Christian Education Publications PO Box A287 Sydney South NSW 1235 Australia Ph: +61 2 8268 3344 Fax: +61 2 8268 3357 Email: sales@cepstore.com.au Website: www.cepstore.com.au Published July 2014 Copyright © Tim Clemens 2014 This book is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism and review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without the express permission of the publisher. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc. National Library of Australia ISBN 978-1-925041-36-1 Author—Tim Clemens Managing editor—Julie Firmstone Theological editor—Tess Holgate Design—Bethany Abbottsmith
HARD CORE CHRISTIANS CONTENTS
How to use this manual
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About the author 6 Unit overview 7 Lesson 1
Faith in Jesus Ephesians 2:8–9
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Lesson 2
Living like Jesus Titus 2:11–14 14
Lesson 3
Praying through Jesus Philippians 4:6–7
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Lesson 4
Hearing from Jesus 2 Timothy 3:14–17
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Lesson 5
Meeting with other Jesus followers Hebrews 10:24–25 27
HOW TO USE
THIS MANUAL
Hard Core is part of a series of curriculum products written by Tim Clemens for years 7–10 students studying Christian studies in independent schools and Special Religious Education in State schools. As with all Christian Education Publications, Hard Core is grounded in the belief that God is the source of all truth and his word, the Bible, is where God reveals himself and his saving purposes. Each lesson aims to teach students directly from the Bible or, when this is not possible, to engage them with issues from a biblical perspective. This unit is intended to provide you, the teacher, with reliable, engaging and ready-to-use material. With a total of five lessons, Hard Core is designed to run for one school term. Each of these lessons is structured to run for 40 minutes to one hour, but can be shortened or extended to suit your needs.
PREPARATION B E FO R E YO U T E AC H E AC H L E S S O N : • pray for students to have open minds and hearts to receive God’s word • read through the lesson plan and the Bible passage(s). Think through
how you will lead the discussion and what you will share with students about your own experience
• search for the suggested video clips and make sure you have the equipment ready to play the video(s) at the appropriate time in the lesson
• have the Student handbooks and Bibles ready to hand out (one per student) • gather together any additional props or materials you will need to run the games and activities.
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LESSON FORMAT The lessons in this unit follow a basic format from week to week. PRAYER INTRODUCTION/ RECAP
An opportunity to commit the lesson to God and get the students used to praying and talking with him. Lesson 1—A brief overview of what will be covered in this unit. All other lessons—a short revision of the previous lesson’s big idea.
DISCUSSION OR ACTIVITY
An interactive section designed to get the students talking and thinking about the topic.
LINK
A bridge between the activities and what you have shared, and the Bible teaching to come.
READ THE BIBLE
A chance for students to read the Bible themselves. Get a confident reader in the group to read the passage for the day aloud. Key passages are printed in the Student handbooks for easy reference.
STUDENT HANDBOOKS
A resource for students to complete with a variety of questions and activities based on the teaching. Be sure to allow time for students to share their answers with the class and for you to see how well they have understood the material. See the note on page 6 for more information.
REINFORCE THE BIG IDEA
A way to finish the lesson with the key points from the study.
CHAT
An invitation to students to challenge you on any point they disagree with or find difficult to accept or understand. Encourage any young person to approach you after class with questions or comments, and offer to pray with any student who wants this support.
ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS
Some examples of difficult questions you may get asked by students on the main issues discussed in each lesson, together with appropriate and helpful responses.
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A NOTE ABOUT THE STUDENT HANDBOOKS Each student should have their own handbook. Hand them out at the start of each lesson and collect them again at the end of class. This will give you the opportunity to review and mark (if you wish) their work, and to see whether the students have understood the material. At the end of the last lesson, allow the students to take home the Student handbooks as a record of what they have covered that term and a potential resource for any unanswered questions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tim Clemens is passionate about reaching youth with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has been involved in youth ministry since 2006, and began teaching Special Religious Education (SRE) at St Ives High School in Sydney in 2009. Tim’s desire is to develop material which will engage and challenge high school students as they hear the gospel.
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UNIT OVERVIEW The Hard Core unit takes students through five of the core things that every Christian needs to grow in their relationship with Jesus. These include faith, obedience, prayer, Bible reading and going to church. The unit seeks to move students beyond an entry level understanding of Christianity into being fully-devoted disciples of Jesus.
THERE ARE FIVE LESSONS IN THE UNIT: 1. Faith in Jesus. Christians put their faith in Jesus alone to save them. 2. Living like Jesus. Having put their faith in Jesus, a Christian is somebody who puts that faith into action and starts to live like Jesus. 3. Praying through Jesus. Prayer is speaking to God through Jesus and is one way we grow in our relationship with him. 4. Hearing from Jesus. The Bible is the Spirit-inspired word of God and reading it is another way that we learn more about God and how to live like Jesus. 5. Meeting with other Jesus followers. Church is the gathering of God's people where we hear God’s word, sing his praise, and encourage one another to persevere in our relationship with Jesus.
UNIT AIMS This unit aims to: 1. introduce students to the life and habits of a Christian 2. show how the life and habits of a Christian are attractive 3. challenge students to become wholehearted disciples of Jesus.
ASSUMED KNOWLEDGE It is assumed that, in beginning this unit, students will: • understand that the Bible is the word of God • have basic skills in reading the Bible and finding Bible passages • have a fundamental understanding of the Christian faith including: i. God as Creator ii. Man as sinful iii. Christ as Saviour.
