By Brent Lacy

Each lesson follows the same structure so your students know what to expect and your leaders know how to prepare. The structure is: Open (icebreaker or opening question), Explore (Scripture and teaching), Discuss (group questions), Apply (specific action for the week).

Lesson 1: Who Am I? (Identity)

Big Idea: Your identity is not built on what you do, what you look like, or what others think of you. It is built on who God says you are.

Scripture: Psalm 139:13-16, Ephesians 2:10

Opening Question: If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be? Where did those words come from?

Teaching: Most teenagers build their identity on things that change: grades, appearance, relationships, social media followers. The problem is that when those things change, the identity built on them collapses. Psalm 139 describes a God who knew you before you were born, who formed you intentionally, and who sees you as his workmanship. That identity does not change when your circumstances change.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is one thing you base your identity on that could change tomorrow?
2. What does it mean practically that God “knit you together”?
3. How would you live differently if you genuinely believed you were God’s workmanship?

Activity: Give each student an index card. Have them write on one side: “The world says I am ___.” On the other side: “God says I am ___.” Share in pairs.

Application: This week, when you catch yourself defining yourself by something that could change, say out loud: “That is not who I am. I am God’s workmanship.”

Lesson 2: Why Does God Feel Far Away? (Spiritual Dryness)

Big Idea: Feeling far from God is not the same as being far from God. Spiritual dryness is a normal part of the life of faith, not a sign that something is wrong with you.

Scripture: Psalm 22:1-2, Psalm 42:1-5

Opening Question: Has there ever been a time when God felt far away? What was happening in your life?

Teaching: Psalm 22 begins with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” , the same words Jesus cried from the cross. The Psalms are full of people who felt abandoned by God and said so honestly. Spiritual dryness is not a sign of weak faith. It is a sign that you are paying attention to your spiritual life. The question is not whether you will experience it, but what you do with it.

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you usually do when God feels far away?
2. What does Psalm 42 suggest about what to do in dry seasons?
3. Is it okay to tell God you feel far from him? What would that prayer sound like?

Activity: Read Psalm 42 together slowly. Have each student underline one phrase that resonates with where they are right now. Share what they underlined.

Application: Write a one-paragraph honest prayer to God about where you are spiritually right now. You do not have to share it with anyone.

Lesson 3: What Do I Do With Anxiety? (Fear and Worry)

Big Idea: Anxiety is not a sin. It is a signal. The question is what you do with it.

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 6:25-34

Opening Question: What is one thing you are genuinely worried about right now?

Teaching: Jesus does not say “do not be anxious” as a command to suppress your feelings. He says it in the context of a God who clothes the flowers and feeds the birds , a God who is paying attention to the details of your life. Paul’s instruction in Philippians is not “stop worrying” but “bring your worry to God in prayer.” The peace that follows is not the absence of the problem. It is the presence of God in the middle of it.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the difference between healthy concern and anxiety that controls you?
2. What does it look like practically to “present your requests to God”?
3. Have you ever experienced the “peace that surpasses understanding”? What was that like?

Activity: Give each student a small piece of paper. Have them write their biggest worry on it. Fold it up. At the end of the meeting, pray over the folded papers together, then have students take theirs home as a reminder that they gave it to God.

Application: When anxiety hits this week, try this: name the worry specifically, say it out loud to God, and then say “I am giving this to you.” Do it as many times as you need to.

Lesson 4: Is the Bible Actually True? (Apologetics)

Big Idea: Faith is not the absence of evidence. The Bible has more historical support than almost any other ancient document.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 20:30-31

Opening Question: Has anyone ever challenged your faith by saying the Bible is not reliable? What did you say?

Teaching: The Bible is the most historically attested document from the ancient world. There are over 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament , more than any other ancient text by a factor of ten. The gap between the original writing and the earliest copies is shorter than for any other ancient document. This does not prove the Bible is true, but it does mean that the text we have today is reliable. The question of whether it is true is a different question , and one worth taking seriously.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the difference between “the Bible is reliable” and “the Bible is true”?
2. What is one thing about the Bible that you find hard to believe?
3. What would it take for you to be more confident in the Bible’s reliability?

Activity: Look up one of the following and discuss: the Dead Sea Scrolls, the manuscript evidence for the New Testament, or the historical evidence for the resurrection. Use your phones if needed.

Application: Read one chapter of the Gospel of John this week and write down one question it raises and one thing it makes you believe more.

