Proclaiming the Good News. Unit 6 lesson 4

Transcription

1 Proclaiming the Good News Leader Guide Unit 6 lesson 4

2 Scripture Acts 2:14 41 Lesson Overview: Social Dimension Why has sharing our faith become such a difficult task in the church today? Sometimes it seems we would rather just serve somewhere than have to answer any real questions. We are living in a post-christian society, so the hostility some believers face may have something to do with the hesitation to share our stories about Jesus. However, the hesitation we feel might have more to do with how we view the good news in our own lives. For many preteens, faith has become a list of what not to do versus what they really want to do. No wonder many people don t want to share the good news; it doesn t sound good at all! Have we forgotten what the good news is really all about? It s about Jesus, his death, and his resurrection. It s not about a list of things to do. It s not about a place you need to go each Sunday. It s about the opportunity to be redeemed and placed in authentic relationship with the one who created us. Our preteens need to first embrace their faith story and understand what Jesus is doing in their lives. Then we need to empower and equip them to share their story with their communities. Where are you giving students opportunities to share their stories? Do they only share at youth group? Do you allow them to share within the big church setting? Who is modeling this for them? This could be the generation that truly takes to heart Jesus calling to share his good news with the whole world. How will you help them do it? Biblical Commentary Luke records the first evangelistic sermon of the new church in Acts 2: The sermon is a response to the crowd who has gathered to wonder at Jesus followers who are speaking in tongues. In verse 13, some in the crowd have rejected the Holy Spirit, saying Jesus followers must be drunk as it is only nine in the morning. Peter stands up with the apostle to refute this statement. The fact that the apostles then stand up with Peter sets the standard that ministry will be done in community and with teamwork. As Peter addresses the charge, he begins to tell them what is happening in more detail. Peter explains how Jesus life and ministry match up with both Scripture and the events that have taken place. All the evidence from both the prophet Joel and the events of Jesus life give Peter confidence to claim that Jesus was both Lord and Christ. Peter goes on to say that the death of Jesus was a victory made possible by God. For the Jews, the death of the Messiah would have been a stumbling block to them seeing Jesus as Lord. Peter presents the resurrection as a victory that God had planned and perfected in the life of Jesus. His words move the listeners, and they ask what they can do to fix what they have done. Peter replies that they must repent and be baptized, and that the Holy Spirit will come to them, too. Luke ends this passage by telling the reader that 3,000 were added to the believers number that day. Reflect on these themes: What s the last piece of good news you received? Peter responds to the ridicule of some of the crowd by speaking courageously. How do you respond when people ridicule or mock your faith? Ask God to give you boldness and courage in sharing your faith. Think about your students: Do your students feel at ease sharing their faith? Have your students expressed any ridicule or mocking of their faith in their communities? What do you think keeps your students from sharing their faith? Resources Bibles Pens and markers Copies of handouts Shine video clip from The Veracity Project: 2

3 Messages to Parents and Preteens For Preteens: The following are a couple of text messages, Tweets, or Facebook statuses you could send out to preteens in order to promote the meeting and prepare them for it. Read Acts 2: What does it mean to share Jesus with other people? Talking about sharing the good news this week. What stops you from sharing your faith with others? For Parents: Here are some text messages to get parents and preteens talking before your next meeting, and a follow-up to equip parents to continue encouraging their preteens to engage in the mission of God. Read Acts 2:14 41 with your preteen. Share with them things that have helped you share your faith with others. Talking about evangelism this week. Talk with your preteen about what holds them back from doing this. Dear Parents, This week we are continuing our series entitled Purpose. In this unit, we are looking at the charge to share Jesus with others. We studied the first sermon of the early church by Peter after he received the Holy Spirit. We spent time talking about how we can share the good news about Jesus, too. Here are some questions to keep your dialogue going with your preteen: What keeps you from sharing your faith with other people? What things seem to help you share your faith with others? How can our family share our faith with the people in our neighborhood? Let me know if you have any questions as we continue through this series. Thanks for sharing your preteen with us. 3

