Hebrews: Real Faith Practices

Week 1: A Mighty Little Book

This includes:

  1. Leader Preparation
  2. Lesson Guide

1. LEADER PREPARATION

Lesson Overview

The Bible isn’t simply an advice book, a history book, or a collection of feel-good sayings. It is a powerful book, fully sufficient for directing us toward Jesus-centered lives. This lesson will look at how one powerful passage in Hebrews talks about the Bible and how your students can apply this dynamic teaching to their lives.

Lesson objectives

  1. WHAT: God’s Word is a living force capable of radically transforming our lives.
  2. WHY: As teenagers read God’s Word, they discover how God reveals himself, how God hasworked throughout history, and how Goddesires redemption of all humanity.
  3. HOW: Your students will be encouraged to examine their attitudes toward God’s Word and to commit to encountering the Bible in fresh ways.

Primary Scripture

Hebrews 4:12-13

Secondary Scripture

Psalm 119:129-131, 172-176

TEACHING PREP

The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you’ll definitely want to refer to it as you lead.

Read Hebrews 4:12-13.

Despite centuries of speculation and scholarship, the author of Hebrews can’t be known for sure. While there have been many theories—Paul, Apollos, even Priscilla and Aquila—the author remains unknown. But we don’t have to know who wrote Hebrews to be able to glean powerful truths from its rich approach to identifying Christ as the Messiah and the hope of both Jews and non-Jews alike.

Leading up to this passage, the author was urging his Jewish readers not to fall into the same trap that the Hebrews made during the Exodus. The author urged his audience to seek the spiritual rest that is found in the salvation that Christ offers. The author warned his audience, however, that their disobedience could stand in the way of coming to this salvation. This is where we lead in to verses 12 and 13.

God’s Word is capable of peering into our hearts and minds and convicting us of our disobedience. It is capable of judging our actions. It is not a trite handbook for life. It is not an outdated textbook. It is alive and working in our lives and in this world. This is a powerful message for your students to hear.

THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional]

Text Message Questions

We’ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry.

  • If you had to describe the Bible in one word, what would you say? Share your answer tonight in small group.
  • The Bible is ______. How did you fill in the blank? Share your answer tonight.

Parent Email

We’ve provided you with an email below that you can send to your parents following the lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and customize the email to fit your ministry needs.

Dear parents,

We’ve launched a new four-week study for our small groups on the book of Hebrews. It’s a timely look at a book that is full of deep spiritual truths with practical applications.

The first lesson focused on what is revealed about God’s Word in Hebrews 4:12-13. Through this lesson our students learned that God’s Word is a living force capable of radically transforming their lives. We challenged our teenagers to examine their attitudes toward God’s Word and to commit to encountering it in fresh ways.

As you go throughout the week, help reinforce this teaching in your child’s life by asking the following questions as you have the opportunity.

  • How has the Bible helped lead you in the past? Have there been times where you felt God telling you something through his Word?
  • How can these past times help you in the future?

Have a blessed week!

Hebrews: Real Faith Practices

Week 1: A Mighty Little Book

  1. LESSON GUIDE

GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional]

Preview the following YouTube video for your group:youtube.com/watch?v=irQ-X8KbbwE. You’ll need a computer and an Internet connection to display the video to your students. For the purposes of this lesson, show the video up to the 2:07 mark—though you certainly can show the entire video if you have enough time.

Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then show the video clip. Then ASK:

  • How accurately did this video represent the kinds of answers you would hear at your school if you asked other teenagers what they thought of the Bible?
  • How would you have answered the question if you had been in the crowd the day this video was filmed?
  • What is your attitude toward the Bible? How has your perspective on the Bible changed in recent months or over the past couple of years?

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:This video opens the door to some great conversation, and the question they used is a question you could even ask your friends during an informal conversation. Out attitude toward the Bible shapes how we read it, obey it, and talk about it with other people.This is the first of four lessons looking at the book of Hebrews, which you might not have studied much before. It was written specifically to first-century Jews who had become Christ-followers. But the book remains relevant and practical for us, and we’ll discover in today’s lesson.

