May 7 - Middle School

 
 
 

What we’re learning this week:

As we end our “Self Portrait” series, this week’s conversation is about why we follow Jesus. Some of the early fans of Jesus were following him around because they thought he could give them more bread or be the political hero they were looking for… but Jesus tells them that HE is the bread of life. Jesus challenged their motivation for following him in a way that causes us to think: Why do I follow Jesus?

Bottom Line: We follow Jesus to get Jesus.
Scripture:  John 6:25-35

 
 

Small Group Time:

This can be a bit of an abstract conversation as we talk about the motivation of following Jesus. We hope this conversation helps your students see two things… 1) That we can give thanks to Jesus for the ways he has shown up in our lives. 2) That our relationship with him is the only thing that provides lasting joy and peace! The last call and response exercise should help accomplish this!

  1. For those of you who follow Jesus, what benefits have you experienced from your new life in Christ? Share them and celebrate together as a group.

  2. How can you tell the difference between being grateful to Jesus for the good things that are happening in our lives and relying on those good things to sustain us? 

  3. Have you ever gone through a difficult situation where something was taken from you? How did you rely on Christ during it?

  4. Call and response activity

Before we end our small group discussion, I want to take us through a call and response exercise that helps us see what a life of gratitude to Jesus and dependence on Jesus in all things looks like. Imagine that all of these statements I am going to read become true statements describing your life and respond with “Thank you, Jesus” to each one.

  • I am alive and in good health. (thank you Jesus)

  • I have people in my life who care for me. (thank you Jesus)

  • I am confident and joyful. (thank you Jesus)

  • I am successful at the things I care about (thank you Jesus)

  • I have a life full of blessings (thank you Jesus)

Now, we know that in a moment, life can change. The blessings in our lives can be taken from us – so now I want you to think about what it would be like to lose some of those blessings… instead of saying, “Thank you Jesus” in response to these next statements, I want you to say, “I still have Jesus.” Because while our blessings may change or be removed from our lives, Jesus is always there to sustain us and give us real life. 

  • When I get injured or the health of those I care about is failing. (I still have Jesus). 

  • When the people I trusted don’t seem to care anymore (I still have Jesus)

  • When I lose my confidence and my joy. (I still have Jesus)

  • When I don’t feel like i’m really good at anything (I still have Jesus)

  • When it’s difficult to notice any blessings (I still have Jesus)

We can be grateful to Jesus for the blessings he gives while also realizing that a life of following him in all things IS the blessed life. Would anyone be willing to pray to thank Jesus for sustaining us in all things?

 
 

Next week preview:

Next week is our final week of middle school Lifeline for the year! We will be celebrating the year with a time of reflection, sharing in small group, and open mic share recounting God’s faithfulness in a great year of middle school Lifeline!

 

Extra Info

  • Don’t forget about the Lifeline Leader Toolkit. To learn more about this, check out this information page.

  • If you’d ever like to reference the Lifeline handbook, we have a digital version of that available here on our website.

Upcoming Events

 
Middle SchoolAl Shepard