Week 2: October 13 – Love God & Love Neighbor
2 Timothy 2:8-15, Luke 17:11-19

Note to the Teacher

The key emphasis this week (for this lesson from 2 Timothy 2 and Luke 17) is that having God in your life doesn’t always guarantee that things will be easy, but having God in your life can help get you through anything better than you possibly could on your own. The Ice Breaker invites students to get comfortable sharing about themselves by sharing about their most interesting scar. The Discussion encourages students to reflect on how God can help them to endure any situation, and the Activity allows youth to work on sharing their own faith story with others.

Times are based on a 50-minute lesson period, but can be adjusted.

Time Description of Activity

10 min. 1. Ice Breaker – Tell Me About Your Scars!

Supplies Needed – A whiteboard or large sheet of butcher paper and markers for each student.

Draw a large outline of a body on the board or butcher paper. Tell the students that this week we are focusing on sharing, so we are going to share about our worst or most interesting pain they have ever experienced. Give every student a marker and have them at the same time go up to the outline of the body and put a symbol of their choosing on the body outline the place where they have a scar on their own body.

After they have all left their mark pick out a different symbol on the body outline and ask who made that mark. When the student identifies themselves, have them quickly tell the story of what caused them that pain. Have as many students share as time allows.

5 min. 2. Read Scripture

Our Scripture reading today will focus on 2 Timothy 2:8-15, and Luke 17:11-19. 2 Timothy 2 focuses upon how God can help anyone endure any situation. Luke 17 tells the story of Jesus healing 10 people with leprosy, and how only one praised God in response.

Read 2 Timothy 2:8-15

Read Luke 17:11-19

15 min. 3. Discussion

• In 2 Timothy 2, how does Paul share he is suffering for the Gospel?
• Why do you think Paul is willing to suffer?
• Verse 12 mentions “enduring,” What does it mean to endure something?
• What are things you have to endure in your lives right now?
• What helps you to endure through tough situations?

From Luke 17

• Why did the men with leprosy stand at a distance from Jesus and call out?
• What did it mean to have leprosy in New Testament times?
• Why in verse 14 does Jesus tell them to show themselves to the priests after being healed? (To show the Jewish religious leaders of the time who had been sparring with Jesus that Jesus is the one that healed them.)
• Despite the miraculous healing, why did only one of the 10 come back and praise Jesus?
• How does this story compare to our experience with God today?

20 Min. 4. Activity and Discussion – Tell Your Own Faith Story

Bring this lesson to life by encouraging (or challenging) youth to get more comfortable sharing their faith story with this activity from the YouthWorker Collective.

SUPPLIES – None needed, just willing hearts to share

Break students up into groups of two. Remind the students that in Luke 17 the men healed from leprosy didn’t do a good job of sharing about what Jesus had done for them. In groups of two, each student will have 2 minutes to share with the other student their faith story, what Jesus has done for them. Remind the students that everyone has a different story, and that most stories don’t involve miraculous healings like many Biblical stories. Give the students 5 total minutes to each share their story with their partner.

Bring the students back together in a large group and ask the following questions:

• How was it sharing your faith story with your partner?
• What was challenging about sharing your story?
• What made it easier or more comfortable to share your story?

Now, ask for a few students to share their faith story with the entire group, again asking them to limit it to around 2-3 minutes. After any student shares have the group applaud and thank the student for being willing to share. Have 2-3 students share with the large group.

Conclude the activity reminding the students that we all have a story about God to share, for some it may be in a group, for others sharing with a friend, but to be ready to share your story about God when the moment of opportunity comes!

Close in the manner that is typical for you. Consider taking joys/concerns from the students, then asking for a volunteer to close in prayer.

50 min.

NEEDED RESOURCES:

• Whiteboard or large piece of butcher paper
• Marker for each student