If you came up with an opening activity, movie clip, or game that worked well with your group, and you’d like to share it with other youth workers, please email us at .

TEACHING POINTS

The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen are
(1)God’s Word can radically transform our lives, (2)God’s Word speaks to our deepest secrets and fears, and (3) God’s Word is the standard for leading a Jesus-centered life.

Remember: All throughout these lessons, it’s up to you to choose (1) how many questions you use, and (2) the wording of the main points—keep ours, or change the wording to make it clearer for your audience.

Read Hebrews 4:12-13together as a group. Consider dividing verses among your students so everyone has a chance to read.

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:Let’s jump in and see what we can learn from these verses about the significance of God’s Word.

1. God’s Word can radically transform our lives

ASK:

  • When the writer of Hebrews says in verse 12 that God’s Word is alive and powerful, what does that mean to you?
  • If the Bible is alive and powerful, what does that say about its ability to be relevant today?
  • Without the Bible, how would you know God and his character—or the power and purpose of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection?

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:The Bible is not an outdated textbook. It’s not a trite “handbook for life.” It’s not a quick reference guide to hot-button issues. It’s God’s story. It is a sweeping narrative of God’s plan to redeem humanity from sin. It is powerful. It is alive. And it can transform our lives, molding us into the person God desires for us to be.

2. God’s Word speaks to our deepest secrets and fears

ASK:

  • Don’t answer this out loud, but think about your biggest insecurities, your biggest fears, your biggest flaws, your hidden sin. How does it feel to hear a specific Bible verse or passage of Scripture that speaks to one of these issues in your life?
  • What is it about God’s Word that penetrates our best defenses, as verse 12 describes?
  • Though it’s uncomfortable, why is this a good thing? Why is it awesome that God’s Word is able to blast through our defenses and assault our weaknesses?

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:Nothing is hidden from God’s Word. Like an ancient sword would cut through anything in its path, God’s Word is capable of piercing our deepest thoughts and emotions. We can’t hide from it. We can’t pretend with God’s Word like we can with other people. But we should actually celebrate this! If we are to be the people God wants us to be, if we are to live powerful lives on mission for God and thekingdom, we can welcome the conviction, correction, and direction God’s Word brings to our lives.

3. God’s Word is the standard for leading a Jesus-centered life

ASK:

  • Why is it such a struggle to maintain pure thoughts and a good heart?
  • How do you know what a godly thought, action, or attitude is?
  • Sometimes we think it’s enough to simply not act “bad.” But what about our attitudes? If we do the right things but still have a crummy attitude, why would this displease God?
  • How can you measure your life against God’s Word if you don’t study and know it? What does this say about the importance of the Bible in our lives?

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:God’s Word is the standard for measuring our attitudes and our actions. There are plenty of ways we can “act good.” But the Bible speaks to so much more than just acting good. The ways of God are so different than the ways of the world. We can fool ourselves if we try to be “good people” without the right motivation or direction. That can only come from God’s Word.

ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional]

ASK:

  • Read Psalm 119:129-131, 172-176. These verses speak to our attitude toward God’s Word. Summarize the psalmist’s thoughts on God’s Word in this passage.
  • What is it about the Bible that sometimes keeps us from being excited about studying it?
  • We sometimes think God’s commands are harsh or restricting. But what does this passage say about them?

APPLICATION

ASK:

  • What are the biggest obstacles or hurdles you have when it comes to studying the Bible? What are some practical ideas or steps for overcoming these?
  • What are some new insights, habits, or attitudes that might help you approach the Bible with a fresh perspective?
  • What if we committed to one week of putting our solutions in place? Let’s agree to keep in touch during the week and meet back next week ready to talk about whether or not we were able to push through some of these obstacles.

SUMMARY

End your lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or take-home challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the teaching and discussion time.

FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE]

Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires (Hebrews 4:12).