COLOSSIANS 1 DUTY CALLS SESSION 1 LEAD IT: MIDDLE SCHOOL GOALS MATERIALS: Group MATERIALS: Each Student As students experience this session in Colossians, they will be introduced to the writer and original recipients of this letter. begin discovering the purpose and theme of Colossians. explore the writer of this letter and his job as a Minister of the Gospel. be encouraged to see themselves as useable by God, no matter their background or age. student journal pages for Session 1, including a copy of the Wanted poster student Scripture sheets for Colossians a notebook for keeping Scripture sheets and journal pages a Bible (or Bible app) and pen a whiteboard and markers a pack of colored pencils. Optional Materials: If time and space allow you may choose to create large Scripture sheets to hang on the walls or project onto a whiteboard that your group can mark together. You may also want to project or display a map that shows the location of Rome and the ancient city of Colosse. One Week Out Send out a reminder (email, text, social media, snail mail) to those who ve expressed interest in this study, telling them when and where the group will meet. Be sure to thank them for their desire to go deeper with God and His Word. Tell them that is the plan to dig deep in Scripture and find what God is saying. Encourage them to be ready for God to say something to them personally. Challenge your students to read the entire book of Colossians before the first session. Reading this short book will give them a great overview for this study. Reminders Please visit inword.org and click Prayer. Here you can submit info that will help InWord s prayer team pray specifically for you and your group. Be sure to take advantage of the INNERgized Web Help for this study. You ll find the web address and password info in the Leader Prep book. Prayer When your students have gathered, thank them for being a part of this study. Pray that they will go deeper with Jesus through this journey in Colossians and be motivated to make God s Word a part of their lifelong pursuit of Christ. OPEN Start out by asking either or both of the following questions: Does anyone enjoy watching mystery or detective type shows? If so, which ones? As a group, can we name 5 famous detectives, real life or from TV/movies/books? After answers have been given, explain to your students that during this time of Bible study your group will play a role like that of a detective or investigator. They will be using some of the same methods used by detectives as they study the Bible. They will be asking questions, answering questions, looking for clues, recording their findings, and coming up with conclusions and applications. Share that the work they do together combined with the power of the Holy Spirit will bring greater understanding to the mysteries in God s Word. NOTHIN BUT CHRIST LEAD IT: Middle School SESSION 1 1
Next, share that they will begin their detective work with a pop quiz on Colossians to see how much they already know. As you read the questions, have students jot their answers in the space provided on their journal page. The correct answers are printed beneath the questions below. But for best results, don t tell them the answers. Let them uncover the info during the Pre-Dig exercise. 1. Where did the book of Colossians get its name? From a. a church? b. a city? c. the name of a region? d. A certain denomination or kind of Christians? 2. Without looking at your handouts or Bible, how do you spell Colossians? 3. How many chapters are in Colossians? a. three b. four c. five d. six 4. Wild guess: How many verses are in the book? a. 95 b. 225 c. 568 d. 1,008 5. What type of Bible book is Colossians? a. a biography (like a gospel) b. history (like Acts) c. poetry (like Psalms) d. a letter (like 1 Timothy) e. prophecy (like Revelation) Answer key: 1 a city, Colosse; 2 Colossians; 3 four; 4 95 verses; 5 a letter. PRE-DIG Explain that every book of the Bible falls into one of the five categories in question 5; the type of book you re studying determines what information you ll look for as you study that book. So ask the students to continue their detective work and read Colossians 1:1 2. See if they can tell what type of book they re about to study. After a minute, ask these questions and have students write the info under Pre-Dig on their journal pages. What kind of book is Colossians? -a letter Who wrote it? -Paul and Timothy Who was it written to? -The holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse Point out that Colosse was a city the answer to quiz question 1. It could be helpful to show a map where this city was located (now modern day Turkey). Based on these verses and the header on the Scripture sheet, let students check their answers to quiz questions 1, 2 and 5. Then have them scan their Scripture sheets to find the answers to questions 3 and 4. By looking, they can probably estimate that there are 95 verses in Colossians but feel free to ask a math whiz to do a quick calc. Reward the student with the 2 NOTHIN BUT CHRIST LEAD IT: Middle School SESSION 1
most correct answers. If a tiebreaker is needed, ask the winners to guess how many verses are in the book of Ephesians (155). Acknowledge the student who comes closest with a round of applause or a fun cheer made up on the spot. DIGGING IN Explain that one of the first steps in discovering what God is saying through a Bible book is to determine the main message (purpose or theme) of the book. One of the best ways to discover the purpose of a letter like Colossians is to learn as much as possible about its author. Let the rock star detective work continue! Ask students to read Colossians 1:1-9 and 1:23-29 from their Scripture sheets and share the following instructions in your own words: Using a colored pencil, circle every mention of Paul, including pronouns like I and we. (Let me know if you need a quick English review on pronouns). Be sure to notice what God is showing you as you mark the passage. Don t rush this. Allow yourself to linger on each reference to Paul. If you choose to use large Scripture sheets or the passage projected on a whiteboard choose a volunteer (or let students take turns) circling references to Paul in Colossians 1:1-9 and 1:23-29. After reading and marking the passages discuss the questions below. If the group is struggling with answers, choose several of the references below and have students read the verse to themselves looking for clues and then ask for them to