Leader Guide

Objective
Students will learn that God is working on their behalf in every circumstance.

Warm Up
That’s Inedible – Gather a bunch of canned food that includes really yummy stuff (pudding, pie filling, etc.) and totally gross stuff (canned cat food, anchovies, Spam – unless you’re in Hawaii, etc.)

Ask for volunteers (as many as you have cans) to stand in front of the group and, without looking, grab a can from the bag. They then have to eat the whole can, using just their fingers, as fast as possible. While they’re eating, the rest of the group should be cheering them on (in between peals of laughter!)

Transition
After you’ve cleaned up the mess, see if you can get some discussion going around questions like these:

• Who had the most entertaining response to the food they had to eat?
• How might the different foods be a metaphor for different situations we experience in life?
• How do most people seem to respond to unappealing, disgusting, or difficult experiences?

The Video
Explain that Toby said: “I’ve been walking through a two-and-a-half-year valley [after] losing my firstborn son. One day I wrote on a napkin, ‘You’re still the goodness in my life.’ I have experienced the goodness of God my whole life, and I will continue to look for and experience the goodness of God.”

Hand out the Student Guides and have the group fill in the blanks of the missing lyrics.

Play the music video to “The Goodness” by TobyMac.

Transition
Go through the missing lyrics to make sure everyone has their page filled in. Here are the missing words: falls, complain, showin’, more, darkness, heights, roots, showin’, goodness, truth, doubt, smile, coins, rollin’, captive, chose, fade, ugly, sunshine, love.

Bible Study
Use these Bible passages to point out just some of the truth in Toby’s song.

Genesis 50:19-20 (New International Version) – But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

“It’s all on me to stay and really catch what You’re showin’ – It’s my roots that You’re growin’ – ’Cause life is more than this moment”

Although Joseph could have been angry at his brothers (and God) for what they did to him, he was able to see God’s involvement with what he experienced.

• What is your typical reaction to when things go wrong?
• How has God turned a difficult situation into something good for you?

Psalm 23:4 (NIV) – Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…

Psalm 139:7-10 (NIV) – Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

“Everywhere that I go, You keep showin’ up”

• Is the fact that God is always with you comforting or creepy?
• Why would some people not be comfortable knowing that God keeps showing up? (Bring out the idea that some people are not convinced that God is the goodness in their lives. They’re afraid that He will interfere, or punish them.)

Wrap Up
Ask your students to think of a current situation in which they need God’s presence and goodness. Encourage the students to mention those situations to God in your closing time of prayer.

Playlist
This song is featured on “The Linc: God’s Goodness” Spotify playlist – which is the perfect way to remind your students what you’ve taught them in this session. To share it with them, click the live link on the web version of this study.