EQUIP WEEK
EQUIPPING STUDENTS WITH THE GOSPEL TOOL
WELCOME
Foundation Scripture
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” -2 Timothy 3:16-17
SAY: “Welcome to First Priority. We are glad you are here! This school year, we will be talking about the Foundations of Christianity and what it really means to be a follower of Jesus. We will use the Bible to see what God says about each area of focus. This month, we are focusing on the Bible – What is it? How and when was it written? And can we trust it? Let’s start things off with prayer.”
OPENING PRAYER
DIG IN
SAY:“Let’s take a look at this Bible Project video before we dive into learning more about the Bible today.”
BIBLE PROJECT VIDEO – WHAT IS THE BIBLE?
It’s the first week of First Priority! As you prepare for this week, make sure to test the video/sound etc. before club starts. This ensures everything will go smoothly!
SAY: “So this video was a super helpful way to get a quick glance at what the Bible is. The Bible is the Word of God. It is important for us to understand this as we try to help each other believe and share the Good News. A current popular opinion is that the Bible is a storybook or fiction because it was written by ‘man,’ but we know that isn’t true based on our foundation scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
So, how did we get the Bible? It was written over a period of 1600 years, from 1500 BC to AD 100. There are 66 Books divided into 2 sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament (39 OT and 27 NT). The OT was written in Hebrew and Aramaic; the NT was written in Greek. The Old and New Testaments should be seen together, as both show Jesus Christ as the central figure of the Bible – everything points to Jesus.”
TOOL TIME
SAY: “Now, we are going to take a few minutes to talk about these discussion questions”
(for small groups or large discussion):
ASK:
- Can we trust the Bible? Why or why not?
- Why do followers of Christ need the Bible?
- Do you feel like you spend enough time reading and understanding the
- Bible? If not, how can you change that?
INTRODUCING THE FOUR
SAY: “Now it’s time for us to start looking at what the Gospel is using a format called “The FOUR”. The FOUR is a practical way to look at the Gospel which is basically the good news of Jesus Christ. It is a tool that we can use to relate to and represent each of our stories and our lives. Over the course of this school year, we will walk through and reference the FOUR several times, but today we are going to start by introducing it.
The FOUR consists of four icons that each have a certain meaning in relation to the Gospel.
- The heart represents God’s love.
- The division sign represents our separation from God.
- The cross represents Jesus’s sacrifice.
- The question mark represents our choice to follow Christ.
These four icons are a representation of the Gospel and are a tool that we can use when we are talking about God’s love and sharing the good news of Christ with our friends, our peers, and the community around us. As we continue through the semester, be thinking about how the lessons and the concepts we talk about during Club time can be applied to our own personal story using the Four.”
Pass out The Four cards or wristbands that show each icon and walk the students through each of the icons and what they represent. If you don’t have these, you can use the EPIC slides and have the Four displayed on the screen! You can also go to www.firstpriority.club/shop to order some.
APPLYING THE FOUR
PRACTICE
SAY: “Let’s take a quick look at what each of these four mean to us and how we can apply it to what we have learned today.
(for small or large discussion)
If you don’t know the answer to some of these questions, that’s okay! We will be revisiting this concept throughout the year and working to develop what these four mean in our lives”.
Discuss
Q1. What does the Bible say about God’s love?
Q2. What does it mean to be separated from God? Did this ever happen to people in the Bible?
Q3. What does the cross mean, and where can we find this in the Bible?
Q4. What does the Bible say about people who choose and accept Christ as our savior?
Some of these questions might be hard or difficult for the students to answer. You may want to review each question as a large group and give an answer for each after discussion time has finished.
(Close small groups or discussion).
SAY: “We hope that today’s club has helped you understand the Bible a little better so that you can trust and learn from the Word of God.
A leader will be passing out Prayer Cards to everyone. This prayer card is a good opportunity for you to commit to praying for your friends this week. Feel free to take a card and write down the name(s) of who you will be praying for!
Here are our announcements for today…”.
CLOSING PRAYER
Have a student leader ready to pass out prayer cards. Don’t forget to announce See You at The Pole. SEPT 27th!
