1. LEADER PREPARATION

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1 DEUTERONOMY: LIVES THAT HONOR GOD Week 3: God s Plan for the Needy This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW One of the most common themes throughout Scripture is God s compassion for the poor and needy. In book after book of the Bible, we see God s desire to meet the needs of those who suffer from poverty, injustice, and hunger. But it s the how of this desire to meet the needs of the poor that should get our attention. God s plan to meet the needs of those in poverty is pretty simple: It s us! The church is God s vehicle to care for the poor. This lesson will encourage your students to examine their attitudes toward the poor and will challenge them to be active in easing the suffering of those in poverty and need. LESSON OBJECTIVES 1. W HAT: God s plan is for Christ-followers to actively meet the needs of the poor, hungry, and needy. 2. WHY: God s desire to meet the needs of the suffering is part of his plan to redeem people from sin. 3. HOW: Students will evaluate their own attitudes toward the needy, discuss what they currently are doing to make a difference, and consider ways to make a greater impact. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE Deuteronomy 15:7-11 SECONDARY SCRIPTURES James 1:22-27; 2:15-17 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 Deuteronomy 15:7-11.

2 As with the previous two lessons in this study on Deuteronomy, this week s passage has Moses delivering to the Israelites God s rules for the covenant. In the first two lessons, we looked at some very general stipulations of the covenant. This lesson comes from a section of Deuteronomy where God gave more specific instructions. The passage you ll study has to do with God s desire for his people to provide for the poor and needy in their communities. This is not a teaching unique to Deuteronomy, or even the Old Testament. The call to provide for the needs of the poor is a consistent and prominent theme found in Scripture. Compassion for the poor and needy is an essential part of God s character. While God could supernaturally provide for the poor, God has chosen for relief to primarily come through the church. This lesson will help your students grasp God s call to be the hands and feet of Christ to the world around them. 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. When was the last time you fed the hungry or helped the needy? Let s talk about it tonight at small group. Did you know you are God s plan to meet the needs of the poor? It s true! We ll talk more at small group tonight. 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, As our small groups continued their study in the book of Deuteronomy this week, they spent time looking at God s perspective on the poor and needy. Our teenagers discussed how God s plan calls for the church to meet the needs of people in our world. Students examined their own attitudes toward the needy and considered what they currently do (or don t do) to make a difference.

3 As you go throughout the week, you can keep this theme alive in your child s life by looking for the opportunity to ask these or similar questions: How can our family make a difference in the lives of the poor or needy in our community? How do our own attitudes toward our stuff contribute to our level of service toward those in need? What changes could we make as a family to free up resources (time or money) to use toward serving the poor? Thanks for your support in talking about this challenging topic, and thanks for your continued prayers for our small groups as we lead students toward a Christ-centered life.

4 DEUTERONOMY: LIVES THAT HONOR GOD Week 3: God s Plan for the Needy 2. LEsson guide GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] Before your group meets, text or your students with a request to do some online research on global hunger and poverty. Encourage them to search through the websites of such organizations as Compassion International (compassion. com), World Vision (worldvision.org), and Habitat for Humanity (habitat.org) to find information, statistics, and stories of people addressing the needs of others around the world. Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then lead this activity: Ask your teenagers to share their online research on global hunger and poverty. As much as possible, focus conversation on the information students discovered, but here are some additional statistics from Compassion International (compassion.com/poverty/poverty.htm) that can enhance your conversation: Children under age 18 make up nearly 48 percent of the population of the world s least developed countries, compared with 21 percent of the population of the world s industrialized nations. More than 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity and modern forms of energy. More than 1.4 billion people in the developing world live below the poverty line (U.S. $1.25 per day). Every day 1,500 women die from complications in pregnancy or childbirth that could have been prevented. Each day 10,000 newborns die within a month of birth, and daily the same number of babies are also born dead. In developing countries, approximately 130 million children and teenagers age 17 or under have lost one or both parents. More than 9 million children under age 5 die each year. Two-thirds of these deaths more than 6 million every year are preventable. Approximately one-third of the world s poor people live in India. Which statistic about poverty or hunger jumps out at you most? Why? Where do you most commonly see examples of poverty?

