Monty Python Bible Study on Failure

We watched the scene of the 'Trojan Rabbit'


We passed out playing cards randomly to the group, instructing each person to keep their two cards a secret. Bring two students up to the front of the room and tell them to reveal one of their cards. The student who reveals the highest card value will remain in the game. The other one is out. We did this until each student remaining has shown both of their cards. Then give out two more cards to the winners and keep playing until you get down to one person who is declared the winner.

How did it feel when you were knocked out of the game?
What were the reasons you were knocked out? How much of it was your own fault?
If you were to play the game again, what would you do differently?
Are there any similarities between this game and the way circumstances sometimes play out in real life?

After viewing the clips, ask the group these questions:

What was the purpose of the giant rabbit? What other famous story does this skit play off of?
What is the French reaction to the giant rabbit?
What was the response of King Arthur’s men when Sir Bedevere revealed the rest of his plan?
How did Sir Bedevere feel at the end?
What were the consequences of failing?

Read Romans 8:28- That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

According to this passage, what is God working toward? For whom is He working?

Matthew 26:69-75 69All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean." 70In front of everybody there, he denied it. "I don't know what you're talking about." 71As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazarene." 72Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: "I swear, I never laid eyes on the man." 73Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. "You've got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away." 74-75Then he got really nervous and swore. "I don't know the man!" Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." He went out and cried and cried and cried.

How did Peter fail here? What happened to Peter after this? Did he fail, or succeed? (Christ had told him that he would build his church on Peter…Peter ministered to and converted many people in Italy and the Mediterranean.)

Psalm 103:8-12 God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he's rich in love. He doesn't endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.


What did you hear from these verses?
Does everything you do work out for good?
How do you think God works for good in the midst of difficult circumstances or our failures?
Why are we sometimes tempted to blame others or God for our failures?
What does the 3rd verse say about God?
How does the idea of God working for good affect your perspective on those moments when you’ve messed up?



Have you ever failed (not on tests), or your plans didn’t work out the way you had hoped? What happened? How did you deal with it? Did you linger on it? Did you learn anything? If so, what?
Have you ever been in a situation where you let someone else down? How did you feel? What did you do to make it right?
The movie clip showed a plan that ended in failure. What good could still come about from that experience?

Do you ever look back on times when you’ve messed up or failed at something, and at the time it seemed huge, but in looking back, it isn’t that big of a deal?

Why is it easier to see God working for good when we look back over our lives than in the moments immediately following our failure or unfortunate circumstances?
Does blaming God for unfortunate events ever help the situation get better?

Even though we may see our failures magnified, because of Christ’s death for us, God sees them as very small. In fact, he removes them from us completely. He does this because he loves us too much to let us be bogged down and overwhelmed by our sins and failures. What a great God!