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Initiate
A video introduction using illustrations, personal stories, metaphors, or active learning examples to begin the discussion.
Interact
After the video, prompts are supplied for thinking and sharing with others personal perception and experience. This opening activity prompts participants to think about and relate to the topic, and to share with others.
The WAY To Go
Using the image above, notice that an absolute still involves a choice.
There is one true way, even though you are free to choose other options.
ENTER a building or a physical space
- ONE WAY: Go through the front door. Be honest. Come in openly and rightly.
- OTHER WAYS: Sneak in, force access, or take shortcuts. You may get inside, but you do not belong.
LEAD people
- ONE WAY: Serve, listen, and take responsibility. Trust grows over time.
- OTHER WAYS: Control or manipulate. You gain attention by fear but not respect.
LEARN just about anything
- ONE WAY: Do the work. Tell the truth. Grow through effort.
- OTHER WAYS: Cheat, copy, or cut corners. You advance without becoming.
HEALTH choices
- ONE WAY: Follow wise guidance. Receive help as it is given.
- OTHER WAYS: Self-medicate, ignore limits, or borrow fixes not meant for you.
What are some other areas of life where there is one true way, even though many other choices are available?
Insight
The Bible discussion begins with a careful reading of the whole passage, either from your own Bibles, or from the provided images below.
Then participants are to ask:
- What is going on in this passage of Scripture?
- What are the key words and phrases? Highlight them.
- Why do you think this passage is included in the Bible?
- What does it contribute to our “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ”?
Jesus simplifies life, the most basic decision of all, but He starts by telling us who He is. Before He teaches about guidance or sacrifice, He declares, “I am the gate.” Life with God is not mainly a path we figure out or an experience we earn. It is a person we trust and enter into His life with. Being “in Christ” or to be “In truth” is all about the choice. Experiencing salvation is not just an idea or a belief; it is a relationship or a position. Jesus later says the same thing another way: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The gate is not opened by trying harder or being better, but by trusting Him.
Jesus makes a clear contrast: Thieves slowly take life away and Jesus gives life, fully and completely. Jesus restores what is broken, over time. This connects to the choice Moses gave Israel: life and good, or death and destruction (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). Jesus places Himself at the center of that choice and says, “Choose life with me.”
Finally, Jesus moves from calling Himself the gate to calling Himself the Shepherd. He is no longer just the way into life, but the one who walks with us and leads us in it. Wherever the Shepherd goes, that is the path to life. This leads us to the cross, where Jesus carries the cost for others, just as Isaiah described (Isaiah 53:6). Abundant life does not come from taking or striving, but from embracing a life-given gift through His sacrifice.
Insight Out
A parting video clip with a personal invitation to apply the message to “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ” in the coming week.