doubt and fear 1. LEADER PREPARATION

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Brian Henry
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1 doubt and fear Week 2: Jesus Will Help You Face Your Fear This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW Life can bring some scary moments our way: a parent s sickness, a friend s injury in a car crash, threats of local or global disasters. How do we respond to our fear in these situations, and how can God help us during these challenging times? In this lesson, your students will consider how they respond to fear: Do they choose to trust Jesus, or do they allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the fear? OBJECTIVES 1. WHAT: We cannot totally avoid fear in life, but we can decide how we will respond during those fearful, challenging moments. 2. WHY: As followers of Jesus, we can turn to him for help, safety, protection, and rescue from fearful situations. 3. HOW: Students will examine how life will bring moments of fear, how they choose to respond to those fears, and what it means to look to Jesus in the midst of their fears. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE Mark 4:35-41 SECONDARY SCRIPTURE Psalm 27 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 Mark 4: On the surface, it seems like Jesus is being really unfair to his disciples in this story. Many of them had spent much of their pre-jesus days out on the water as fishermen.

2 They knew about storms and ships, and they knew when the threat of sinking was very real. They d heard the stories of fellow fishermen who went out but never came back. In other words, if these guys were scared during this storm, they had good reason to be. That s why Jesus questions in verse 40 seems unfair. How did he expect them to NOT be afraid in a life-threatening situation? But Jesus concern wasn t that the disciples felt the emotion of fear; he was concerned that they let the fearful feelings override their trust in God s goodness. Fear throws us off balance; it shifts our focus away from God s ability to care and provide in every situation, and it attempts to make us focus on the insurmountable challenge we re facing. So if last week was about encouraging students to be honest about their doubt, this week focuses on helping them recognize where and when they re afraid and choosing to have faith. We will face times of fear in life; it s inevitable. But we can decide how we will respond to our fears, and we can choose to trust God during those situations. 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. Parent What s the scariest thing you ve ever done? Get ready to share about it at small group tonight! Should followers of Jesus ever experience fear? Let s talk about it tonight at small group. 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.

3 Dear parents, Our small groups wrapped up their two-week series on Doubt and Fear. This week, we looked at Mark 4, which tells about a time that Jesus disciples experienced incredible fear. We saw how life will bring moments of fear, we can decide how we will respond to those fears, and we can look to Jesus in the midst of our fears. Fear throws us off balance; it shifts our focus away from God s ability to care and provide in every situation, and it attempts to make us focus on the insurmountable challenge we re facing. So if the first week in this series was about encouraging students to be honest about their doubt, our second week focused on helping them recognize where and when they re afraid and choosing to have faith. We will face times of fear in life; it s inevitable. But we can decide how we will respond to our fears, and we can choose to trust God during those situations. When we re afraid, we can go to Jesus and tell him. We can admit we need help. We can ask him to give us courage and strength. As you talk with your teenager about this week s lesson, here are a few questions for the conversation: What are some common, ordinary fears that teenagers have? Do you think Christians are reluctant to admit when they have fears? Why or why not? Do you find it easy or difficult to trust God not just in the big situations but also in all other situations in life? Explain. Have a blessed week!

4 doubt and fear Week 2: Jesus Will Help You Face Your Fear GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] 2. LEsson guide Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then jump into the activity below. Ask for two volunteers for a trust fall scenario. Ask Person 2 to stand behind Person 1. Then ask Person 1 to demonstrate trust in Person 2 by closing their eyes and falling backward into Person 2 s arms. If you re concerned that your junior highers might choose to NOT catch the falling person, step into the role of Person 2, and have each student participate. It might be a big step of faith and trust for some, and it might be easy for others. Do a trust fall scenario with two people (if it involves you, all the better). Ask person 1 to fall backward into person 2 s arms. How did it feel to fall backward? Were any of you afraid that you might fall? What are some common, ordinary fears that teenagers have? Has there ever been a time where you ve been afraid to do something, but pushed through that fear and did it anyway? [NOTE: You may want to be ready to share your own story; consider sharing yours before asking students to share their stories.] Why did you face your fear? What motivated you to do that? Are you glad you faced your fear? Why or why not? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: In our last lesson, we talked about doubt and the importance of admitting if we struggle to believe. Today we re going to talk about another important issue: fear. We ll look at the story of a time Jesus closest disciples were afraid, how they acted in that situation, and how Jesus stepped in to calm their fears. 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.

