Sometimes just having a leisurely conversation with students can help them raise the important questions and search for the answers. This conversation guide and bible lesson, with questions provided, can inspire kids to put on their thinking caps and understand what they are really doing in school – and the one skill that will help them through all others.
The conversation is followed by a game that involves blindfolds and listening to voices. It will teach them about God’s voice!
Materials
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Preparation
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Lesson
Some people find school really exciting! Going back is a time to make new friends and feel a year older! Others miss summer days of swimming and relaxing. Others had a not-so-great year last year and feel like they don’t want a repeat.
Let them get involved in some questions:
What happened in school last year that was great?
What happened that you would like to change if you could go back?
How many feel like they got picked on last year?
How do you want this year to be great? Or different? What would you like to accomplish?
Answer this question: If fear were not an issue, what would you do this year?
Answer this question: If money were not an issue, what would you do this year?
What’s the one subject we haven’t brought up yet concerning school? Whose name have we not yet mentioned? Jesus
Do you ever feel, going into your school that you leave Jesus at the door and don’t hear from him again until you are alone? Why do you think that is?
Is Jesus actually with you in school?
Let’s talk about the big picture for a moment. What do you think Jesus thinks about school? It’s a normal part of life and you’re supposed to be good there, too.
Do you think Jesus understands that school can be loud and crowded, and that it’s going to be hard to include him in your thoughts? Yes, he does understand this.
What is the point of school? It takes up so much of our lives, but we rarely get to the heart of it. What is school for? To learn essentials for living such as mathematics, science, history, reading, and writing. To meet friends and learn how to get along with people. To learn discipline in your habits – not just studying, but also going to bed on time and getting up on time, practicing good hygiene, etc.
There is a lot that school can teach us. Does God want us all to get straight A’s? No. Does God want us all to be super-successful at a sport? No. God understands that most kids have to be in school. And most of them are not going to stand out in all the things that school has to offer.
What is the lesson learned from not being the best at something, or not having a lot of talent in the things you have to keep trying, over and over? Humility”¦patience”¦perseverance.
Did you know that Jesus’ childhood was so unremarkable that there are only two stories about it in the whole Bible? In one, the Nativity, he was too young to go to school. In the next, he was 12. The rest began when he was around age 30. What do you think Jesus was doing all that time?
Do you think he was out there performing miracles? He was not; his first miracle was changing water to wine at a wedding, as recorded in John 2, shortly before he went into the desert for 40 days.
If he won any awards or did anything that really stood out, don’t you think that would have been recognized somewhere in the gospels?
In the story when Jesus was 12, he’d gotten separated from his parents, and after three days, they found him in the Temple.
Here is the story of Jesus at age 12:
Read Luke 2:41-52
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
We are told that, as Christians, we are supposed to try to behave like Jesus did.
Here is a trick question – be careful: Was Jesus trying to get straight A’s in temple worship? No.
What was he trying to do? He was trying to get to the closest walk with God the Father.
In school, whether you are learning math or science, or how to get along with others, or how to be patient, you will do this best by understanding one thing: How to walk with God.
How do we do that in a place that is so noisy that you probably couldn’t hear him very well in your heart, and where there are so many distractions that you can go a whole day and never think his name?
Jesus understands the weaknesses of men. He was a man. He knows most of you have to go to this crowded place and you don’t have a choice. He knows it’s loud. He knows it can be spiritually distracting. He doesn’t expect you to be like a pope, praying constantly at your desk or making speeches about him. He knows most of you are unprepared to talk about him. He knows most of you are unprepared to speak to him in such an environment. What is the most important thing for you to know when you go back to school? That he is with you and that he UNDERSTANDS.
If you can walk into school this year, knowing Jesus is WITH you and Jesus is FOR you – you are going in with something better than all the pens, folders, and Trapper Keepers. THAT’s what makes you a winner in his eyes. And THAT’s where he can begin to do good things, with you, for you, and through you.
Now let’s play a game to see what it’s like for God to move you in school.
You might also be interested in these other bible lesson ideas!
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