EXODUS: WHEN GOD S ON YOUR SIDE 1. LEADER PREPARATION

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1 EXODUS: WHEN GOD S ON YOUR SIDE Week 4: Life Change (A Glowing Moses) This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW When we spend time with God, we are changed, shaped, and transformed into people whose lives point others to God. Moses had a powerful encounter with God that caused his face to radiate with God s glory, a constant reminder to himself and to others of the time spent with God. This lesson will use the account of Moses radiant face as the vehicle to get your students thinking about the importance and results of spending time with God regularly. LESSON OBJECTIVES 1. WHAT: The more time we spend with God, the more we reflect God s glory to the world around us. 2. WHY: Teenagers who build the habit of consistently spending time with God position themselves in a solid place for lifelong spiritual growth and impact. 3. HOW: Students will consider specific ways they can spend more time with God, and they ll discuss how their changed lives can impact the people around them. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE Exodus 34:28-35 SECONDARY SCRIPTURE Romans 12:1-2 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. Read Exodus 34: This is one of those really cool moments in Scripture. We read about how Moses spent time talking to God and receiving God s covenant with Israel in writing. When Moses

2 came down from the mountain, Aaron and the Israelites suddenly stopped in their tracks because of what they saw. Imagine looking toward Moses and seeing his face glowing with an incredible radiance! Simply being in God s presence caused Moses face to radiate light. The light would apparently linger; Moses had to put a veil over his face to keep from freaking people out. He d then go into God s presence and the cycle would be repeated. Moses experienced a very obvious change from being in the presence of God. No one could mistake where he had been or with whom he had been. Moses countenance bore testimony to his time with God. Wouldn t it be awesome if our lives and the lives of our students worked the same way? Wouldn t it be cool if we could all be so quickly identified as having spent time in God s presence? The truth is that it should be so obvious. Perhaps we won t glow like Moses did, but our lives ought to reflect the change and transformation God desires and promises. We can (and should) radiate with the light of Christ that draws people to us and ultimately to God. Our previous lesson talked about our relationship with God and our relationships with others. This lesson will help your students dig deeper on building a life-changing relationship with God. 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. Have you heard that tonight s small group will be a glowing-good time? Come find out why and exactly what I mean. Can people tell you spend time with Jesus? Let s talk about it tonight at small group. Parent 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 the final lesson in their four-week series on the book of Exodus by looking at the incredible story of how Moses face shone with radiant light after being in the presence of God. We challenged students to live in such a way that their lives would shine brightly for Christ, and we talked about the truth that the more time we spend with God, the more change and transformation we see in our lives. Consider taking some time this week to keep this line of thinking going in your child s life. As you find time, you might want to use the following questions to generate conversation: Do you think our family is identified as people who serve Christ? How can others tell? Do you feel like you are growing in your relationship with God? How can we help one another see more spiritual growth in our lives? What could we as a family do to have more meaningful times of worship with God? As always, let me know if there are specific ways I can pray for your family or for your teenager. Have a blessed week!

4 EXODUS: WHEN GOD S ON YOUR SIDE Week 4: Life Change (A Glowing Moses) 2. LEsson guide GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] Bring, borrow, or buy three or four name-brand sodas, such as Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, and Mug Root Beer, for a taste test. Then find the generic equivalents available at most grocery stores. Gather some paper or plastic cups, and provide blindfolds for students. Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then jump into the activity below: Ask for a volunteer, and instruct the student to put on a blindfold. Then, in view of the rest of the group, pour a name-brand soda in one cup and the generic equivalent brand in another cup. Instruct the volunteer to drink both samples and identify which was the name-brand drink. Then reveal the answer. Repeat this process with different volunteers until you have exhausted your samples. For a little fun, give a volunteer two samples of the same thing, or one name-brand and one that is a mix of the two samples. How easy or difficult was it for you to tell the difference between the namebrand sodas and the generic ones? Would most people say the name-brand soda was the better tasting drink? Why or why not? When given the choice, how many people would choose the real thing over the generic brand? What spiritual ideas or truths might you find through this activity? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: You just participated in an activity where the taste of the real thing stood out as distinctive. Today we re going to see how our lives can stand out in the same way how our lives can be real and authentic to the world around us, all because of the difference God makes in us. 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 GUIDE 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) Spending time with God is transformational, and (2) Our changes are a living reminder of God s power to transform. 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 Exodus 34:28-35 together as a group. Consider allowing one or more of the teenagers to read the text. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Today is the final lesson from our study on the book of Exodus. We will see how an encounter with God had an incredible impact on Moses life and how this affected others. We ll also see the value of letting our interaction with God impact the way we live, too. 1. Spending time with God is transformational Have you ever spent so much time around a friend that you began to act, talk, or behave like that person or that person began to act, talk, or behave like you? Why does this phenomenon happen? Moses was physically changed from being in the presence of God. What are some ways we are changed when we spend time with God? What changes might we expect to see in our attitudes and our actions? Moses was able to approach God on a mountain. What can we do to approach God and nurture our relationship with God? What is the purpose of our lives being made different? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Moses had the amazing privilege of actually standing in God s presence. God is so awesome that when Moses left, he was glowing literally. As followers of God, we should seek to be in God s presence as well. And while we might not glow, our lives should be changed as a result of being with God.

6 2. Our changes are a living reminder of God s power to transform When Moses came down from his mountaintop encounter with God, people saw a difference. Verse 30 makes this statement: they were afraid to come near him. Why did people experience that kind of fear? What are some examples of how people might see a difference in you because of your relationship with God? What impact can our lives have on others? How is this impact shaped by the time we spend with God? Is it more important to let your actions speak for your faith or for you to speak actual words to your friends about your faith or are both equally important? Explain. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Being transformed by Christ is a powerful testimony that God is real and that God loves people and wants them to experience a new life! It s important that our actions reflect the change we ve experienced, but we also must be willing to share the life-changing story of Jesus with the people in our lives. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] Read Romans 12:1-2. What does this passage reveal to you about God s process of transforming your life? What do you think it means to be a living sacrifice, like Paul mentions in this passage? How can we experience greater compassion toward people who aren t yet followers of Christ? If God has changed and is changing our lives, why do we sometimes overlook or ignore people s need for Christ? Why don t we eagerly search for opportunities to tell other people what we ve experienced and how God can produce similar change in their lives? What s at stake when we don t share our faith with others? What is there to gain when we do share our faith?

7 Is it fair that other people may judge you more harshly because of your faith? Why or why not? What if your faith rubs people the wrong way? How can you deal with that? Here s a challenging question, but it s one worth asking: If we say we are Christians but our lives don t seem to be changing, how should we respond? What s the best approach, attitude, or answer to this dilemma? [NOTE: Sometimes it s a matter of perspective; teenagers might not see change but the people around them will. In other situations, students choices might be sabotaging the growth and change God desires to produce in their lives.] APPLICATION Ask students to form groups of two or three for these questions. What are some ways you currently spend time with God on a regular basis? Which habits or activities seem to have the deepest impact on you spiritually, and why? When you examine your life, which current attitudes and actions are drawing people toward God? Which are pushing people away from God? What prayer might you offer as you seek to live a life that draws people toward God? Have you ever shared your faith with another person? If so, what was that experience like? If not, why not? Which friend or family member might be open to hearing about Jesus this week? How might you initiate a spiritual conversation with this person?

8 SUMMARY End your 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] Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below. Don t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2).