JUST LIKE JESUS 1. LEADER PREPARATION

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1 JUST LIKE JESUS Week 2: Representing Jesus Every Day This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW If you see someone sporting a jersey, a giant foam finger, and face paint of team colors, you d likely guess that person s a fan of a specific sports team. When people look at our lives as followers of Jesus, what do they see? Do they see a life modeled after Jesus? Do our actions and attitudes represent God and point the way to Jesus? In this lesson, your students will explore what it means to represent Jesus in their daily lives. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE 2 Corinthians 5:15-21 SECONDARY SCRIPTURE Ephesians 5:1-9 OBJECTIVES 1. WHAT: As followers of Jesus, we are God s representatives, and the people around us ought to know what matters to God by watching us. 2. WHY: When we live as God s representatives, our lives help point others to Jesus. 3. HOW: Students will examine how their actions and attitudes reveal and represent Jesus, and they ll look for ways to encourage each other s growth toward even more effective representatives of God. TEACHING PREP The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you ll definitely want to refer to it as you lead your lesson. Read 2 Corinthians 5: This passage from Paul s letter to the Christians in the Greek city of Corinth highlights our role as ambassadors of Jesus. We ve gone with the word representatives

2 because it s an easier concept for junior high students to grasp. Few teenagers at that age are attuned to global diplomacy (granted, your group may have that one kid who is). In Paul s day, an ambassador would go to a recently conquered people-group and offer them the terms of Caesar s surrender. The ambassador would explain that the conquering ruler was offering peace and tell them what they had to do to receive that peace. But the ambassador could only do this because he was recognized as having Caesar s authority. The ambassador carried Caesar s seal and rode with his army, which made the ambassador easily identifiable. Clearly, we don t want teenagers absorbing the idea that they are called to conquer their friends and family members who aren t followers of Jesus. However, they do have the opportunity to play a part in God s plan for reconciliation. Remind your students that without God s forgiveness through Jesus, we are all separated from God but once we ve made the decision to follow Jesus, we ve been reconciled. Our relationship has been restored to what God has desired since the beginning of time. We can be identified as God s representatives through our attitudes and actions. This builds on the topic of our previous lesson in this series when Jesus is our ultimate role model, we begin to live lives that reflect and reveal who Jesus is, and this makes us more effective representatives to the world around us. If we don t look like Jesus, how will people know about God s plan for reconciliation, forgiveness, and change in their lives? THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional] Text Message Questions We ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry. What s your favorite sports team? Tell us tonight at small group and wear your team s hat and jersey, if you want! What does it mean to represent Jesus in our world? Let s talk about it at small group tonight. See you there!

3 Parent We ve provided you with an below that you can send to your parents following the lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and customize the to fit your ministry needs. Dear parents, Our small groups have wrapped up their two-week series called Just Like Jesus. In this second lesson, we examined the Apostle Paul s words from 2 Corinthians 5 about being God s ambassadors and representatives to the world around us. Teenagers have the opportunity to play a part in God s plan for reconciliation. Without God s forgiveness through Jesus, we are all separated from God but once we ve made the decision to follow Jesus, we ve been reconciled. Our relationship has been restored to what God has desired since the beginning of time. We can be identified as God s representatives through our attitudes and actions. When Jesus is our ultimate role model our topic in the first week of this series we begin to live lives that reflect and reveal who Jesus is, and this makes us more effective representatives to the world around us. I d encourage you to find a few minutes to talk with your teenager about this week s lesson. Here are some questions that could guide your conversation: What are some ways that being a fan of a sports team might be similar to being a follower of Jesus? Do you find it easier to be Jesus representative every day of the week or just at church and small group? Why? How can your actions and attitudes make you a more effective representative for Jesus? Thanks for all your prayers for our ministry. Have an awesome week!

4 JUST LIKE JESUS Week 2: Representing Jesus Every Day GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] 2. LEsson guide Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then What are some of the craziest ways you ve seen people show that they re fans of a particular sports team? What s your favorite sports team? Why are you such a fan? How do you represent your team? In other words, how do the people around you know that you re a fan? What are some ways that being a fan of a sports team might be similar to being a follower of Jesus? NOTE: In place of favorite sports teams, you could ask your students about their favorite musicians, favorite TV shows, or other favorites that would be recognized by their friends. After your discussion, SAY SOMETHING LIKE: It s great to have a favorite sports team. It gives us a cause to support and a connection to other fans. Most sports fans proudly display their support through T-shirts, bumper stickers, caps, and attendance at games. Maybe you haven t thought about it before, but being a follower of Jesus is similar to being a sports fan because we have a cause to support and a reason to boldly declare that support. If you came up with an opening activity, movie clip, or game that worked well with your group, and you d like to share it with other youth workers, please us at ideas@simplyyouthministry.com. Teaching Points The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen here are (1) You are Jesus representative, and (2) Your actions and attitudes reveal Jesus.