5 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) Life will bring moments of fear, (2) Decide to face your fear, and (3) When afraid, turn to Jesus for protection and rescue. 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 Mark 4:35-41 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 digging deeper into this story to discover some truths about fear. 1. Life will bring moments of fear When was the last time you were afraid? If you faced that same situation today, would you have the same kind of fear? Why or why not? Are most of your fears reasonable? Why or why not? In this passage from Mark 4, you think it was wrong for the disciples to be afraid? Why or why not? Are there ever good times to be afraid? When? In our last lesson, we talked about how Christians are sometimes afraid to admit when they have doubts. Do you think Christians are also reluctant to admit when they have fears? Why or why not? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Many of these disciples had spent much of their pre-jesus days out on the water as fishermen. They knew about storms and ships, and they knew when the threat of sinking was very real. They d heard the stories of fellow fishermen who went out but never came back. In other words, if these guys were scared during this storm, they had good reason to be. Sometimes life brings us some really scary moments. Other times, we face situations that aren t really as scary as we think they are yet we still feel fear. We need to be prepared and decide how we will respond.

6 2. Decide to face your fear Do you think the disciples were wrong to wake up Jesus when the storm got bad? Why or why not? How might they have reacted or handled the situation differently? Do you think their request in verse 38 was the right thing to ask? Why or why not? Have you ever prayed frantically to God scared or worried or too busy to really stop and listen and then just hoped he would help? Do you think that s how Jesus wants us to pray to him, or is there a better way? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: I wonder what might have happened if the disciples had gone to Jesus and said, Jesus, this storm is really bad, and we don t know what else to do, and we need your help. We know you re able to do something about this. Instead, the disciples came to him essentially saying, WE RE GOING TO DIE AND YOU DON T CARE! Jesus WAS powerful enough to help them. And he s more than powerful enough to help us, too, if we depend on him for help. 3. When afraid, turn to Jesus for protection and rescue SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Jesus questions in verse 40 may seem unfair. How did he expect the disciples to NOT be afraid in a life-threatening situation? But Jesus concern wasn t that the disciples felt the emotion of fear; he was concerned that they had let the fearful feelings override their trust in God s goodness. Do you find it easy or difficult to trust God not just in the big situations but also in all other situations in life? Explain. How have you seen God protect you in dangerous or risky situations? What s a recent prayer for help or rescue that God has answered? How might his answer help you trust in his ability to protect you and provide for you? How can turning to Jesus help you experience help, safety, protection, and rescue during difficult situations?

ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] In our last lesson we talked about doubt, and this week we talked about fear. In your opinion, what are some connections between doubt and fear? Read Psalm 27.

7 ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] In our last lesson we talked about doubt, and this week we talked about fear. In your opinion, what are some connections between doubt and fear? Read Psalm 27. Which images or ideas from this psalm give you the most strength and confidence to trust God, and why? King David wrote this psalm. What do these words tell you about his faith and trust in God? APPLICATION Ask each student to find a partner for these questions. Is there an area in your life where it s hard to trust Jesus right now? Would you be willing to tell me about it? Is there an area where you want to obey God, but are afraid? What are you afraid of? Do you believe you need to respond differently to the fears you face in your life? Why or why not? What are some decisions you can make this week that will help you when fears come along in the future? 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]

8 Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below. The Lord is my light and my salvation so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? (Psalm 27:1).

my changes 1. LEADER PREPARATION

my changes 1. LEADER PREPARATION my changes Week 3: Spiritual Change This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW As little kids, we usually believed things about God because we were told