5 What attitude do you think God wants us to have toward people who are poor, hungry, or needy and why do you feel that way? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Poverty is a global epidemic. It dramatically impacts the lives of people in our country and in every country in the world. Poverty does not care about race or age. Poverty takes the lives of countless people each day. But the Bible has a lot to say about meeting the needs of the poor and needy. Today we ll learn what our role is when it comes to God s plan for helping the poor. 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. 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 are (1) We must recognize the presence of the needy, (2) We must have the right attitude toward the needy, and (3) We must give generously to help those in need. 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 Deuteronomy 15:7-11 together as a group. Consider dividing verses among your students so everyone has a chance to read. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: In this passage, Moses is delivering more of God s rules for the covenant relationship with the Israelites. The passage focuses on God s desire that we would provide for the poor and needy in our world. 1. We must recognize the presence of the needy What kinds of personal interaction have you had with the poor? Tell us what you felt during those experiences and what they taught you.

6 Look at verses 7-8. Why do many people including many followers of Christ choose to ignore the needy? If every Christ-follower recognized the presence of the needy, what effect do you think it would have on the poverty in the world? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Most of us who have a roof over our head and food on our plate can t fully relate to what it feels like to be homeless and hungry. But we are called by God to be openhearted toward those who are in need. This begins by being aware of people s needs, instead of ignoring the needy or assuming someone else will step in and get involved. God s heart is broken when we ignore the needy and act like they don t exist. 2. We must have the right attitude toward the needy When you encounter someone poor or needy, what is usually your first reaction? Why do many people have fear or suspicion of people in need? Look at verses Give an example of how it is possible to do something good with a bad or improper attitude. Describe a time when you may have done something for someone with no expectation that this person would return the favor. How did this make you feel? Do you find it easier to feel compassion toward the needy here in our community or the needy in other parts of the world? Why? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: It s easy to be kind or generous to people who are likely to be kind and generous in return. But God wants us to have a kind, generous attitude toward people who could never repay us. When we do this, we honor God more than we might realize. 3. We must give generously to help those in need Look at verse 11. How does an openhanded, generous attitude toward our possessions go against the attitudes we most commonly see in our culture? Why is it hard for many people to willingly and eagerly give to the needy?

7 SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Our attitude toward giving is directly related to our attitude toward our stuff. If we look at possessions and money as ours, as something we deserve or have earned, then we will be much less willing to give. But if we see our ability to earn money and then to purchase stuff as a gift given by God, and all our money and stuff as blessings from God, then we will be more willing to see our possessions as resources to be used for God s kingdom. God wants us to be willing to give out of our blessing to bless others. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] Ask students to form groups of two or three for these questions. Read James 1: The modern-day equivalent of the orphans and widows in verse 27 would be people in society who have the least ability to provide for themselves. As you think about our society, who are the people who need our help providing for themselves? What do you think is the connection between caring for the needy and refusing to let the world corrupt us, as James writes in verse 27? How might being corrupted by the world keep us from giving freely to those who are in need? Read James 2: What can happen to us spiritually if we continually respond like this to the needy and hungry and why? Bring students back together, and allow for volunteers to share answers to some of the questions, if time permits. APPLICATION How does an awareness of God s compassion for the poor change your heart for them? What do you need to change in how you view people who are less fortunate than you are? Are you satisfied with what you are doing in your life to meet the needs of the poor and needy? Why or why not?

8 What are some ways we might work together as a youth group to actively make a difference in the lives of the poor in our community and around the world? What will it take for you to make it happen? Think of a few steps that you and your friends can take to ensure you actively seek to help the needy. 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. Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do (Deuteronomy 15:10).