Teen Discussion Questions: Sheep Security (The Good Shepherd) (Updated, 2013)

Thursday:	Sheep Security (The Good Shepherd)
Story Passages:	Luke 15:3-7, 1st Samuel 17:32-37
Other Passages:	John 10:1-30, Romans 8:28-39
Objectives:	Jesus is the good shepherd and always looks after his sheep.
Memory Verse:	John 10:28

1. Why was David willing to fight the bear?
2. Jesus says that his sheep know his voice and will not follow a stranger. Since he returned to heaven, we don't hear his physical voice much – how do we tell good leaders from bad ones today?
3. What does Jesus mean when he calls himself the gate for the sheep?
4. Jesus says he has other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. Who are these? When he says, I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd, what is he talking about?
5. Jesus speaks of a hired hand who will abandon the sheep. Who is he talking about? How is the hired hand different from the thief, yet also different from the shepherd?
6. When the disciples asked Jesus (right before he ascended) whether the kingdom was coming to Israel right away, we now know that the answer was no – it was going to be two thousand years or more. Why didn't he tell them that? Why did he instead tell them to wait for the Spirit?

If you need hints to answer some of the questions, look up the listed scripture passages.