4 Lesson Guide As you teach this lesson, keep in mind that this is a difficult topic for this age group. Try not to use words to describe sharing the good news that many students won t understand. If you do use them, make sure you define them. Remember that we are trying to encourage students to be inspired to share their faith, not to do it out of guilt or a sense of duty. So don t send your group on a guilt trip over what may seem like shallow reasons for not sharing Jesus; the reasons aren t shallow to your students. Explore Student Goal: Students will start a dialogue about sharing their faith. Welcome your students and open with prayer. Play the Shine clip (details in the Resources section). SAY something like: Today we are going to be looking at what it looks like to share the good news of Jesus. Sometimes Christians call this sharing your testimony or your faith. Sometimes we call it evangelism. Whatever you call it, it is essentially sharing with other people the story of Jesus in your life. As we talked about over the last few weeks, this is the mission of the church; it s what Jesus has called us to do. ASK: What is the last good news you got? When you get good news, who is the first person you want to share it with? How do you feel when people share their good news with you? Encounter Student Goal: Students will learn how to share the good news with others. SAY something like: In our last few meetings, we started to understand more about Jesus death and resurrection. We also took a look at what Jesus said to the disciples after he rose from the dead. He told them their job would be to share his story with everyone, and that he would send the promised Helper, the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came upon the followers of Jesus, they began to be able to speak in different languages and everyone could understand them. This week we are going to look at how Peter answers the claim that Jesus Spirit-followers are just drunk. ASK: Have you ever had something great happen to you and then watch people write it off as luck? How did it make you feel? SAY something like: Let s take a look at what Peter has to say to the crowd. Read Acts 2:14 21 with your students. ASK: In your own words, what is Peter saying? Who stands up with Peter? SAY something like: Peter starts by telling the crowd that what they see is exactly what the prophet Joel in the Old Testament said would happen when the Messiah came. The Holy Spirit would come, and it has. It s also interesting that Peter isn t giving this message alone. All the disciples stand up with him. Read Acts 2:22 36 together. ASK: In your own words, what is Peter saying? What does he say happened to Jesus? SAY something like: Peter shares with the crowd his personal story about Jesus. He explains that Jesus was accredited by God in verse 22, which means that God gave him the authority to do miracles, wonders, and signs. In other words, this was God s plan all along. He then tells them that Jesus was crucified and rose again after three days. Peter says Jesus is not like David; David is still dead, but Jesus is alive! Imagine you were a Jew in the crowd hearing what Peter is saying. He has just told you that the Messiah, the Savior you have been waiting for all your life, has just died and rose again and you missed it. How would you respond? Let s see how the crowd responded. Read Acts 2:37. SAY something like: Luke tells us that the people were cut to the heart. What do you think that means? Read Acts 3:38 41 with your students. ASK: What does Peter say they need to do? Who is eligible for this good news? SAY something like: This is fantastic news! Peter shares the good news of who Jesus was, what he did, and how they can be a part of it. That is what Jesus is asking us to do to. Often we think sharing our faith is going to be really scary, or we think we need to have a really good picture we can draw for our friends. The truth is that God 4

5 is just asking us to share with other people what he has done and is doing in our lives, and how other people can join us in it. Sometimes practicing something can make it less scary when the real thing comes along. So let s practice sharing our faith! Divide your group into pairs and give them the handout. Ask them to take turns answering the questions on the sheet and asking any others they might think of. ASK: What was awkward about that exercise? What was comfortable? How do you think this helped you start thinking about what you might say if someone asked you about Jesus? What things do you think would help you share the good news with someone else? SAY something like: Sharing your faith can be a little scary and maybe even awkward. The more you do it, though, the easier it will be. Plus God has given us some great things to help us out. He has given us the Holy Spirit. When Peter stands up to share, he does it with the help of the other apostles. We, too, can work together to share the good news. Lastly, Peter shares what he knows about Jesus. God doesn t ask us to have a degree in the Bible before we can share our story. Every story is unique, and your story might just be the one God really wants to use right now in someone s life. Engage Student Goal: Students will seek God s help to boldly share the good news. ASK: What are the things that stop you from sharing your story with others? What s the worst thing that could happen if you share your story with someone else? What s the best thing that could happen? SAY something like: Today, as we end our time, I think it would be good for us to seek God s direction and ask for his help as we think about where we can share the good news and with whom. Ask your students to spread out in the room so they have space to be by themselves and not be distracted. Ask them to close their eyes and quiet their hearts. Tell them to let go of all the thoughts and things that are running through their mind. Next ask them to spend some time thanking God for the good news that is Jesus. After a minute or so, encourage them to ask God to bring to mind some people in their lives who need to hear the good news of Jesus. Lastly, instruct your students to ask God for opportunities to share the good news, and for boldness to share their story when God gives them opportunities. Closing SAY something like: God has given us a mission to share the good news of Jesus with others. He has given us help to do it through the Holy Spirit. Now we need to boldly share the good news that has changed us with other people. Ask God to help you with this in the coming week. Close your time together in prayer. 5

6 Fill in the Blank EXPLORE: Start off your group time today by asking your students to answer two questions. First, if a friend asked you what it means to be a Christian, what would you tell them? Second, if someone asked you how to become a Christian, what would you say? Give each student an index card with each question on one side. Give them a few minutes to write down an answer, and then collect the cards. Shuffle the cards and then read through some of them together. Keep the answers anonymous so no one feels embarrassed by their answers. This will help you get a gauge of where your students are in understanding their faith and sharing it with others. Write it Out Creative Options encounter: Give students some paper and pens, and ask them to write out their faith story. You can help your students get thinking about it by asking, How old were you when you chose to follow Jesus? Who was with you? What did you do in that moment and in the days and weeks afterward? How has following Jesus changed your life? After your students are finished writing, have them share their stories with a partner. Make it a Family Event ENGAGE: Invite parents to join you for the final part of your meeting. Ask students to share with their parents what they have been learning today. Then ask parents to share some of their faith stories. Next, ask parents to pair up with their student and talk about how they might share the good news with someone in their lives. 6