EQUIP WEEK
JESUS’ RESURRECTION GIVES US ETERNAL LIFE
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.
Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Through faith in Him we are made new and given salvation. Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope not just for today but also for our future home in eternity. We don’t have to wait until then to experience this new life that Jesus promises. We can see glimpses of eternal life today that we can live into right now!
Take a look at this video from BibleProject as you prepare:
Eternal Life – https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/eternal-life/
Main Point
We don’t have to wait around for eternity to live the life Jesus gives us to live. Living a resurrection life starts today.
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
Materials Needed
- Eight Sheets of Paper
- Marker
- Package of Gummy Bears
- Prayer Cards
(7 minutes)
Say: Welcome to First Priority. As we kick off our new month, let’s review the Mission and Vision of First Priority.
- Mission: To take the Hope of Christ to every student.
- Vision: Students Reach Students.
Say: Whether you have been a part of our meetings over the past few months, or this is your first time, we’re so glad you are here.
Welcome everyone and be sure to get the names of any new friends.
Icebreaker Game: Lifetime Trivia
Supplies Needed: Eight sheets of paper, marker, package of gummy bears.
Game Preparation: Write the following numbers on separate sheets of paper in order:
- 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 120, 240
Gather the students into one seated group facing you. Explain how you will be naming off an animal and holding up a number. The group’s job will be to determine if the animal you named lives longer or shorter in years than the number you held up. If they think the animal lives longer, students will stand up. If they think the animal lives shorter, they will remain seated.
After students have made their guesses, reveal the correct answers. Students with the correct answer get a gummy bear.
(IN ORDER)
- Betta Fish – 3.5
- Hamster – 2.5
- Beaver – 20
- Seal – 30
- African Elephant – 50
- Hippopotamus – 41
- Blue Whale – 35
- Tortoise – 140
DIG IN
(5 minutes)
Say: Some of those lifespans were surprising! But whether we’re talking about hamsters or tortoises, we can all agree that all earthly lives have an end. A great thing to remember is this life is not the end of your story.
Ask: You may have heard of the term eternal life when we refer to the life we will live one day with God forever in heaven. Because we have put our faith in Jesus, even though we will die, death won’t have the final word in our story. We know we will be raised to live with God forever. Knowing that this life has a definite end for all of us, how would you describe what eternal life means? (Take a few moments for students to share.)
Say: The phrase “eternal life” also stands for “life without end” or “life without death,” but there is much more to the eternal life that Jesus offers. Jesus is offering us back the life we were always supposed to live. Eternal life with Him in His perfect creation.
Even the words “eternal life” have an element of hope built into them. It’s a reminder that this earthly life is not all there is, which helps us keep the right perspective on our current circumstances.
Say: This viewpoint changes our perspective on life. We are obviously living an earthly life today. We see the results of sin and disobedience to God all around us. But Jesus comes and offers us a way to experience eternal life again. Who wouldn’t be excited for a place without sorrow, brokenness, or tears?
Ask: But what about right now? How can the resurrection of Jesus radically change the way we live today? (Take a few moments for students to share.)
Say: Those are some great answers. Let’s look a little deeper at what God’s Word says about eternal life and how faith in Jesus and what His resurrection accomplished impacts the trajectory of our lives.
Read Scripture: Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:8-11)
Ask: So what does it mean, “Now if we died in Christ… we will also live with Him?” (Take a few moments for students to share.)
Say: The death we experience when we decide to follow Jesus is a death to our own desires and wants. When we exchange our own desires for new life in Jesus, we are alive to God in Him.
From that moment, He guides our life and helps us live a life devoted to His will and purposes, which includes sharing about his story with others.
TOOL TIME
(18 Minutes)
Ask: So the big question is SO WHAT? How does Jesus’ resurrection impact me right now, not just after I die? How does the promise of this resurrection life impact the way I talk about Jesus with my friends? (Let students think about this for just a moment.)
Say: With all this talk about life and death, it is easy to assume that Jesus was offering us a better life only after we physically died. But that’s not what the Bible says about the lives of his early followers or even our lives today.
Read Scripture: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12)
Say: If you notice in the Scripture we just read, the words used referring to eternal life are present tense. “Whoever has the Son has life.” For those of us who have trusted in Jesus, there is a definite before and after. The Bible promises that we are a new creation. We may look the same on the outside, but having this resurrection life inside us should change everything!
We are called a light in the world and a city on a hill that is visible to everyone! Our lives are to be radically different from the lives of those around us.
The difference is not that our lives are free from pain and the effects of sin, but it is the way we react to them.
Ask: Have you seen this reflected in the lives of other Christians you know? What about in your own life? (Take a few moments for students to share.)
Say: This new creation we have become is marked by the attributes of God. When we forgive, we reflect a resurrected life. When we have a joy that is not related to our circumstances, we are showing our resurrected life. Joy, peace, hope, faith, and love are all evidence of our resurrected lives.
Read Scripture: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. (1 John 14:27)
Say: God created us in His own image. So despite how much the world has forgotten Him or walked away from His ways, we still have echoes or shadows of His character. Jesus proclaims that His peace, joy, love, and hope are not flimsy or passing shadows like the world offers but will last forever.
As you share with your friends about this eternal life Jesus offers, be very clear. Remind them of our main point for today that we don’t have to wait around for eternity to live the life Jesus gave us to live. Living a resurrection life starts today. The hope of the Gospel is for today. Jesus invites them to be a new creation today.
So how do we share this good news with our friends? As you may recall, we have talked about a tool in First Priority called The Four. This tool uses four symbols that represent the main points of the Gospel. We use these symbols to help us share with others about how God has saved us and the promises He has made.
The heart represents His love, the divide sign represents the sin that divided us, the cross represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the question mark represents our decision to follow Christ and spend eternity with Him.
Ask: Thinking about our lesson today, how can we apply what we talked about to these four symbols and use what we have learned to help share what these symbols mean? (Give students a moment to reflect silently or share with the group.)
We talked today about eternity with Jesus Christ. But more importantly, we discussed that this eternity doesn’t mean something in the far off future, but a relationship that we can have right now! Looking at the last symbol, the question mark, we must decide if we want to live into eternal life with Jesus through the glimpses of hope and peace that He provides us here on earth
One of the most loving things you can do as a follower of Jesus is to pray for others. Let’s spend some time thinking about who we can pray for. Write their names down on the card and pray for them before you leave today.
Closing: Pass out prayer cards to each student. Remind students to write names of friends they would like to pray for on their prayer cards and spend some time praying for them before they leave today. End your time together with prayer.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Take a minute to announce the upcoming meeting date and anything else members of the club need to know to be ready for the next meeting or event.
