EXTRA! Ideas for Adults – All Signs Point to Jesus – Session 3

5 days ago 15

Date: March 16, 2025

The Sign of His Authority

The Point: Jesus works in a way that goes beyond our expectations.

Get Into the Study

Use the following information to introduce Question #1.

Belle Gibson was already an Instagram star, when she announced “she’d been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer,” with “only four months to live.” As she continued chronicling her healthy lifestyle and treatments, her popularity and net worth soared; in 2013, she had over 200,000 downloads of her healthy recipe app. Followers celebrated as she survived years beyond that diagnosis. Except that none of what she’d claimed was true; there had been no diagnosis, no holistic treatments, and no miraculous survival of cancer.

A Netflix show released in late February is diving into the details. Those who remember the saga may be surprised now to learn about the legal outcomes. “In real life,” says Time Magazine, “she never faced criminal charges.” However, because of dishonesty in the sale of her app, authorities verified last week that they are still pursuing Belle Gibson for unpaid fines of 410,000 Australian Dollars ($261,000 USD).

Though Gibson did not face legal criminality, her case led to the overhaul of Australian health laws. For example, paid testimonials for therapeutic products “are now prohibited, and anyone claiming health expertise cannot endorse them.” One reporter wrapped up the situation this way: “I like to think it was really a wake up call… in terms of people’s gullibility and about accepting advice on very serious health conditions online.”

Say: “The idea of using a gimmick to get other people’s money is a tactic as old as time. People rooting for Belle were tricked into a position of empathy and trust, and they probably felt regret afterward.

Then proceed with asking Question #1: “What gimmick or sales pitch did you buy into but later regret?”

Information for this post was gleaned from:

Get Into the Study (Option from Adult Leader Guide)

In advance, play a video clip of a popular sales pitch. Then ask Question #1.

Study the Bible

After discussing question #5, use this news story to refer back to The Point: Jesus works in a way that goes beyond our expectations.

Scientists worked for ten years to solve the problem of how so-called “superbugs” gain information from other bacteria in order to develop into the impenetrable, and untreatable, form that has made them a formidable foe for modern medicine. Specifically, they examined, “why certain bacteria are resistant to antibiotics.” Researchers at Imperial College London had spent years on their investigation but had written nothing publicly either in print or online about the specific mechanisms used by superbugs to gain strength.

When their discoveries came to a conclusion, they tested Google’s new tool, “Co-Scientist,” and were shocked when it “reached the same conclusion in just two days, confirming their hypothesis and even presenting additional possibilities.” Because the results were so clear and accurate, Professor Jose Penades suspected that “Google might have accessed his unpublished research without permission,” but found it had not done so.

Researchers say that “had they had the hypothesis at the start of the project, it would have saved years of work.” When ten years of careful research can be successfully achieved in less than two days, the AI potential seems truly limitless.

Say: “People are often surprised at the ways that AI is advancing and gaining in its ability to offer useful applications for human beings. We may be surprised at AI, but we should never be surprised by Jesus’s authority in the world, and the way He can do so much more than we ever ask, think, or imagine.

Then review The Point of the session: “Jesus works in a way that goes beyond our expectations.”

Information for this post was gleaned from:

Jessica Connell wrote these Leader Extras. Jess is a homeschooling mom of nine who has served around the world in ministry with her husband. She loves hiking, exploring, and being active in her local church in North Texas.

Additional Questions

Ice Breaker

What gimmick or sales pitch did you buy into but later regret? LP
What’s the silliest gimmick you’ve seen others fall for? LP
What do you do to avoid waiting (or waiting in line)? LP
How do Jesus’s miracles testify to His deity? Q11 from session 1

John 5:1-7

The disabled man had no one to help him for 38 years. Which types of people in our modern world may feel similarly abandoned?
Where do desperate people go today hoping for a miracle cure?
How does Jesus step into desperate places today?
Who are the blind, lame, and paralyzed in our world today?

John 5:8-11

How should we respond when human authority conflicts with Christ’s authority?
How do we move from a focus on what we think we need to a focus on what God is doing?
When has Jesus gone beyond expectations in your life?
How do these verses reveal Jesus’s authority? His grace?
When has Jesus reached into your life in a way you found surprising?
How have superstitions and cultural thinking influenced our understanding about the character and nature of God?

John 5:17-20

In what ways did Jesus demonstrate His divine authority in this passage?
How did Jesus reveal the nature of the Father?
What are some religious traditions or habits in the church today that may prevent people from experiencing God?
What do we learn about Jesus in this story?