Lesson 5: How Do I Know God’s Will? (Guidance)

Big Idea: God’s will is less mysterious than we make it. Most of it is already written down.

Scripture: Romans 12:1-2, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 119:105

Opening Question: What is one decision you are trying to make right now where you wish God would just tell you what to do?

Teaching: Most of what God wants for your life is already clear in Scripture: love God, love others, pursue holiness, serve the church, share the gospel. The specific decisions , which college, which job, which person to date , are usually matters of wisdom rather than revelation. God guides through Scripture, through wise counsel, through circumstances, and through the desires he has placed in you. The person who is walking faithfully in the clear things will find the specific things becoming clearer.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the difference between God’s “moral will” (what he commands) and his “specific will” (what he wants for your particular life)?
2. What role does wise counsel play in discerning God’s will?
3. What would it look like to “trust in the Lord with all your heart” in a specific decision you are facing?

Activity: Have each student write down one decision they are facing. Then have them answer: What does Scripture say about this? What would a wise person advise? What do my circumstances suggest? What desires has God placed in me? Discuss in pairs.

Application: For one decision you are facing this week, ask one trusted adult for their honest counsel before you decide.

Lesson 6: What Does It Mean to Follow Jesus? (Discipleship)

Big Idea: Following Jesus is not a decision you make once. It is a direction you choose every day.

Scripture: Luke 9:23-24, Matthew 4:18-22

Opening Question: What is the hardest thing about following Jesus in your specific life right now?

Teaching: When Jesus called his first disciples, he did not give them a theology exam. He said “follow me.” The call was to a relationship, not a belief system. And the relationship required leaving something behind , their nets, their boats, their previous life. Following Jesus always costs something. The question is not whether it costs, but whether what you gain is worth more than what you give up. Jesus says it is. He says the person who loses their life for his sake will find it.

Discussion Questions:

1. What have you had to give up to follow Jesus?
2. What does “take up your cross daily” look like in your specific life?
3. Is there something you are holding onto that is making it harder to follow Jesus?

Activity: Give each student a small stone. Have them hold it while you discuss what they might need to “put down” to follow Jesus more fully. At the end, they can keep the stone as a reminder or set it down as a symbolic act.

Application: Identify one thing this week that you will choose to do differently because you are following Jesus.

Lesson 7: How Do I Deal With Conflict? (Relationships)

Big Idea: Conflict is not the problem. Avoiding it is.

Scripture: Matthew 18:15-17, Ephesians 4:26-27

Opening Question: What is your default response when someone hurts you or makes you angry?

Teaching: Jesus gives a clear process for handling conflict: go directly to the person, privately, before you involve anyone else. Most people do the opposite , they talk to everyone except the person they have the problem with. This is not just ineffective. It is gossip. The Matthew 18 process is not complicated, but it requires courage. It requires going to the person who hurt you and saying “this is what happened and this is how it affected me.” Most conflicts are resolved at this step when people actually follow it.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why do most people avoid going directly to the person they have a conflict with?
2. What is the difference between venting to a friend and gossip?
3. Is there a conflict in your life right now that you have been avoiding? What would it look like to address it directly?

Activity: Role play: one student plays someone who was hurt by a friend. Another plays the friend. Practice having the direct conversation using “I felt ___ when ___” language. Debrief: what was hard about it? What made it easier?

Application: If there is a conflict in your life right now, take one step toward addressing it directly this week. Even if it is just writing down what you want to say.

Lesson 8: What Is the Gospel? (Evangelism)

Big Idea: The gospel is not complicated. It is the best news anyone has ever heard.

Scripture: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10

Opening Question: If someone asked you right now “what is the gospel?” what would you say?

Teaching: The gospel is the announcement that God has done something about the problem of sin. The problem: every person has sinned and is separated from God. The consequence: sin leads to death , spiritual separation from God. The solution: God sent Jesus to pay the price for sin through his death and resurrection. The response: trust Jesus. That is the whole thing. The Rescue Gospel framework puts it in four movements: Created, Broken, Rescued, Respond. See ministryplace.net/rescue-gospel-framework/ for the full framework.

Discussion Questions:

1. Can you explain the gospel in your own words in 60 seconds?
2. What part of the gospel do you find hardest to explain to a friend?
3. Who is one person in your life who needs to hear the gospel?

Activity: Practice sharing the gospel in pairs. One person shares, the other asks honest questions as if they had never heard it before. Switch. Debrief: what felt natural? What felt awkward?

