EXTRA! Ideas for Adults – Greatest Truths – Greatest Return

Date: October 12, 2025

The Greatest Return

The Point: Jesus will return one day, and we should be ready.

Get Into the Study

Instead of ACTIVITY and DISCUSS, read the following:

In Fort Stewart, Georgia, 200 soldiers from the 3rd Infantry were welcomed home after almost a year in Europe. It was a great day, filled with joy, love and tears of happiness and relief.

“It is the most amazing occasion, it’s the biggest release of joy when you finally see your family after 9 months of serving our country. We are proud to do this mission; we don’t have to do this, we get to do this mission, but it takes an emotional toll on us, and we are super excited to welcome these guys home,” said Maj. Charlie Egan, 3rd Infantry Division.

Families were waiting to be reunited, the long-awaited return of loved ones, and friends looking to reconnect. Each person was ready and waiting for a glimpse of their soldier, as they exited the bus and began the walk across the field. Hugs, signs, banners, and smiles were ready to greet the soldiers—the long awaited return was finally here.

While this is a wonderful example of a long-awaited return, it pales in comparison to the day that we see our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ once again. For Jesus will return one day and we should be ready.

3rd Infantry Division soldiers return home from deployment in Europe

Get Into the Study (Option for Adult Leader Guide)

In advance, play a video clip of a movie trailer that is either a sequel or the film has a sequel. Then ask Question #1.

Study the Bible

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

Read after RECAP:

The website ReliefWeb, a humanitarian information portal founded in 1996, reports that as of July 2023, it hosts more than one million humanitarian situation reports, press releases, evaluations, guidelines, assessments, maps and infographics.

There have been many disasters—natural and man-made—that have shaken our country and world. From 9/11 to the wild-fires in California, the volcano in Sicily, and Hawaii, and the earthquake in Afghanistan, there is destruction and disaster everywhere we look.

While this is very discouraging, Christians know that this is not the end. However, Paul says that people who do not know the saving power of Jesus will be taken by surprise, sudden destruction like labor pains and they will not escape in the last days when Jesus returns—just like the unexpected eruption of a volcano or an earthquake. However, this is even more scary, as this is destruction that will last for eternity.

Question 3: What makes you think the Lord’s return could happen in our lifetime?

Disasters | ReliefWeb

The week’s writer for Extra is Erika Morrison. Erika is the daughter of missionary parents. She lives in Southwest Michigan, where she serves as the executive director of a human services non-profit, and speaks regularly on poverty culture, and having a relationship with Jesus.

Additional Questions

Icebreaker

• What makes you think that the Lord’s return could happen in our lifetime?
• Which cliffhanger or sequel was the hardest for you to wait for?
• How do you usually handle impending news—eager to hear or prefer not to know?

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 We can be assured that Jesus will bodily return.

• How would you compare Jesus’s first and second comings?
• How can you use these verses to encourage others?
• What specific promises are made in these verses?

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 We do not know the specific time Jesus will return.

• Jesus will come “like a thief in the night.” How should we understand that promise?
• What group is referred to as “they” in verse 3?
• What is the destruction Paul talks about in these verses?

1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 We are to be diligent as we wait for His return.

• What is Paul appealing to, and urging us away from, as he reminds us that we are “children of the light and children of the day?”
• What are some practical steps we can take to stay spiritually awake and self-controlled?
• What tools are described in verse 8 to help believers be self-controlled?

The Bible Studies for Life: Adult Podcast

Click here for a 20-minute podcast for both the group member and the leader.