Living Justly: Exploring God’s justice in the Bible, our lives and in the world enables groups to explore, through seven sessions, the six Principles for Justice adopted by the Methodist Conference in 2023.
How do we try to live in ways that are just and fair in a profoundly unfair world? Where do we find hope, particularly when things get tough? What does it mean to try to do this as Christians?
Use Living Justly to explore justice in the Bible, through our lives and in the world.
- Flexible – you to decide which parts you want to use and how, suitable for a wide range of groups
- Relevant – with personal stories from Methodists about the challenges of being justice-seekers
- Faith-building – as you use Bible studies and activities to encounter ideas, images and experiences of God’s justice
- Participative – as you respond together by nuturing seeds of justice in your church, community or in the world.
Living Justly is a collection of resources to enable groups to explore the Methodist Church’s Principles for Justice through a series of seven flexible sessions.
How Living Justly works
There are seven sessions in the series.
Each session follows the structure of:
- Welcome
- Setting the context
- Exploring the Bible
- Responding together
- Asking “What next?”
There are a variety of resources for each section and you are invited to choose activities according to your group’s interests and learning style.
Living Justly videos
Seven films are available as part of these sessions, with Methodists in conversation exploring one of the Principles for Justice. You can find all the films here.
If you want to explore the issues raised in the films in more depth, there are some suggested questions here.
Welcome
Welcome everyone to the session and check in to see how everything is.
Choose between a prayer and prayer activity.
Setting the context
Get some more information on the Principle that is the main focus of the session, and then choose between an activity or watching a film.
The film can be followed by two context-setting questions, or can be made the bulk of your session with an extended question set.
Engaging with the Bible
Each session offers either two or three biblical passages to explore.
Each passage has its own activity or discussion questions.
You may choose to do one, two or all the Bible passages and may pick between activities and questions.
Responding together
We all respond differently, and as such Living Justly offers six ways to respond to the Principles:
- Going deeper justice questions,
- Feeling,
- Praying,
- Looking,
- Doing,
- Acting.
Choose whichever best suits your context.
Asking 'What's next?'
Each session ends with a way to reflect on what we do next in response to this principle. To end, choose between a prayer and prayer activity.
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Session 1: Introduction to the Principles for Justice
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Session 2: God made humans in the image of God
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Session 3: God desires the flourishing of creation and human community within it
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Session 4: God consistently shows a bias to people experiencing poverty and those who are excluded
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Session 5: God entrusts those with power with a special responsibility for upholding justice
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Session 6: God calls all people and nations actively to work for peace and justice, liberation and transformation
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Session 7: God calls us to live in hope and in ways that reflect God's character
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