WORDACTION Leader s Guide jan.2005 Revolutionary Numb Party Tomorrow Wool Small-group Bible studies based on WordAction s YouthWalk monthly devotional magazine for youth.
How To Use the Leader s Guide The YouthWalk Leader s Guide is available FREE to churches or groups that order bulk copies of YouthWalk per month from WordAction Publishing Company. The Leader s Guide is available as a downloadable.pdf file at www.barefootministries.com and www.wordaction.com. To increase your YouthWalk order, or for customer service inquiries, call 1-888-967-3228. Some of the ideas in this leader s guide are from Youth Specialties products. Youth Specialties is the leader in creating quality resources for youth ministry. For more information on YS resources or to place an order, visit www.youthspecialties.com. EACH TOPIC IN THE YOUTHWALK LEADER S GUIDE INCLUDES SIX SECTIONS: WHY contains the purpose of each week s meeting. Read this section first. Knowing the goal will help you adapt the material to meet the needs of your group. CONNECT gives an opening activity to get the group involved in the lesson. READ reveals the biblical perspective on the topic. THINK gives some thought-provoking questions and activities. LIVE recommends ways to apply the lesson. OPTIONS gives activity ideas that you can either substitute for the Hook It Up material or use as a supplement if your meeting time runs longer than 45 minutes. Have students read the appropriate YouthWalk topic during the week after the meeting. Be prepared for questions about the material in the magazine (which means, of course, you ll have to read it yourself).
Revolutionary why To introduce the idea that Jesus was a revolutionary and to discuss why He had to fight for us. connect [15 minutes] If you have a larger group, divide into smaller groups of ten to encourage group discussion. Explain that at the beginning of time, God created Eden a perfect place where Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with Him. Then ask the students: What do you think life in Eden would be like? Prompt more discussion with questions like: How do you think Adam and Eve related to each other? Was there any dishonesty? Jealousy? Shame? How do you think Adam and Eve felt about themselves? Were they insecure? How do you think they related to God? Do you think He felt distant to them? Do you think they doubted His goodness? Challenge students to envision themselves living in a perfect world like Eden. Give them two or three minutes to think about what it would be like. read [10 minutes] Divide the group into smaller groups with four or five members. Have them read the familiar story of the fall in Genesis 3:1-13 and discuss the answers to these questions: (1) What happened in these verses? (2) What entered into the world when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? (3) How do you think Adam and Eve felt after the fall? (4) Have the things that entered the world after the fall disappeared from the world today? (4) How do you think the serpent s deception made God feel? Have volunteers from each group share their answers. think [10 minutes] Say: In that instance in the garden, Satan overthrew all the good things God had set up. In so many words, there had been a coup. A revolt. And God s beloved creation had been deceived. If you were God, what would you do? Explain that God fought back with Jesus. Jesus came to fight against all of the bad, evil, shameful things that came into the world once Satan revolted. He came to crush Satan and to set the world free. Have a volunteer from the group read Luke 4:18-19. Then ask the group: From what you know about Jesus, and what you ve witnessed in people s lives, what does He set people free from? What is a part of His revolution? live [5 minutes] Explain that once Jesus counter-revolution is over at the end times, He will set the world straight again. He will banish Satan forever. But until then, we are all a part of the counter-revolution that He s still leading. We are to fight against evil, shame, injustice, dishonesty, and anything that goes against God s plan. In this week s devos in YouthWalk, we ll take a look at how Jesus led God s counter-revolution, and how we can be a part of it. Close in prayer, asking God to personally show students this week how they can be a part of the revolution. option (in addition to LIVE) Play the trailer of the movie The Passion of the Christ from the bonus section of the DVD. Preface the clip by saying that God fought extremely hard to set us free in His counter-revolution. He fought to the death. 3
Numb why As American Christians, especially as American Christians, we have so much and it s easy to take it all for granted and just grow numb. It s time to regain some feeling in our souls. connect [10 minutes] To introduce today s lesson on NUMB, try one or more of the following tests to see if your students are numb. Start off teaching the same lesson you taught last week. Make sure everything is identical including opening jokes, prayer requests, intros, etc. Continue until someone notices. (And if they don t notice, well, you may just want to move on to the next step. Don t take it personally teaching students is a tough job!) Ask students to respond to different questions. Whenever anyone answers, reply by saying, Whatever, and move on. Start reading a Bible story and halfway through say, Oh, forget it. We ve heard this a million times before anyway. Make your announcements for the week as if you don t really care. Now that you ve completely freaked out your group, transition into today s lesson by saying, As Christians, especially as American Christians,we have so