Leader Guide

• Why is it important not to judge a person by appearance only?
• How does hearing a person’s story help us to understand them more and see them as a real person?
• If we only had one word to describe a person, we have seen for the first time, why would that be frustrating?

Time permitting, share the stories behind the photos from the next page with the students.

• Did any of their stories surprise you?
• To which of these stories can you best relate?

Transition
We live in a divided world. Through sin, we experience separation from God and His creation, especially God’s people. We see our friends, families, classmates, and people in general, “digging in their heels” along political, racial, cultural, economic and even theological lines.

Sadly, we have seen people who claim to love God but show more of what they are against than what they are for.

Today, we are going to discover the ingredients of unity, even in disagreement and diversity. In this time together, we will discover what it means to be united in the Spirit of Christ and relate with others better as an outcome.

The Video 
Invite your group to the Elevator Ride section of their Student Guide. Play For KING & COUNTRY’s music video, Relate, twice.

The first time, have students watch carefully. The second time, have them write their observations.

Transition

• What surprised you about this video?
• How did all these scenes illustrate the title of the song, Relate?
• Describe what you think may be the symbolism of the elevators.
• What was the significance of the elevatorglass breaking?
• What is important about seeing everybody out of their elevators at the end?

The writers say, “I’ve been real, I’ve been fake. Been a sinner, been a saint. I’ve been right; I’ve been so so wrong.”

• How is a confession of our shortcomings important to how we relate with others?

Bible Study
Read Ephesians 4:1-6
Read this together four times with four different voices as a group. Be sure your readers offer it slowly and with feeling. To make this even more meaningful, have copies of the scripture (all in the same translation) and distribute them to every member in the group. This will be useful in their Student Guide exercise.
Give everyone about five minutes to complete the activity on their own in the Student Guide section, Elements of Unity.

• What did the writer mean by “calling?”
• Why is it important to know this
• “calling” is for everyone?
• How do the character traits in verse 2 help a person to live out verse 3?
• On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best), how would you rate the following groups at living in unity:
  • People you know?
  • Your community as a whole?
  • Your region?
  • Your country?
  • The world?
  • Your church?
• What is the importance of all the “ones” in verses 4-5?
• What is meant by “one body?”
• How do these verses all fit in with the message of the song, “I don’t know what it’s like to be you, you don’t know what it’s like to be me, by the grace of God we’ll see each other’s heart?”

Wrap Up
As Christ-followers, it is imperative that we don’t simply talk about unity. Building relationships is something we are called to do. It was once said, “People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care.” Our goal is to move toward better relating with our classmates, community friends, and all of God’s people.
Have students turn to the Student Guide section, We Can Relate.

• What are three ways you might better interact with people who are different than you?

Listen and Love
Two of the most important foundation pieces of relating with others are to listen and love. As we listen to God and others, we hear truth and stories. As we love God and receive God’s love for us, we can better follow Jesus’ words to “love our neighbor as ourself.”

Listening and loving other believers:

• Respect and learn about believers who attend other churches.
• See how you might plan youth activities at different churches or with different groups.
• Be willing to ask questions about what other believers think about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and social issues.
• Listen and love even if you disagree.
• Remember, we can all meet at the foot of the cross and follow Jesus together.
• Pray for them.

Listening and loving pre-Christians:

• Be reminded all people have been created by God.
• Remember that Jesus died for all people.
• Be patient with others as they make choices to start or not start on the journey with Jesus.
• Pray for them.
• Ask the Lord for an opportunity to share the Good News with them.