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LIVING LIKE JESUS BIG IDEA
Having put his/her faith in Jesus, a Christian is somebody who puts that faith into action and starts to live like Jesus.
OUTCOMES
By the end of this lesson students will: • be challenged to consider who they imitate • reflect on the relationship between faith and deeds • consider what they need to do to live more like Jesus.
KEY PASSAGE
Titus 2:11–14
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Today's lesson PRAYER Begin by praying something like, ‘God, thank you for the opportunity to learn from your word, the Bible, today. Please help us to see how we should live our lives in light of your kindness to us in Jesus. Enable us to live in a way that is both pleasing to you and good for us. Amen’.
R EC A P Ask the students what they remember from last week’s lesson. Perhaps you could provide a reward for the first student who reminds the class of the big idea: real Christians put their faith in Jesus alone to save them.
ACTIVITY: SIMON SAYS Play a game of Simon says. For those who don’t know how to play, Simon says is a simple game in which your students are supposed to do what ‘Simon (you) says’. So you might say, ‘Simon says ... jump up and down, tap your head, or run on the spot’. The students must then mimic you as you do each of these things. The trick is that they are only to obey you when you say, ‘Simon says’. If you simply say, ‘Tap your head’ (without the ‘Simon says’ at the beginning), anyone who obeys you is out and must sit down. The aim of the game is to be the last one standing.
DISCUSSION Facilitate a class discussion in which you ask the students ‘Who is your role model?’ Who do they mimic? Who do they consider to be the trendsetters? What types of things influence how they will act and whom they want to be like?
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After giving the students an opportunity to share their own thoughts, you may like to conclude the discussion by sharing with the students a story about someone that you follow (or followed) and try to imitate. It’s probably more fun if you are a little embarrassed about the person, so don’t feel the need to hold back!
LINK Christians are people who try to imitate, listen to, and be like Jesus. In a sense, all Christians are playing one big game of Simon says. Once you’ve put your faith in Jesus, you desperately want to be like him!
READ THE BIBLE Get a volunteer to read Titus 2:11–14, which is on page 12 of their Student handbooks. Briefly explain terms like grace, ungodliness, blessed and redeem. Make sure they understand that this is a letter written to a man named Titus in which the author is reminding him about how the love of God teaches us to live more like Jesus. • GRACE—a word that describes God’s kindness toward us. It is not something we receive or earn, but a description of God’s loving and compassionate approach to his rebellious, undeserving children. • UNGODLINESS—a way of describing any word, thought, act or disposition that is unlike God. So given that God is kind, patient and good, the ungodly person is mean, short-tempered and evil. • BLESSED—someone or something that God is favourably disposed towards. In other words, it’s got God’s tick of approval. In this context, our blessed hope refers to our God-given confidence that Jesus will return for his people. • REDEEM—to take someone out of a situation in which they are stuck (for example, slavery), and set them free. This can often be a very costly process. In the case of Jesus, the cost of our redemption was ‘himself’.
STUDENT HANDBOOKS Invite the students to begin answering the questions in their Student handbooks. Go round and help them as they do this. Depending on time, you may like to get your students to complete one or both of the
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Get creative activities as well. Be sure to give them an opportunity to share their work with the class. The answer to the fallen phrase is, ‘One mark of a Christian is that they seek to live like Jesus’.
REINFORCE THE BIG IDEA Make sure the students understand that Christians are people who, having understood God’s grace, are eager to become more and more like Jesus. When someone becomes a Christian, it’s important that they know that God saved them from their sin, but he doesn’t stop there! He has saved them for a future of transformation into the likeness of Jesus, and to be people whose lives are characterised by good works! Help the students to see that this transformed life does not come as a substitute for faith, but as a result of faith. Challenge them not only to have faith in Jesus, but to live like him too!
CHAT Invite any students who have questions or who wish to talk further about the concepts in this lesson to speak with you during or after class.
ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS What if I have faith in Jesus, but don’t want to live like Jesus? It sounds kind of boring! One of the common lies that our culture tells us is that we are missing out if we live God’s way. It tells us to ignore God’s design for sex, drugs, alcohol, money and a whole range of other things. Apparently the only way to really enjoy life is to have and use each of these things in extremes. The sad truth is that all too often this kind of advice leads to incredible pain and brokenness. This is not a new lie. In fact, this is exactly what Satan whispered to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan tempted Adam and Eve by suggesting that God was holding out on them. He said that if they disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the
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knowledge of good and evil, they would be like God! They could be free and live life to the full! As we know, the consequences of that lie were disastrous. It was into this brokenness that Jesus declared, ‘I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full’ (John 10:10). Jesus claimed that the best life—the most satisfying life, and the life we were designed to live—could only be enjoyed when we trust in him. Jesus isn’t a killjoy; his commands are designed to help us live in accordance with the way we were created. In living Jesus’ way we can be confident that we will live the best life possible. This does not mean that life will always be ‘sunshine and lollipops’. Life may still be hard, but we can be confident that God’s way is best. In the same way that the best way to use a phone is to follow the manufacturer’s instructions, the best way to enjoy God’s gift of life is to listen to him, the Creator! God’s not holding out on you; he wants what’s best for you! That means that the best sex is enjoyed in marriage. Alcohol is best consumed in moderation. Drugs are best suited for medicinal purposes. And money is best used with an open hand. God is good. He wants what’s best for you! Don’t be fooled. Listening to Satan’s lies will only lead to disaster.
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