Youth Group Lessons & Activities
Youth groups are designed to support adolescents' social needs while providing an opportunity for churches to teach teens the basic principles and practices of Christianity. One way to organize youth group meetings is to plan engaging activities around lessons that reinforce basic Bible practices. Lessons are most effective if all of the youth group members are actively involved in the activities connected.
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Prayer
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In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Christians are commanded to pray without ceasing. Roman Catholic youth minister Joshua Ater teaches students that they should set a time and a place to converse with God daily, and to keep this appointment like they would an appointment with a doctor or dentist. He stresses during each prayer a Christian should praise God's goodness and power, seek repentance for sin and surrender to his will, ask for guidance, and pray for others. He also stresses that reading the Bible and reflecting on God's answers to prayer are essential to a healthy prayer life. An excellent activity to accompany a lesson on prayer is building a prayer chain. Students build paper chains and write the name of a person, or a topic which they should pray about on each piece of paper in the chain. Encourage students to hang the chain on a mirror or in another location where they will see it daily as a reminder to pray.
Abstinence
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In Hebrews 13:4 God warns against defiling the marriage bed. Teens need to be led to understand the importance of abstinence and the power of sex in the marriage relationship. Students should first be led in defining abstinence and what is and isn't appropriate for the young Christian to engage in sexually. As part of that discussion stress the importance of sexuality between married couples. Proverbs 5:17-23 speaks about the gift of marriage and the power of sexuality inside of a married relationship. One activity that can be paired with a lesson on abstinence is signing a chastity contract, and giving chastity rings. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health found that teens who participated in signing an abstinence contract were 40 percent less likely to have children outside of wedlock.
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Service
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In James 2: 21-24 Christians are warned that faith without works is dead. God demands that Christians live a life of service both to God and to their fellow man. Teach students the importance of works and give a list of good works that Christians are commanded to perform. Stress that it is by our works that we demonstrate the goodness of God to others as is commanded in Matthew 5:14-16. Get students active in serving others and God by organizing a community service project for your youth group. The service project can be as large as going to Fiji, Jamaica and other countries to preach and establish churches or as simple as volunteering at a local hospital or soup kitchen.
Nearness to God
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Christians are supposed to be following the path that Jesus laid before them. They are striving daily to be near God and to earn their place in eternal heaven but that goal is never easy. Matthew 7:13 warns that the way to destruction is wide and easy, but the path to glory is narrow and difficult. Have students engage in an activity that calls for them to evaluate their nearness or distance from God. Have students stand in a circle and instruct them that the center of the circle represents God. Read a list of statements to students about their Christian life, like "I lied this week" or "I told a stranger about Christ this week." Instruct students to take a step into the circle if their response to the statement moved them toward God and take a step away from the center of the circle if their response moved them away from God. At the end of the activity read Mark 14:19-31, 66-72 and John 21: 15-19, then discuss Peter's downfall. Point out to students that failing occasionally is expected but that they should be striving to be near God. Allow time at the end of the youth group meeting for teens to reflect on the outcome of the activity, and to pray about their relationship with God.
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References
- Photo Credit Angel in prayer image by Allen Penton from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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Thanks for the post this will help me formulate a better way to plan out lessons.