share their discoveries. How would you describe Paul s relationship with his readers? -thankful/grateful (1:3) -respectful (1:4 6) -pulling for them (1:23) -willing to admonish, teach, and struggle so that they can experience Christ s best (1:28-29) Has Paul ever met these people? Apparently not -Paul had heard of the Colossians faith in Jesus (1:4) -The Colossians had learned God s truth from Epaphras, Paul and Timothy s fellow servant, who ministered on their behalf and told them of the Colossians love in the Spirit (1:7 8) How would you describe Paul s mood? Was he urgent? Thoughtful? Forceful? Note: During the preceding discussion, your students will probably ask, Hey, what about Timothy? Let them weigh in on the role they think Timothy played in writing Colossians. Then share the info you learned under Insight Two Authors? in your personal prep. Next, tell your students, as detectives, they will be drawing up a Wanted Poster of Paul so they re going to need to collect as much info on him as possible. Ask them to start by looking back at the verses where they circled information about Paul. Tell them to focus on his duties and concerns as a minister to the Colossians. Have them list their findings under Digging In on their journal page. After a few minutes (always let your students know it s ok if they aren t finished), ask them to tell you what they found. List their observations on the board as follows. (Don t be concerned if your list is less detailed than the one below.) Paul: -is an apostle (i.e., one who is sent out) of Christ by the will of God (v. 1) -hasn t stopped praying for his readers since the day he heard about them (v. 9) -is praying that God will fill them with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding (v. 9) -is a servant of the Gospel (v. 23) -became a servant by the commission of God (v. 25) NOTHIN BUT CHRIST LEAD IT: Middle School SESSION 1 3
-was commissioned to present to his readers the Word of God in its fullness (v. 25) -proclaims Christ in order to present everyone perfect in Christ (v. 28) -labors, struggling with all Jesus energy, which powerfully works in him (v. 29) Now ask the group to create a Wanted Poster of a Minister of the Gospel based on their findings about Paul. Use the poster provided on their journal pages. Paul s duties give clues as to what activities would identify such a person. His concerns point to the personal characteristics a minster of the Gospel would have. Students should start with a written description, if they have time and want to be creative they can draw an artist s rendering. Have a few students share their finished posters. Wanted!! Person: -apostle of Christ Jesus (i.e., someone to be sent out on Jesus behalf) This person has been seen doing these actions: - praying constantly -proclaiming God s truth -writing encouraging letters Traits that will help you identify this person: -a servant s heart -willingness to suffer -willingness to struggle on behalf of others TAKING IT INWARD After a few have shared their Wanted posters, discuss the following questions as a group. When you think about ministry today, what kinds of duties do you picture ministers (youth pastors or senior pastors) doing? Is your picture of ministers today similar or different from what you see Paul doing? Have you ever thought of yourself as a minister of the Gospel? As students respond, help them understand that whatever stage of life God has us in we will always have opportunities to minister to others. Right now as students they might minister to teammates, siblings, and neighbors. Now would also be a good time to mention Timothy and remind students that although he was young like them, he was very much being used by God. Share with your students that they will be creating Wanted poster of themselves. Draw their attention to the poster on the right half of their student sheet. They can pick a life situation or two (daughter or son, student, sibling, teammate, neighbor, friend) and list ways that they are or could be a Minister of the Gospel. As with the other poster, they should start with the written description and add a picture if time allows. Below is an example: Person: Sarah Ann: apostle of Christ Jesus and a student This person has been seen doing these actions: -praying for her teachers and classrooms -sharing God s truth with her friends at school -writing encouraging letters to other believers at school 4 NOTHIN BUT CHRIST LEAD IT: Middle School SESSION 1
Traits that will help you identify this person: -she is always looking for opportunities to offer help when she sees a need at school -she knows she might be made fun of for what she believes and that s ok -she is willing to stand up for others Give students time to work on their Wanted poster. Make sure they know you are available if they need help. Allow several students to share their posters. Thank everyone for sharing. PUTTING INTO PRACTICE The Colossians Takeaway At the close of each session you ll be asking your students to create a Colossians Takeaway: a key thought, action or commitment from the session. This will help them keep track of what God is teaching them and serve as a reminder of the key themes in Colossians. You may want to challenge the group to come up with a title more creative than Colossians Takeaway. Then ask them to think about the next question before writing a one-line response for their takeaway. What s one specific, practical thing you can do this week to imitate Paul and be used by God in a major way? Close Before closing in prayer, ask for a quick, unison response to these questions: 1. Who wrote Colossians? -Paul 2. What kind of book is it? -a letter 3. What was the book of Colossians named after? -a city 4. How many chapters does it have? -four Remind students that something Paul often did for the Colossians was pray. Explain to your students, that one of the most powerful things we can pray is Scripture. Share with students that you would like to end the session by praying Colossians 1:9-12 over them all. Invite your students to close their eyes and receive this prayer: Prayer: I pray for each person here, asking God to fill them with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And I pray this in order that they may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that they may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified them to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Amen. 28 NOTHIN BUT CHRIST LEAD IT: Middle School SESSION 1 5