much and it s easy to take it all for granted. It s time to regain some feeling in our souls. It s time to quit being so numb. read [15 minutes] Break students into three groups and assign each group one of the following passages of Scripture. Ask the students to put the passage into their own words, and to note how the people described in the verses are numb. The verses are Zechariah 7:11-12; Matthew 13:15; and Mark 14:32-41. Allow each group to present their summaries. Then ask: How are Christians numb today? What do we take for granted? What are we oblivious to? think [10 minutes] Ask students: Have you ever been bored with church? Give them a few minutes to respond. Be prepared, you may be opening a huge can of worms. Also, be careful with your response and avoid being critical of other ministries in your church. Now ask, Have you ever been bored with your faith? Allow students time to respond. When we feel like we ve been there, done that, seen it all and it s easy to get that way if you ve grown up in the church we grow numb to our faith and worst of all, we grow numb to God. Ask, What are some ways you can regain your passion for God? What are some ways you can move beyond just talking about God or knowing about Him? What are some ways you can move your faith beyond just your head and into your heart too? (some suggestions: serving others, seeing the Bible in a fresh, new way, getting rid of some things in our lives that pull us away from God) live [10 minutes] Our faith isn t based on how we feel, but that doesn t mean that we never feel anything. Each one of us is involved in a relationship with God. He loves us (and that s a strong emotion). Conclude today s lesson by brainstorming some fresh, new ways we can approach our faith in Christ. (Some examples include telling students about areas of the church they can get plugged into, some ideas for dates with God, etc.) option (as a supplement to CONNECT) Have a staring contest. The rule is to maintain your glare at the other person without showing emotion. The first one to break a smile or laugh is the loser. Introduce today s lesson NUMB by saying that when we feel numb, we just don t care. We feel nothing neither good nor bad. 4
Party why To help students celebrate the great things that God has done. connect [15 minutes] This week s meeting should look less like a Bible study and more like a party (hence the title of the devos). So, to go along with the theme for the week, create a party atmosphere. Hang up streamers, blow up balloons, set out party snacks (if you meet in the morning, bring in doughnuts and juice), and play festive music in the background. Let students mingle and munch for the first fifteen minutes of the meeting. After that time, turn the music down, and explain that you re going to party at this week s meeting, because as Christians, we all have a lot of reasons to. read and think [15 minutes] Share the New American Standard Bible version of Psalm 107:2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Also read Psalm 126:3: The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Explain that as Christians, God loves it when we celebrate what He s done in our lives, and He encourages us to celebrate with each other. Tell students that in light of that verse, you re going to spend some time celebrating God who He is and what He s done. Encourage volunteers to share examples of things they ve seen God do, or verses they ve read that makes them want to celebrate God. (Don t be afraid of silence here.) If you want some structure to this activity, try making your celebration session like a party game. Grab a beach ball and arrange students in a circle. Ask the students who have something to share to raise their hands. Then have the student with the ball throw it to someone with his or her hand raised. So, every time the ball is thrown, someone is sharing something they celebrate about God. live [10 minutes] For the last few minutes of the party, encourage students to spend time alone with God, personally praising and celebrating who He is in their lives. Then close the group in a celebratory prayer. option (in addition to LIVE) At the close of your meeting, invite a member of the praise team at your church to come and lead a small, unplugged worship session. Ask him or her to sing upbeat, celebratory worship songs that go along with the theme of the party. 5
Tomorrow why To encourage students that making wise choices today will have a positive effect on their tomorrows. connect [15 minutes] Check out a book from your library from either the Choose Your Own Adventure series, or the Which Way series. (These books should be available in the Children s Fiction section.) Read the story out loud to the students, and when a decision comes up, vote on what the character should do. If you have time, read the book again, encouraging your students to choose a different path for the character than they did the last time. Introduce this week s topic by explaining that just like the character in the book, the choices we make today affect our tomorrows. read [10 minutes] Divide the group into smaller groups of four or five members. Have each group read the familiar story of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11:1-17; 26-27; 12:10, 14. Then have them discuss the following questions: (1) There are several points in this situation in which David made decisions that permanently impacted his tomorrow. At what points could David have made different decisions? (2) What different decisions could he have made? (3) What impact could changing those decisions have had on his future, his tomorrow? think [10 minutes] Explain