Application: Pray for one specific person by name this week who needs to hear the gospel. Look for an opportunity to start a conversation.

Lesson 9: Why Does God Allow Suffering? (Theodicy)

Big Idea: God does not promise to explain suffering. He promises to be present in it.

Scripture: Romans 8:18-28, John 11:35

Opening Question: Has something ever happened in your life that made you question whether God was good or whether he cared?

Teaching: The question of why God allows suffering is one of the oldest and hardest questions in human history. The Bible does not give a simple answer. What it does give is a God who enters suffering rather than watching from a distance. Jesus wept at Lazarus’s tomb. He cried out from the cross. He knows what suffering feels like from the inside. Romans 8 does not say God will explain the suffering. It says he will work it for good , and that nothing, including suffering, can separate us from his love.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the difference between “God causes suffering” and “God allows suffering”?
2. What does it mean that Jesus wept? What does that tell you about God?
3. Have you ever seen God bring something good out of something painful? What happened?

Activity: Read Romans 8:35-39 together. Have each student identify one thing from the list that they are most afraid of. Discuss: does Paul’s promise cover that thing?

Application: If you are in a season of suffering right now, tell one person in this group the honest truth about it. Let them pray for you specifically.

Lesson 10: What Does the Bible Say About Sex? (Purity)

Big Idea: God’s design for sex is not a restriction. It is a protection.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, Song of Solomon 2:7, Hebrews 13:4

Opening Question: What messages do you hear most often about sex from your school, social media, and friends?

Teaching: The culture’s message about sex is that it is primarily about personal pleasure and that any restriction on it is oppressive. The Bible’s message is that sex is a gift designed for a specific context , marriage between a man and a woman , and that this design is for human flourishing, not human restriction. The reason God’s design matters is not because sex is bad but because it is powerful. Used outside its design, it produces harm. Used within its design, it produces the kind of intimacy it was created for.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the difference between the culture’s view of sex and the Bible’s view?
2. Why does God’s design for sex require a covenant (marriage) rather than just love or commitment?
3. What does it mean practically to “flee sexual immorality” in your specific context?

Activity: Anonymous question cards: have students write one honest question about sex, relationships, or purity on an index card. Collect them and answer them honestly as a group. No judgment.

Application: Identify one specific boundary you will set this week to protect your purity. Tell one trusted person what it is.

Lesson 11: How Do I Read the Bible? (Spiritual Disciplines)

Big Idea: Reading the Bible is a skill. Most people were never taught how to do it.

Scripture: Psalm 119:105, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, James 1:22-25

Opening Question: How often do you read the Bible? What makes it hard?

Teaching: Most teenagers who try to read the Bible on their own give up because they do not know how to approach it. They open to a random page, read something confusing, and close it. There is a better way. The most effective approach for a beginner is to read one chapter of a single book, in a readable translation, every day. Start with Mark or John. Read it like a story, not a textbook. Ask three questions: What does this say? What does it mean? What does it require of me? That is the whole method.

Discussion Questions:

1. What translation do you use? Have you tried a more readable one?
2. What is the difference between reading the Bible for information and reading it for transformation?
3. What is one thing that would make it easier for you to read the Bible consistently?

Activity: Read Mark 1:1-20 together right now. Apply the three questions: What does it say? What does it mean? What does it require? Do this as a group so students can see the method in action.

Application: Read one chapter of Mark every day this week. Write down one thing you notice each day. Bring your notes next week.

Lesson 12: What Happens When I Die? (Eternity)

Big Idea: The resurrection of Jesus is the most important fact in human history. If it is true, everything changes.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:17-22, John 14:1-3, Revelation 21:1-5

Opening Question: What do you think happens when you die? Where did that belief come from?

Teaching: The Christian hope is not that your soul floats away to a disembodied heaven. It is that your body will be resurrected , transformed, glorified, and reunited with your soul , in a new creation where God dwells with his people. This is not wishful thinking. It is grounded in the historical fact of Jesus’s resurrection. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, the Christian faith is worthless. But if he did , and the evidence is strong , then death is not the end. It is a door.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the difference between “going to heaven when you die” and “resurrection”?
2. How does the hope of resurrection change how you live now?
3. Is there someone in your life who has died? How does the resurrection speak to that loss?

Activity: Read Revelation 21:1-5 together. Have each student identify one thing from that passage they are most looking forward to. Share with the group.

Application: Tell one person this week something you are looking forward to about the resurrection. See what conversation it starts.