"No Laughing Matter"
Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
By choosing a life close to the evils of his age rather than one as far away as possible, Lot laid the groundwork for the destruction of his family.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES
OVERVIEW
Have you ever played a game in complete darkness? What was it like? How did you feel? Trying to do anything in the dark is usually difficult, unless it’s in your own home. Then a trip to the bathroom in the dark or out to the kitchen for a glass of water might not be so bad. Our lesson today isn’t so much about what one can see with their eyes, but about what happens when one’s life get so completely focused on evil that one can’t see God.
OPENING ACTIVITY: BLIND LEADING THE BLIND
DISCUSSION
TRANSITION
Which do you like better: day or night? If you had to choose between losing one of your senses which one would it be? Smell, taste, touch, hearing, or sight? Imagine what eating would be like without taste. Many people complained during the Covid-19 pandemic because they lost their sense of taste for a while. However, you could live without taste. What about losing your sight? We know that’s possible because there are many people who can’t see. One can live without having a sense or two, but their quality of life is often diminished in certain ways. How is one’s quality of life diminished by not having spiritual discernment?
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Read Genesis 19:1-3.
1The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
Setting the stage:
DISCUSSION
Read Genesis 19:4-9.
4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
DISCUSSION
Read Genesis 19:10-14.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
DISCUSSION
Now that you have read and thought about the story, either rewrite the story and provide an alternative ending, or have the different groups from the earlier game act out the story.
APPLICATION
A father and son were walking down the road one evening as the sun went down. The little boy began to get scared and started to hurry down the road because he wanted to get to his house before all the light disappeared. The dad continued his slow pace, but the boy kept urging him to go faster. Finally, the dad called to his son asking him to slow down and come back and walk by him. The little boy complied, but still wasn’t happy about the situation. In a moment, noticing his son’s discomfort, the dad reached down and picked the little boy up in his arms and carried him the rest of the way home. There was no more complaining or wanting to hurry up because the son was no longer scared of the dark. He knew that his daddy knew the way home, even in the dark. Jesus longs for us to allow Him to carry us. He conquered the darkness, and He knows the way to His Father. Will you allow Him to carry you through the darkness to His house?
FOLLOW UP
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
OVERVIEW
Imagine for just a moment that you have been invited to attend a sleepover at a friend’s house. Now imagine that that sleepover was in a very sketchy neighborhood. Would you go?
What if this slumber party was located on the shadiest side of town during the middle of the night and you were wearing designer clothes and driving in a really expensive car? Would you still attend?
Now, what if your friend told you that this slumber party they were throwing was going to be held in an alley behind their house? Oh yeah, and it’s all happening in your car. Would you want to go then? For your own safety, probably not. But would you warn your friends who were on their way to this same fate? Chances are, you would.
Genesis 19 captures just how low society had fallen in the days of Abraham, by recording the events of what happened to his nephew Lot while living in a place called Sodom. The entire region of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities that surrounded them, were steeped in corruption. Immorality and depravity had become an all-day, every-day, 24-hour-a-day occurrence. Social justice and civil rights were abused constantly, and sexual promiscuity and deviant behavior dominated life. As a matter of fact, one could say that Sodom and Gomorrah mirrored just about any city, anywhere in the world today.
God had finally had enough. Nevertheless, though He declared, “Enough!”, mercy was still dispensed. Before destroying the cities of the plain, He allowed the two destroying angels to do a search and rescue mission for Lot and his family. And just as He gave a warning message that Lot and his family would be given the chance to escape the soon-coming destruction, He still does the same today.
How will we choose to respond to the warning? There are only two answers. We can either be like Lot and heed the warnings given, or we can be like his sons-in-law and take God’s warning as a joke. The choice is ours.
As you read this week’s lesson, pay close attention to the details. Consider the characters in the narrative. Don’t just read the lesson, but rather place yourself in the text. You might be surprised to see just how similar modern-day society and Sodom of long ago really are. And if that is the case, what does that mean for the world? How will you relate to it?
WORST SLEEPOVER EVER!
What food, games, songs, and movies would make an epic sleepover?
Read Genesis 19:1-14.
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
1. Why did Lot invite total strangers to stay at his house?
2. In what ways can you support people who might need assistance?
3. What stops you from helping people or engaging in social issues?
4. Why did the men of Sodom try to break through Lot’s door?
5. What things are most likely to turn your heart away from God?
6. What kinds of things make us want to delay God’s coming?
7. How can we be more confident in sharing vital information, including our beliefs, with those close to us?
8. How are we to live if our residence is anything like Sodom?
CLOSING
“If only I had listened” may be by far some of the most regretted words ever spoken. How many times in your lifetime have you found yourself saying those words, all while wishing you could change the outcome of a particular situation? Nobody wants to participate in anything that ends in disaster, especially if it could have been avoided by listening to the warnings given.
The story of Lot teaches us that God’s love toward His people is great. His desire for us to be saved is so strong that He sends messages to protect us from the disasters that threaten to harm us. Often those messages of warning are given to us through our pastors, parents, and friends. But what good is a warning if we are unwilling to listen and follow the advice given? When we are not willing to heed given warnings, we become like Lot’s sons-in-law, and we risk placing ourselves and others in harm’s way.
APPLICATION
1. SLEEPOVER DO OVER.
In this week’s story we saw how Lot was willing to step up and get involved. He knew that doing nothing would negatively affect the lives of other individuals.
2. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.
Sharing the gospel with others is not always an easy thing to do. Let’s be honest, sometimes it can be downright scary. But what if you did it in stages?
3. PAY IT FORWARD JUST BECAUSE.
All too often, people do things to be seen and praised. However, God instructs us when serving others and getting credit that we should not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. This week, go about doing acts of kindness.
4. IF ONLY I HAD LISTENED.
Do you ever wonder if God is trying to tell you something? In the story, Lot’s sons-in-law had a chance to listen to the message that was being given to them, but they chose to reject it. Here’s your opportunity to not do the same.
The Beliefs and Practices of Adventist Adolescents
Created by the General Conference Office of Archives, Statistics & Research
Do you want to know more about Adventist adolescents? So do we! It is so exciting to share the recent data from the 2017-18 Global Church Member Survey (GCMS) with you. This study encompassed 63,756 participants from 13 divisions; 7,490 of them (12% of the sample) were young people up to 20 years of age. Who are these Adventist adolescents? This book will tell us more about them. The data will shed light on key areas of their lives including where some improvements can help them continue to grow and thrive.
