LEADER PREPARATION
Lesson Summary:

Note: These lessons are designed to be 30 minutes long. If your club time is shorter than this, we encourage you to be prayerful about parts of this lesson to put more or less emphasis on. If limited on time, we urge you to prioritize Tool Time and summarize Dig In, as Tool Time is what prepares you for sharing the Gospel. As always, let the Holy Spirit guide your leadership.

It is in our community of faith that we experience God’s Kingdom today as we wait for His Kingdom to be established on earth. Because of the presence of the Spirit in our lives, we can be ambassadors for his Kingdom this summer. Each of us have been given spiritual gifts to serve God’s Church, build up our fellow believers, and show the world the attributes of God’s Kingdom.

Main Point
God has given us spiritual gifts to live our lives on mission for Him everywhere and with everyone.

Team Roles

Host: This Student Leader will lead the Start Up section of the lesson, helping create a fun environment, making everyone feel welcome and included.
Speaker: This student leader will guide the group in growing deeper in their faith by reading and reflecting on passages of scripture. They will then connect the content to the group’s daily lives by asking practical questions and leading the conversation.
Other Roles: Promo, Welcome, and Follow Up. 

Scripture References

• Matthew 28:16-20
• Romans 12:4-8

Materials Needed

• Small objects, such as ping pong balls, rolled up socks or etc. (1 for every 2 students)

(7 minutes)
Welcome everyone and be sure to get the names of any new friends.

Icebreaker Game: Hold Your Applause
Supplies Needed: Small objects such as ping pong balls, rolled up socks or etc. (1 for every 2 students.)
Game Preparation: Ensure that your room has ample space for movement with this game. This may require you to move tables or chairs around before the game starts.

Ask students to find a partner and spread out around the room. Once every student has a partner, give each pair of students (a team) the object you’ve chosen for them to toss. Explain how they will be tossing the object back and forth, but the student who is catching must clap however many times the Host chooses BEFORE they actually catch the object. If the student drops the object, their team is out of the game.

To make things even more challenging, the Host can change the number of claps at any point in the game. The last team remaining is the winner.

Repeat the game as time allows.

Hint: Start with a small number of claps and build up as the game progresses.

Say: What a great game! Just like you had a mission to accomplish in the game, today we are going to talk about a mission God has entrusted to us as His Church while we wait for his return.

Just as you didn’t know the timing of your claps, we don’t know when Jesus will come back, but we should be ready at any time. We can look at each day as a chance to fulfill His individual and corporate plans and purposes.

As we come together for our last meeting of the year, it is fitting that we are talking about living out God’s Kingdom in our faith communities. Whether you have been a part of our group for months or this is your first time, you are an essential part of what God is doing in and through this group and in the world.

(5 minutes)
Ask: What are some of the plans you have for the summer? (Take a few moments for students to share.)

Say: As we face this summer, some of us are excited, some feel a little sad, and others of us are anxious about whether we will be able to maintain the closeness we’ve experienced this year with God and each other.

This reminds me of how the disciples must have felt after Jesus’ death and resurrection. This person they were following and learning from for three years was now gone. They had left their careers to follow Him and must have been unsure of what to do next.

Read Scripture: Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:16-20a)

Say: This is what is known as The Great Commission. Jesus speaks to his closest followers and shares what will happen with them after He is gone. All that they had done up until this point prepared them for what Jesus was calling them to step into next. They were to go and spread the Good News wherever they went and with whomever they met. Let me remind you that it wasn’t easy to go around and share about Jesus to everyone they met. In this time, people could be greatly persecuted or killed for saying the wrong thing. The disciples probably felt a mix of fear, excitement, and doubt in their ability to accomplish the task.

Read Scripture: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)

Say: Jesus answers all their fears with an assurance that He would always be with them. It is through the gift of the Spirit that Jesus promises He will be with them every step of the way to guide and empower them. They couldn’t accomplish this task alone. They needed the power of the Holy Spirit and each other to fulfill this calling in the world.

His promise to his followers is true for each of us today as He instructs us to go out and share the news of His Kingdom. This purpose or assignment is not just for the next three months of summer but for our lives as believers. In order for all the people of the world to know of Jesus, we must encourage one another in this task.

This year, we have been a community of faith for one another as we have heard the truth, matured in our faith, and shared our ups and downs as the body of Christ. Having people to encourage your faith, pray for your concerns, and inspire you in outreach is crucial to each of us  as we do our part in collaborating to see God’s Kingdom advance.