that not all the decisions we encounter are simply good or bad decisions, like David s decisions were. If they were, it would be easy to always know what to do. The truth is that when faced with a choice, there could actually be several good options. But we should not base our decision on which option is the best. We should base our decision on which option is the wisest because our choices have consequences (good and bad) that affect us not only today, but also tomorrow. Then ask: (1) How do you determine what s wise and what s not wise in a situation? (2) Do you think there are things that are wise for some people that aren t wise for others? Like what? live [10 minutes] Bring in a map of your state. Circle two familiar cities on the map, and label one city A and the other B. Explain that there are specific routes to take, according to the map, to get from point A to point B. If you take a road from point A that heads in the opposite direction as point B, you ll probably never get to your destination. Explain that life is like that too. Part of making wise decisions in your life is knowing the direction that you want your life to take and making decisions that will get you there. Although we can t predict the future, we can determine what kind of people we want to be and make decisions that help us become those people. Give each student a note card and a pen, and have them spend the last few minutes of the meeting writing down characteristics of the kind of person they want to be. Challenge them to make their decisions based on the kind of people they want to be. Close in prayer. option (in place of LIVE) Come up with several real-life situations in which volunteers choose what to do in each situation and give their reasoning. Here are a couple of examples: (1) A guy wants to go to a party where there will be alcohol, but promises that he won t drink. Should he go? (2) A girl s boyfriend has told her that when she wears a certain outfit, it makes him want to cross the physical boundaries he s set up to maintain his purity. She s going out with a group of her friends, and although her boyfriend won t be there, other guys will. Should she wear her outfit? Have the rest of the group decide whether or not that choice was wise. If the group decides that the choice was wise, give the student a prize. If it was an unwise choice, have that person sing the song Tomorrow from the musical Annie. 6
Wool why To give students a deeper understanding of Psalm 23 understanding more about why sheep is a good way to describe us and why Jesus really is our Shepherd. connect [10 minutes] Give each student a sheet of paper with the following tasks listed. The items can be completed in any order, and students should get the initials of the appropriate people for each task. Shearing Time. Lambs and sheep often get their coats shaved off. Find someone who s willing to pull out a strand of his or her own hair and give it to you. Have that person initial your handout. Mary s Tune. Get in a group with two other people and sing Mary Had a Little Lamb as loud as you can. Have them both initial your handout. Counting Sheep. Sometimes when people can t sleep, they count imaginary sheep jumping over a fence. Act like a fence and have someone jump over you. Have that person initial your handout. Bleating Chorus. Get with two other people and sing Mary Had a Little Lamb in sheep voices (it s called bleating you know, baa-baa). Have them both initial your handout. Bo-Peep. Stand on a chair and yell, Where are my sheep? When you can find someone willing to be your lost sheep, have that person come over to you. Have that person initial your handout. from Wild Truth Bible Lessons Pictures of God 2 by Mark Oestreicher, 2000 by Youth Specialties, Inc. www.youthspecialties.com read [15 minutes] The Bible talks a lot about sheep. It was a great point of reference for a culture well-acquainted with shepherding. But sometimes we read the sheep passages in the Bible and think, That s nice, and move on. Why? Because we just don t get it. Unless you have sheep in your backyard, you don t understand what it means to be compared to a sheep and what it means to have a shepherd. Divide students into groups and ask them to look up the following passages of Scripture and the corresponding sheep characteristic. Have students explain why people are like sheep, using an example from our culture. Here are the passages/sheep characteristics: John 1:14 (a shepherd lives with his sheep); John 10:27 (a shepherd knows his sheep); Psalm 37:25 (a shepherd provides for his sheep); and John 10:11 (the shepherd protects his sheep). think [10 minutes] David wrote Psalm 23. With his shepherding background, David was using his past experiences to paint a picture of who God is. Ask students to take something they know well a sport, a craft, a job and describe who Jesus is and who we are in the context of that experience. Ask two or three students to share their analogies. live [10 minutes] Conclude by reading through a paraphrase translation of Psalm 23 (like The Message or the New Living Translation). Have handouts ready with the passage of Scripture on it so students can put in their Bibles or place it wherever they have their quiet time. option (alternate/supplement to CONNECT) Show clips from the movie Babe, a film about a pig who thinks he s a sheep. We re not going to give you specific counter numbers or scenes from the film because basically any section of the film will do. Show about five minutes, then read Psalm 23. Ask your students: In what ways do we act like sheep? Why do we need a shepherd? And how does Jesus fill that role of Shepherd? 7