Welcome back to the “Jesus is a Guy, Not a Rule Book” Bible Study Lesson! This part of the Bible Study will focus on a class discussion that you can have with your Sunday school students regarding the first two parts of this Sunday school lesson.
Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this Bible Study lesson if you missed them!
Bible Study Children’s Sermon Discussion
If you’re going to be a friend of Jesus, one of the most important things is to know him and to get a picture of what he was like. Use the following questions to spark discussion with your students
1. What do you think Jesus was like at your age? Do you think he stood out in the crowd? Was he dorky? Was he popular?
LOOKUP: Mark 6: 1″4
He never did anything wrong, but nobody in Nazareth recognized him as a person of greatness. He was just “the carpenter’s son,” so people from his childhood simply couldn’t put it together with who he claimed to be as an adult.
2. Being that Jesus never stood out as a kid, let’s put him in some pretend situations and let’s guess what he would have done. A bunch of kids are playing basketball. Would he have been interested in making the most shots? If not, what might he have been most interested in doing?
LOOKUP: Hebrews 2:14″18
3. He and some of the other kids in his town have been given huge lollipops at a wedding. He’s sucking on his, and some bigger kid comes along, snatches it, and runs off with it. Would he have felt disappointed?
4. Would he have said something to the kid?
Possibly, he would have objected. He certainly had a way later of calling out the Scribes and Pharisees for their wrongdoings, but he also said to “turn the other cheek” when you are wronged. It can be assumed he would have felt the same scathing frustration as any of us. He might have said something, but he would not have fought for it.
5. There’s a huge kid’s talent show in Jesus’ neighborhood. The prize for the top five acts is a week in Jerusalem and to stay at a rich man’s house. Even kids with no talent are trying to put together magic shows or recite pieces of drama like actors so they can win. Would Jesus have entered as a solo act? Did he have any talents?
LOOKUP: Isaiah 53:2
6. What if another boy, doing a dramatic monologue, begged him, “I really love acting, and I know I can do this; I just need someone to say two lines back at me!” What would he have done?
LOOKUP: Matthew 7:12
7. There’s no sin in being great at something. There’s no sin in getting applause, prizes, and rewards if you worked hard at something. But how might Jesus have shown the most excellent way to get your prize?
LOOKUP: 1 Peter 5:6
8. No one likes to feel lost in a crowd. Do you think Jesus ever felt that way as a child?
You might want to introduce them to the saying, “If we felt it, he felt it. HE TOTALLY GETS IT.”
9. There are indications in scripture that Jesus knew he would be a star someday. How might that have helped him resist the temptation to elbow his way into the spotlight as a kid?
LOOKUP: Luke 2:41″50
10. What promise of God can give you peace, even when you feel lost in a crowd?
LOOKUP: Jeremiah 11:29
Bible Study Discussion Conclusion
We’ve come to know some things about Jesus when he was your age.
– He didn’t stand out; he wasn’t a star.
– He felt all the stuff we feel.
– He didn’t have any special powers that he was exercising back then.
– He knew he would be a star someday.
Here’s the good news in all of that. It’s important to know if we’re going ask him into our lives to be our best friend.
First, he’s not demanding that you go out and preach the gospel in school or “stir up the pot” with antagonistic kids or attract attention to yourselves in your everyday lives. Some may feel called to do that at a special time”¦ if you are, it will feel more like a great roller coaster ride than like you’re being hit by a truck.
Second, if you feel lost in a crowd, he’s got your number! He was there himself! Any of your friends could get thoughtless or selfish in a bad patch. He never will. That’s why it’s important to talk to him now.
Finally, he does promise greatness for you someday. Why do we all wish for greatness? There are feelings associated with greatness, and what we really want are those feelings. We want peace within ourselves. We want to feel big enough and important enough so that things don’t bother us. We want to not be afraid of things everyday like the mean kid in school or imaginings in the dark. We want security. We want to be able to shrug when somebody does something awful to us, because if we’re a star, what does it matter?
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And don’t forget to come back later this week for the final part of this Bible Study lesson.
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