THANKSGIVING 1. LEADER PREPARATION

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1 THANKSGIVING This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW Thanksgiving is a day set aside once a year to give thanks for the many blessings in our lives. It originally was a day following the harvest season and was set aside to thank God for the harvest. As Christians, we are called to lead lives of thankfulness; it ought to be a daily experience, not just a once-a-year experience. In this lesson, we look to the value of thanksgiving in our lives. LESSON OBJECTIVES 1. WHAT: God calls us to be people filled with thanksgiving. 2. WHY: When our hearts are filled with thankfulness to God, we are led to lead lives filled with joy and complete trust in God. 3. HOW: This lesson will encourage students to make thanksgiving a priority in their lives on a daily basis, not just on one special day each year. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 SECONDARY SCRIPTURE Philippians 4:6-7 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 1 Thessalonians 5: In this passage, Paul is writing some final encouragements to the church of Thessalonica. He gives short statements, quick reminders of the ways of a follower of Christ. Each statement offers an opportunity to grow in thankfulness.

2 Always be joyful: The art of rejoicing is found in the art of being statisfied. Is life perfect? Is life going smoothly? Maybe not, but we can find true statisfication knowing that God is good and God is present in our lives. Rejoicing requires understanding that this life isn t about us but about God s kingdom. When we understand this, we can always be joyful, which leads to a heart of thankfulness. Never stop praying: If we understand that life won t be perfect but that God is perfect, then we understand the need for continual prayer. The Jewish people had a practice of what they called breath prayers short, one-line prayers that could be sent in one breath but allowed them to always be breathing prayers in and out. Lord, have mercy on me. You are good even when life isn t. Forgive me for I am sinner. These kinds of prayers soften our hearts and allow thankfulness to fill our hearts as God continually hears our prayers. Be thankful in all circumstances: There s a tricky word in that sentence: all. In all circumstances give thanks. It s easy to remember thankfulness in good times; the challenge may come in learning to find thankfulness in the hard times. The call is to lead a life filled with thanks to God whether we re in suffering or a joyful season. Paul ends these three short exhortations with the clincher: For this is God s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. What is God s will for you? Constant thankfulness and awareness of God s gift and grace in your life. May we approach Thanksgiving Day with a new attitude for that day and all other days each year. 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. Do you want to find the will of God for your life? Join us tonight. You won t want to miss it! Are you hunting for God s will? Stop looking we found it! And we ll share it tonight!

3 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. Dear parents, We will soon celebrate Thanksgiving, a day set aside for being reminded of all the blessings in our lives. This week, our students took time to examine what the Bible has to say about being thankful people. We looked at two passages from Paul in the New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and Philippians 4:6-7. Our hope is that the conversation helped students to understand that thankfulness is a spiritual act and not one that should be contained to just one day a year. I d encourage you to talk with your child this week about leading a life filled with thanksgiving. Consider using these questions to fuel your conversation: How often do you think about being thankful? Why is a life of thanksgiving so important to being a follower of Jesus? How can we encourage each other to become more thankful people? Happy Thanksgiving!

4 THANKSGIVING GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] 2. LEsson guide Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then lead this activity: Give each student a blank paper and a pen or pencil. Ask students to make a list of the reasons they are thankful in their life. Explain that you re giving them just 60 seconds; you want to see who can come up with the longest list in that short time. After 60 seconds, see how well students did and give the winner a prize, if you brought one. Ask for volunteers to share some of their answers. Have students hold on to the paper and use it again at the end if they want to add anything to their list. Was it easy to come up with a list of reasons you re thankful? Why or why not? If I had given you more time, how much longer might your list have been? As you heard answers from other people s lists, did you hear many items that also appeared on your list? If so, what? How often do you think about being thankful? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: This week we are celebrating Thanksgiving. For most of us in America, this holiday has turned into a holiday about food. How much can we eat and how much football can we watch? Those things aren t wrong; in fact, I am thankful for both of those things. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a day set aside to be thankful. Maybe that s the problem thankfulness should be a lifestyle, not something we save up for just one day. 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) Always be joyful, (2) Never stop praying, and (3) Be thankful in all circumstances. 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 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 together as a group. Consider dividing verses among your students so everyone has a chance to read. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Let s spend a few minutes discussing what Paul writes in these verses and how these instructions can help us become more thankful people. 1. Always be joyful What is joy like? Complete the sentence Joy is like with a word or phrase that describes your view of joy. What does it mean to be joyful? Is it all about our emotions, or does it go deeper than that? Explain. How does rejoicing strengthen your heart of thanksgiving? When it is hard for you to rejoice? Why might it be important to rejoice during those times anyway? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Learning to be joyful and rejoice always isn t easy. Life is messy and hard one moment and in the next, life can be easy and great. Always being joyful means having a perspective of God that never changes in the midst of the situations of your life. You can love God and give thanks and rejoice, no matter what is happening in your life. 2. Never stop praying Is it even possible to never stop praying or to pray continually, as some translations of the Bible phrase it? Explain.

6 What are some ways to pray throughout your day that don t require closing your eyes, folding your hands, or praying aloud? How can prayer make you a more thankful person? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Praying continually is about reliance. It s a reminder that we can t live without God, that we are dependent upon God. Remember: Prayer is a dialogue with God, not a monologue. It involves speaking to God, but it also requires listening for God s leading and voice. By allowing your heart to be prayerful and open to communicating with God throughout the day, you learn how to fully depend on God. And when you depend on God, you will never be let down even when life is hard! 3. Be thankful in all circumstances How can you be thankful in ALL circumstances? Is this even possible? Why or why not? When do you find it easiest to be thankful? Why? When it is most difficult? Why? How do other people s attitudes affect your attitude? How can you maintain a thankful attitude even when surrounded by people who aren t thankful? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Paul sums up these three challenges with a mind-blowing statement in verse 18: For this is God s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Have you ever wondered what God s will for you is? Did you ever think it was related to college or your job? It might be easier to find after all: God s will for you is thankfulness and total dependence on him. When you live like that, it gets easier to see and understand what God wants from you in every area of your life. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] Read Philippians 4:6-7. In this passage, Paul is urging the Christians of Philippi to handle their lives in a prayerful and thankful way. How would you summarize his statements in these verses? How does his encouragement in Philippians sound similar to the passage we read from 1 Thessalonians? What are a few of the common messages?

7 What do you think your life would like if you followed Paul s encouragement regarding prayer and thankfulness? APPLICATION Ask students to form groups of two or three for these questions. How can you devote more of yourself to thankfulness? Are there things in your life keeping you from thankfulness? How might you address these things? Are there areas that you feel anxious about? Can we pray together? How can we encourage each other this week to be more thankful not just on Thanksgiving but every day? Let s take a minute to look at our lists from earlier in our lesson; do you want to add to your list? [NOTE: Give students a minute or two to write down a few more things, if they wish.] 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. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18).