Begin by paging through a newspaper and shaking your head.
- If I had both good news and bad news to share with you, which would you want to hear first: the good news or the bad news? Why? (Answers will vary.)
You may know someone who is always eager to spread news even if the facts are not correct—even if it is fake news. If something catastrophic happens, he or she is the first to tell the bad news, and he or she may talk about it over and over until it becomes old news. Fake news. Real news. Good news. Bad news. Old news. Current news. Where do you get your news?
- Where do you get the family news about what is going on in your relatives’ lives—good or bad? (Answers will vary but might include: Grandma, phone calls, reunions, letters, email, texts, etc.)
- Where do you get the church news about what is going on in our congregation? (Students may mention announcements in the worship service, email, newsletter, parents, etc.)
- Where do you get the community or school news to learn about the good or bad in our community and in our schools? (Answers will vary; during the school year, emails, text alerts, announcements over the PA; flyers; community newspaper; TV and radio newscasts for school closures/delays; PTA, etc.)
- Do you watch, listen to, read, or pay attention to world or national news? Why or why not? (Answers will vary; parents may put restrictions on watching the news; it may be depressing or upsetting; family may watch the news together, etc.)
According to the dictionary, news is: “a report of recent events or unknown information.” Some people get news from the newspaper, some from the radio, some from the Internet, and some from word of mouth. There are those who want to know the latest news up to the minute. Others do not care to know the news at all.
Return to paging through a newspaper. This time read some of the negative headlines out loud. Someone must have decided that noteworthy information about important events is bad. Most of this is bad news!
Whether it is world news, national news, or local news; whether it is family news, church news, or school news—there is a lot of bad news communicated. That does not mean good things are not happening, but what makes the headlines is the bad news. Even in families, church, and school there is bad news: someone lost a job, someone is ill, someone was in an accident, the sports program is being cut, the teachers are on strike, the school air-conditioning is broken.
Show the following brief clip [0:52]:
“Do you want the good news or the bad news first”
- Do you agree that you can choose to focus on the optimistic way forward—regardless of whether news is good or bad? Why or why not? (Answers will vary.)
- Why do you think bad news is reported more than good news in the media? (Answers will vary.)
- How does hearing bad news make you feel? (Answers will vary.)
Today we are going to discover and celebrate some really good news that is far more worthy of being reported than anything in this newspaper. It comes from the most reliable Source of all.
