This is an idea for your [tag]youth Bible study lessons[/tag] for your middle school students. Showing faith joyfully inside the walls of Sunday school is easy. Yet messages learned in [tag]Sunday school[/tag] are not often spoken outside of church. To show his faithfulness and humility, David, King of Israel, danced and with joy for carrying the Ark of the Lord. (Teacher words in bold.)
Practicing What To Say
By the time you guys get in seventh grade, you’ll feel a lot of pressure to do what we call “conform.” That means “be like everybody else.” But a wise man once said, “The truth was never decided by the popular vote.” Sometimes we have to go against the crowd. That isn’t easy. But it helps to practice in advance. Let’s think of how we will react in any of the following (impress upon them that there are no perfect answers, but examples of problems they will surely face):
– A Kid in school comes up to you and makes a laughing comment about your backpack. “Nobody uses a backpack in seventh grade. They’re for babies.” You just bought the back pack, and you kind of like it. Close your eyes, take a deep, slow breath, and imagine yourself responding. What are you doing?
– A bunch of kids in your neighborhood are hanging out. One kid says kind of proudly, “My parents are atheists. Believing in God is stupid.” Essentially, he has just called you and your family stupid. Close your eyes, take a deep, slow breath, and imagine yourself responding. What are you doing?
– You go to public school. You attend a youth group that meets after school on Wednesdays, which means you need to bring your Bible to school. A kid sees it and says, “What, are you trying to be a saint?” You get a nickname for half the day, “Saint Sarah” (“Saint Sam.”) Close your eyes, take a deep, slow breath, and imagine yourself responding. What are you doing?
Remember: Nothing has changed much since the days of King David. King David’s love for God – his love for God in front of others – made him known for three thousand years. A hundred years from now, who will remember the kids who had big mouths? Who do you want to remember you?
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