rough ground. Don’t even take a packed lunch. And don’t bother with a money belt either, not even a bit of change for an emergency. Oh, and leave your mobile at home!’

The members of the group [the disciples] mutter to each other.

Jesus continues: ‘When you get somewhere, find a friendly house and stay there for as long as you need. But if they don’t want you, just leave quickly and without a fuss.’

The disciples get into twos and make their way out of the church door, with enthusiasm and energy.

Ask people to research all the jobs that need to be done to make the Church work. Encourage people to look around for ideas, and get some to go outside and report back. Look too at magazines, pew sheets and the church’s website. Then, on a large drawing of a church (either your own place of worship or an outline, stylised image) write up ideas. Talk about how rich the church is in gifts and abilities, yet often we don’t recognise that these gifts are in our midst. Jesus had the same problem. The people who knew him didn’t expect him to be able to do much – and he found it hard to do any miracles in that place. When other people have a low opinion of us, it is much more difcult to have condence in ourselves. Jesus used his own experience to help the disciples. They had been watching him for ages and they had seen that things sometimes went wrong. They went in twos so they could help and support each other.