Page 1. 1. Youth Praying for Youth Key Scriptures In you the orphan finds mercy (Hos 14:3 ESV) But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? (1 John 3:17 ESV) The Big Picture The purpose of this lesson is to discover God s heart for orphans and the practical implications of that for our own lives. It defines love not as a warm feeling, but as sacrificing oneself for the good of others. Outcomes As a result of this lesson, students will: -Get a glimpse of the magnitude and richness of the orphan theme that runs throughout Scripture. - Appreciate the depth of God s love and compassion for orphans. - Feel compassion for orphans in Cambodia, to the point of establishing a bond of Christian brotherhood between them. - Pray for their Christian brothers and sisters in Cambodia. - Memorize Hosea 14:3 and 1 John 3:17. Supplies Needed! By This We Know Love video! Abandoned in the Dump video! DVD player! Television, or video projector with screen! A sufficient number of prayer cards printed out, with pictures of orphans from an orphan home in Cambodia! leader s shirt Advance Preparations Make a sufficient number of prayer cards to distribute to students. Set up the video equipment, making sure that the video and audio are working properly. Watch the two videos beforehand, so you are familiar with the material they cover. Whoever teaches the lesson should wear the Operation Orphan Rescue leader s shirt. Suggested Worship Songs We recommend using the following songs during your worship time: - I Lift My Eyes Up/Brian Doerksen - You Are My King (Amazing Love)/Billy James Foote - Breathe/Marie Barnett - Forever/Chris Tomlin Introduction Teacher: Welcome to [name of your group]. It is good to see you. Last week we started a new series called, where we learned about the worldwide orphan crisis. How many of you were here for that? (Give them time to raise their hands.) I don t know about you, but my heart was broken to see all of those kids suffering living on the streets, without any parents to love them and take care of them. It was hard to imagine that there are millions of orphans living like just that all around the world. We gave you a couple of assignments last week. Who can tell me what they were? (Keep calling on people to answer until you get both items.) That s right! We were supposed to go to our parents and thank them for all that they do for us. How many of you got that done? (Wait for them to respond.)
Page 2. 2. Okay, that s great. Now those who didn t, need to get that done. What was the second item? Scripture memory! How many of you memorized your verses for today? (Again, wait for them to respond.) Remember: if you memorize all ten verses by the fifth week, we ll give you an T-shirt. (Lift up a shirt for everyone to see. Ham this up with some tongue in cheek humor.) This is a special, one-of-a-kind offer it comes with an ultra cool logo on the front. It even comes in different sizes! And it will be yours, if you memorize those ten verses. Today we are going to find out what God thinks about the orphan crisis. Not only that, we are also going to find out what he does about it, and how we can get involved with him. My hope is that by the end of this lesson, each one of you will commit to praying for some real orphans on a daily basis. But before we get into the lesson, we have a video we want to show you. (Start the first video, By This We Know Love. ) Video Presentation: By This we Know Love (The purpose of this five-minute video is to show that orphans are very close to God s heart. It features a number of key Scriptures, while showing scenes of orphans in third world conditions. The implication is this: If orphans are close to God s heart, they should be close to ours as well. We have a Christian obligation to care for the needs of orphans.) Lessons Teacher: Why should we care about orphans? This is the crucial question, and I believe it deserves a solid answer. After all, if caring for orphans isn t that big of a deal, why spend five weeks on it? I think that you will see from Scripture, however, that caring for orphans is a big deal. 1. God Cares for Orphans We should care about orphans because God does! Scripture is filled with verses concerning God s compassion for the poor and needy: - Orphans & the fatherless are mentioned 46 times. - Widows are mentioned 97 times. - The poor are mentioned 113 times. - The needy are mentioned 37 times. - The afflicted are mentioned 17 times. In fact, there are nearly 1,000 verses in the Bible related to God s compassion for the poor and needy. That is equivalent to nearly one verse for every chapter. This is not a peripheral issue, but rather one of the biggies. The plight of orphans and other helpless people is very close to God s heart. (It would increase the impact to project the following Scriptures on a screen or wall behind you as you read them. Perhaps you could have different students read these verses, and then comment on them after they have been read.) Teacher: Although we could mention many more items, here are five things that God does for orphans: 1. God values their lives; they are precious to him. Jesus said, So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish (Matt 18:14 ESV). 2. God is merciful toward them. In you the orphan finds mercy (Hos 14:3 ESV). In fact, Scripture says that God becomes the father of those who have lost their earthly fathers: A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling (Psa 68:5 NIV). 3. God hears their cries. LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more (Psa 10:17-18 ESV).