5 Remember: All throughout these lessons, it s up to you to choose (1) how many questions you use, and (2) the wording of the main points keep ours, or change the wording to make it clearer for your audience. Read 2 Corinthians 5:15-21 together as a group. Consider allowing one or more of the teenagers to read the text. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Let s spend a few minutes seeing how we can look like Jesus how we can represent Jesus in our world. 1. You are Jesus representative We started today by talking about our favorite sports teams. Think again about your favorite team. Are you ashamed of being a fan, or are you proud to let the world know you re a fan? Explain. The verses we read come from a letter that was written by the Apostle Paul to a group of Christ-followers in a Greek city called Corinth. In verses 18 and 19, Paul talks about the idea of people being reconciled with God. What do you think this means? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: If you ve made the decision to follow Jesus, you are one of his representatives. You have experienced reconciliation with God. Sin creates distance between God and us. But when we choose to follow Jesus, we are reconciled with God and our sin is no longer held against us. Verse 20 says that as followers of Jesus, we are his ambassadors. Why do you think God would choose to use ordinary people like you and me as ambassadors his representatives to our world? Do you find it easier to be Jesus representative every day of the week or just at church and small group? Why? What do you think this verse means when it says, God is making his appeal through us? What is God s appeal in other words, what does God want to tell all of humanity? Do you feel qualified to be an ambassador for Jesus? What makes us qualified to be his representative?

6 SAY SOMETHING LIKE: This passage reveals that we are representatives of Jesus. God chose us to do that job, which means he believes we can do it with his help. Our job is to tell other people about Jesus and the opportunity to experience reconciliation to receive God s forgiveness for our sins and to begin a lifelong friendship with Jesus. We don t have to be ashamed of being God s representative. We don t have to hide it from our friends and family members. 2. Your actions and attitudes reveal Jesus Look at verse 15. What do you think it means to live for Christ? How can your actions and attitudes make you a more effective representative for Jesus? Verse 17 says we become new people once we choose to follow Jesus. What are some ways your life has changed since becoming a Christian? If you believe your actions and attitudes don t represent Jesus well, how might you respond or change? What do you think God would want you to do? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: You and I have the chance to be positive, solid representatives of Jesus through our actions and attitudes. This doesn t mean we have to be perfect. It simply means that when we love people, when we display compassion, when we meet needs, when we forgive, when help the needy and hungry when we do these Christ-like things and have a Christ-like attitude, we are revealing Jesus to our world. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] Read Ephesians 5:1-9 together as a group. Consider allowing one or more of the teenagers to read the text. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Let s identify all the specific actions and attitudes this passage says shouldn t be seen among followers of Jesus.

7 After students have identified the actions and attitudes revealed in this passage, Why do you think God is against all these things? How can each of these actions or attitudes damage our relationship with God and weaken our role as representatives of Jesus? Verses 8 and 9 talk about how followers of Jesus are light in a world filled with darkness. In your daily life, when do you feel like you re surrounded by darkness? How can you be light in those situations? What attitude do you think God wants you to have toward people who haven t yet experienced the light of Jesus, and why? As representatives of Jesus, what do you think God wants us to be: people who follow his commandments and rules, or people who love him and love other people? Why? [NOTE: God desires both, but we tend to swing to one extreme or the other. God wants us to obey his commands, but he also wants us to live lives of love.] APPLICATION Ask each student to find a partner for these questions. What is one specific way your life can speak for Jesus this week? Look back at the list of actions and attitudes God wants us to avoid, from Ephesians 5:3-5. This list includes sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes. Do you struggle with any of these? If so, do you feel comfortable telling me about your struggle so I can be a friend who supports you and helps you overcome this? Where do you have the toughest time being Jesus representative: at school, with friends, or among family members? Why? What steps could you take to become a stronger representative, and how can I encourage you in this area?

8 How are you praying for God s help to become a more effective representative of Jesus? How can I pray for you this week? SUMMARY End your small group lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or take-home challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the teaching and discussion time. FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE] Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below. So we are Christ s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, Come back to God! (2 Corinthians 5:20).