Remember the Titans (C)

PG 2000 (Denzel Washington)

Plot Summary: The true story of a newly appointed African-American coach and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit.

Movie Clip 1: On the DVD, cue to Chapters 8 & 9, “Tired & Thirsty” and “Bertier & Big Ju.” These are the scenes where the water table gets knocked over due to the fight and Bertier and Julius argue by the water fountain. A great picture of disunity.

Movie Clip 2: On the DVD, cue to Chapter 10, “Lessons From The Dead.” Coach Boone leads his team on a pre-dawn training through woods until they reach part of a cemetery at Gettysburg. The key lines are from Coach Boone (Denzel Washington), “If we don't come together right now on this hallowed ground, we too, will be destroyed, just like they were. I don’t care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other. And maybe…we’ll learn to play this game like men.” STOP here as the scene changes.

INTRODUCE CLIP:
This film is based on a true story from the 1960’s about a newly appointed African-American coach and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit. Tension has been building since the beginning of the film. The white kids and black kids are both angry with each other for one reason . . . their color.

SHOW CLIP 1

Divide into Small Groups:
Let’s go ahead and split up into our discussion groups, and then afterward we’ll come back together for a final word.

CLICK HERE for a quick training article on how to maximize your small groups using our small group format—a great resource to equip your small group leaders.

Discussion Questions:

1. AROUND THE CIRCLE: Has someone ever treated you bad for no reason whatsoever? They just treated you like junk because, maybe, you weren’t like them? Share a time that this has happened.
2. ASK A FEW: Now think for a minute. Although we don’t want to admit it, is there someone that you have ever done this to? Share, if you want to.
3. ASK A FEW: Now think about the clip we just saw. Why were these guys fighting? (Didn’t like each other’s color, they never gave each other a chance, etc.) Were they right to hate each other . . . did they have a good reason?
4. ASK A FEW: This team was full of people that hated each other for no good reason. That caused disunity. Do you think a team with disunity will function correctly? Why?

INTRODUCE SECOND CLIP: In this scene Coach Boone leads his team on a pre-dawn training through the woods to part of a cemetery at Gettysburg. Coach uses this arena to teach a powerful point about the need for unity, and the consequences of disunity.

SHOW CLIP 2

Continue with Small Group Questions:

1. ASK ONE OR TWO: Does anyone know which war that Americans have fought in that resulted in the most American deaths? (the Civil war) Why? (Because Americans were fighting Americans, because they couldn’t get along)
2. ASK A FEW: The coach says some powerful words in that scene where they are at the graves of men who died in the civil war. He says, “If we don't come together right now on this hallowed ground, we too, will be destroyed, just like they were. I don’t care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other. And maybe…we’ll learn to play this game like men.” The coach said, if you don’t like someone on your team, you at least need to respect them. Is this true for us at school, in our workplace, etc.? Why or why not?
3. The Bible talks about this concept of accepting one another.
   
   Romans 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
   
   ASK A FEW: What’s the key? (Respecting and accepting others.)

WRAP UP: Play “One Body” from our Games-With-a-Point page (or any other team-building type game). For other games with a point CLICK HERE and check the box for “games with a point.”

One Body
Depending on # of players…for each team formed you will need:

1-t-shirt (or sweat shirt)size 2x-3x
1- pair sweat pants size 2x-3x
3 blind folds
1 laundry basket
Objects to be put into basket

Form Teams of 4 Players Each:

1-person is the “eyes”
1-person is the “brain”
1-person is “1/2 the body”
1-person is other “1/2 of body”

Get Prepared For Game:
“Body” gets into the sweat pants and shirt together (then blind fold them). The “Brain” stands behind the “Body” and is blindfolded. (May want to hold on to back of sweatshirt.) The “eyes” stand next to the “Brain.”

How To Play:
The “Eyes” whispers to the “brain” what to tell the “Body” to do.
The body tries to get the pre-designated objects into their own basket.
When all objects are found and in their basket, team sits down.
“Eyes” yells “DONE!” First team to sit wins!

Rules: No peeking! “Eyes” whisper so that only the “Brain” can hear. “Brain is the only one who can “talk.” Body may not use their arm or hand that is inside of the sweatshirt.

Object Ideas: Gallon size food cans, twisted pipe cleaners “on” each basket, large ball.

*This game works best if the objects cannot be picked up with one hand. Have the same kind of object for each team to pick up.

Game Variation: When all objects are found and in team baskets…Leader yells, “Done!” Each team sits and the team with the most objects in their basket wins. This way does not require identical objects for each team.

Point: Conclude by pointing out that team-building in the body of Christ (One Body) is the same as unity-building and even though this was just a game, you had to respect and accept each other as team members in order to play.

One Body game by Vonnie Waldrop

Optional Scriptures, Points, or Questions:

• James 4:1-2, What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. Aside from murder, what other ways can a person “kill” to get what they want? (Slander, gossip, put-downs)
• If the “regulars” in our group are walking in unity – respecting and accepting one another, then newcomers will know it.
• Romans 15:5-6, May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why is unity so important to God? How can people achieve it when they don’t agree on some things?
• Ps. 133:1, How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
• John 17:20-23, My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
• John 17:20-23, (The Message) I’m praying not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind – just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, so they’ll be as unified and together as we are – I in them and you in me. Then they’ll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that you’ve sent me and loved them in the same way you’ve loved me.
• Ephesians 4:3, Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Original Idea by Steve Downey