Page 3. 3. 4. God rescues them from their oppressors. Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise, says the LORD; I will place him in the safety for which he longs (Psa 12:5 ESV). Scripture also says that God raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor (1 Sam 2:8 ESV). 5. God cares for their practical needs. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob... who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin (Psa 146:5-9 ESV). It is obvious from these Scriptures that God cares a great deal about orphans. And keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive not by a long shot! Perhaps you are wondering, What does this have to do with me? The answer is: A lot! As Christians, we should reflect God s character in all areas of our life. For instance, the Bible says that we should be holy because God is holy (Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7; 21:8; 1 Pet 1:15-16). It says that we should be 2. God Commands Us to Care for Orphans The second reason that we should care about orphans is this: God commands us to love them in the same way we love ourselves. Jesus said that the greatest command in all of Scripture is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matt 22:37 ESV). But he didn t stop there. He also mentioned the second greatest command: love your neighbor as yourself (v. 39). These two commands effectively summarize the more than six hundred commands in the Old Testament Law (cp. v. 40). Notice that Jesus says that the second commandment is like the first (v. 39). There is a connection between loving God and loving other people, and the connection is this: You cannot truly love your heavenly Father without loving his other children. The person who claims to love God without loving other believers is only kidding himself. Now our culture is totally screwed up when it comes to love. If you listen to all the so-called love songs that are on the radio right now, you would think that love is some kind of warm, ecstatic feeling that comes from being around someone whose company you enjoy. But that is not genuine love, just infatuation or even lust. perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect (Matt 5:48). And it says that we should love, because God is love (1 John 4:7-8, 16). Since God s heart is touched by the plight of orphans, our hearts should also be touched. And since God reaches out with practical help, so should we. So the first reason that we should care about orphans is the fact that God does. True love involves laying down your life for another person. Listen to what the Apostle John said: - By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:16-18 ESV). John says here that a genuine Christian shows God s love by meeting the practical needs of another believer.
Page 4. 4. It is not just saying the words, I love you. It is sacrificing your own time and resources to benefit another. That s the second reason why we should care about orphans. 3. Caring for Orphans Is a Mark of Genuine Faith The third reason is that we should care for orphans is that it is a mark of genuine faith. Any person who claims to follow Jesus Christ cannot simply look on as other believers suffer. A true believer, a godly person, a righteous person, will get involved and make a difference. Does this mean that I have to do good deeds in order to be saved? No. Scripture talks a great deal about righteousness being right in the eyes of God. There are two aspects to biblical righteousness. The first is legal: we are declared righteous by God on the basis of our faith in Christ alone, apart from any works that we do (Eph 2:8-9). We cannot work our way to heaven. Yet this does not mean that godly works are unnecessary. Scripture also talks about practical righteousness. These are good works that I do because I believe in Jesus Christ (Eph 2:10). They are the necessary outworking of my faith. Without them, my so-called faith is extremely suspect. Consider these verses from James: - If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:15-17 ESV). This shows that we cannot merely know things about Jesus to be a genuine believer; we must also believe them in our heart. And when we have genuine faith in our heart, it will motivate us to act. One of the hallmarks of practical righteousness in Scripture deals with the treatment of the poor, such as orphans and widows. Anyone who wants to be godly will show God s compassion and mercy to others, particularly those who are poor and needy. Last week we looked at the following verse from James, but it is so important for this topic that I want to show it to you again: - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27 NIV). If you want a genuine religious experience, if you are sick of simply going through the motions and trying to please people, then do something that pleases God come alongside of some orphans and widows and help to take care of them. Find the weakest and most vulnerable people in your circle and help them out; give them a hand; make a difference in their lives. Righteous Job. We see this in the story of Job. Do you remember Job? He was the guy that had just about everything go wrong: he lost his children to tragedy; he lost all of his wealth; he lost his health. He was suffering so badly that his wife told him to curse God and die (Job 2:9). With all of these things going wrong, Job s friends began to think that he had really done something wrong to displease God, and that all of these bad circumstances were God s punishment on him. Notice how Job maintained his innocence before his accusers. He claimed: I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth (Job 29:12-17 ESV). Job s maintained his innocence and defended himself by showing how he cared for the poor and needy. He wanted to show his accusers that he was not a wicked person, but a righteous one. In all of this, we see that Scripture commands us to care for the poor and needy, especially orphans and widows. By doing this, we can show that our faith is genuine and that our love for God is real. Conclusion Teacher: We have looked at a lot of Scripture today. It was important to do this so you could see what a big deal this is in the Bible. I trust that you now understand how close this whole matter of caring for orphans and widows is to God s heart. And I hope it has become close to your heart as well. As your love for God grows, your love for people will also grow. The reason for this is simple: when we truly love someone, we care about the things that they care about; their concerns become our concerns. Since God cares intimately for the needs of his people, so will we. Page 5. Do not look at the following video and feel only pity. Rather, let it motivate you to act. I am going to come back in a few minutes and tell you things that you can do to help orphans no matter where you are or in what situation you find yourself. But first check this out. (Start the second video, Abandoned in the Dump ) Lesson 2. Video Presentation: Abandoned In the Dump (This brief video features the story of a young girl who lives in one of the worst garbage dumps in the world the one just outside of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. She explains through a translator how she came to live there and what her life is like in the dump. The video provides insight into life in the dump.) Challenge Teacher: Last week we challenged you to memorize ten Scriptures. This week, we have another challenge for you to pray for some real orphans in Cambodia. (Have volunteers pass out prayer cards with pictures of orphans. If you have less than forty kids in your youth group, some might have to pray for more than one orphan. Or if you have more than forty, you might have to print up duplicate cards, so that two or more of your kids would be praying for the same orphan. The important thing is that no orphan is omitted, and that every person in the youth group has someone to pray for. Try to match up boys with boys, and girls with girls as much as possible.) Teacher: These cards have the names and faces of about forty orphans who live at the [supply the name] orphan home in Cambodia. Some of them are your age. Many of them believe in Christ as many of you do, and they want to grow up and be pleasing to God, just like you do. They want to know the love of a father and mother, just like you do, but sadly that has been taken from them. (Hold up your card.) I am going to be praying for [supply the name of the orphan]. I want to challenge you to pray for the orphan on your card by name every day this coming week. 5. Put the card on the refrigerator or inside your locker or some other place where you will see it every day. Whenever you see it, take a moment to pray for his or her life.
What do you think we should we pray for? (Give them time to respond, perhaps writing the answers on a white board. Then augment that list with the following.) Pray that... - their hearts would heal after the pain of losing their parents; - their practical needs for food and clothing and education would be met; - they would grow in Christ; - they would be kept safe from malaria and other tropical diseases; - they would form good friendships in the orphan home, etc. Basically, just think about the things that you would like someone to pray about for you, and then pray that for them. Your prayers will make a difference. So pray! Assignments Teacher: Prayer is your first assignment for this week. The second is to memorize the next two verses on the list of Scriptures that we passed out last week. Those two verses are Hosea 14:3 and 1 John 3:17. Remember: you need to get that done to get the cool t-shirt. Closing Prayer Teacher: Let s close in prayer. Page 6. Father, thank you for your love. You know every detail about us even things that we don t know ourselves, like the number of hairs on our heads. Thank you for your deep compassion for all of us, and for inviting us to come into your presence and present the concerns of our hearts. Our hearts are moved, Lord, by the plight of our brothers and sisters in this Church Orphan Home in Cambodia. We ask that they would grow in their knowledge of you, and that they would know your will for their lives. We pray that you would provide for them and keep them safe. Show us how we might help them more. Amen. Lesson 2. Looking Ahead This has been the second week of our five weeks on the orphan crisis. Be sure to come back next week for week three of. We are going to introduce an exciting way that you can get involved in caring for these orphans. See you then! Going Deeper (optional) If there is time allocated for small group discussion, students can work through the following questions: 1. What is God s heart toward orphans and widows? 2. Why do you think God cares especially for them? 3. What is the nature of biblical love? 4. Isn t it enough to care for orphans here in the United States? Why should we be concerned with orphans in distant lands? 5. What are some of the ways we can show practical concern for orphans? 6. Work on memory verses for next week. 7. Pray for orphans by name. Optional Ideas Print larger pictures of the orphans and post them around the room (be sure to include their names). You could get very creative with this, perhaps by utilizing a map of Cambodia or by painting a mural on one wall or by constructing a bamboo hut, etc. The idea is to make the exhibit interesting enough to attract attention, but also to encourage students to pray. Letting the students help you decorate is one way of adding to their sense of ownership of the program. Take pictures of each student in the youth group and then attach them to cards with the students names on them, perhaps with a favorite Bible reference as well. Gather these cards together and send them to the orphan home for which you are praying. That way, the orphans there will be able to pray for your kids, too. It would be a wonderful sign of Christian unity 6.