1 Corinthians: An Inward Look

Week 3: Your Body, God’s Temple

This includes:

  1. Leader Preparation
  2. Lesson Guide

1. LEADER PREPARATION

Lesson Overview

Teenagers committed to remaining sexually pure in their actions and thoughts face a difficult battle in our culture, thanks to the sexual messages fueling movies, TV shows, music, and marketing.The access to sexual or sexualized content is unparalleled. But the Bible’s teachings on sex and purity still ring true in any culture, in any time. These verses in 1 Corinthians are succinct and powerful. Through looking at these verses, your students will gain an understanding of why sexual sin is particularly damaging.

Lesson objectives

  1. WHAT: Sexual immorality is a sin that has deep-reaching effects on individuals.
  2. WHY: Teenagers live in a society filled with sexual and sexualized messages, but a fuller understanding of God’s perspective on sex can help them recognize the consequences of their actions and make wiser choices.
  3. HOW: Students will be challenged to think about their attitudes and actions in regards to sexual immorality.

Primary Scripture

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Secondary Scriptures

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 and 1 Peter 2:11-12

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 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.

This passage contains a statement about why God wants us to pursue his plan for sex. Clearly, any sin separates us from God—yet the Apostle Paul tells us in these verses that sexual sin has a particularly significant impact because it affects our bodies and because the Holy Spirit inhabits our bodies if we’re followers of Jesus.

Paul’s solution to sexual temptation is simple: Run. Don’t argue or negotiate or justify or consider or examine or discuss or ponder. Just run. Sometimes this means a literal fleeing—leaving a place or a person that creates temptations. Other times it means refocusing our thoughts away from temptation and toward Christ-like things.

Whenever you talk about sexuality and sexual issues, remain sensitive to your students. They should never be forced to share anything they don’t want to; for some, just listening to the conversation is a significant step. Pray that God would use you and give you wisdom to lead this discussion in a healthy, effective way.

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.

  • How should you respond when you’re struggling with staying pure? Let’s talk about the answer tonight at small group.
  • How can God help you stay pure in such a sex-crazed society? Find out more tonight at small group.

Parent Email

NOTE: It’s probably a smart idea to also write a letter to parents prior to teaching a series or a single lesson on sex. Let them know what you’ll be teaching, and give them the opportunity to ask you questions. As with all of our lessons, the email below is intended to be sent AFTER the small group experience.

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,

This was the third week in our six-week study of the book of 1 Corinthians, andthis lesson hit really close to home as we talked about sexual immorality and its far-reaching effects.

Students explored the teachings from the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 that sexual immorality is a sin that has deep-reaching effects on them and others. Students were challenged to think about their attitudes and actions in regards to sexual immorality.

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

  • Where do you encounter the most messages about sex and sexuality?
  • What effect do those types of messages have on teenagers in terms of their ability to stay sexually moral?
  • What can we do in our house to limit your exposure to sexual imagery?

Thanks so much for being a vital part of your child’s life. Please pray for him or her, and for the other students in our youth ministry.

1 Corinthians: An Inward Look

Week 3: Your Body, God’s Temple

  1. LESSON GUIDE

GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional]

Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then ASK:

  • Have you ever had an awkward situation involving your parents while you were hanging out with your friends? What made it so awkward?
  • What if your mom or dad tagged along with you everywhere you went with your friends. How would that change the way you interacted?
  • Some things would change for the worse, right? What are some fun things you probably wouldn’t do if mom or dad were around?

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:The Bible calls us to honor our parents. And the relationship with our parents can be one of the strongest ones we have. Yet having mom and dad hanging out with you all the time would definitely dampen the excitement of hanging out with your friends. Of course, when they were teenagers, they would have said the same thing about their parents!In almost all cases, parents love us and want the best for us, even if they might say awkward things or embarrass us. God also wants the best for us and deeply desires for us to lead lives that honor him.

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) Don’t abuse the freedom God has given you, (2)Sexual immorality is a sin with deep-reaching effects on individuals, and (3) Avoid or flee from sexually tempting situations.

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 1 Corinthians 6:12-20together as a group. Consider dividing verses among your students so everyone has a chance to read.

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:This is the third of six lessons we’re going to be looking at from the book of 1 Corinthians. We’re going to talk today about the nature of sexual sin, and how it affects us differently than other sins.

1. Don’t abuse the freedom God has given you

ASK:

  • Why does God allow us to choose what we will and won’t do in life, even though some of our choices lead to negative, harmful consequences?
  • How do we fall into the trap of becoming a slave to something, as Paul says in verse 12?
  • What are some examples of things that aren’t inherently wrong but can become dangerous or harmful if they enslave us?
  • What are the consequences to our relationship with God if we become enslaved to a pattern of behavior?

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:Paul presents one of the challenging truths of Christianity: God gives us freedom to decide how we will live, but our choices are not all equally beneficial. We can abuse this freedom if we begin to develop habits and patterns that enslave us. We find ourselves building our lives around meeting these desires, and slowly we find a gap growing between God and us. In the context of sexual sin, it’s important to remember that God created sex as a wonderful expression of love between a husband and a wife, but outside of those boundaries, sexual activity is sin—and it can become sin that enslaves us.

2. Sexual immorality is a sin with deep-reaching effects on individuals

ASK:

  • Paul says something that’s actually pretty remarkable here in verse 18 about the effects of our sin. What does he say about the nature of sexual sin, and what does this mean?
  • Is Paul saying sexual sin is worse than other sins? Why or why not?
  • Why and how does sexual sin affect you in different ways than other sins, such as gossiping or anger or pride?
  • What are some of the consequences of sexual sin on us and on others?
  • Have you ever really stopped to think about what Paul says in verse 19, that you have God inside of you, and when you engage in sexual sin, you are doing so with a body that contains God? How does this make you feel?

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:If you lie, or cheat, or steal, you are sinning against God. Paul isn’t saying sexual sins are worse than other sins; all sins create distance between God and us. But you are not involving your body like you are when you engage in sexual sin. God made your body. And to involve part of God’s creation in such a personal and intimate sin is an extreme affront to God.Sexual sin doesn’t just mean having sexual intercourse. It means anything that is sexually impure in God’s eyes.

3. Avoid or flee from sexually tempting situations

ASK:

  • Why does Paul say in verse 18 that we ought to run from sexual sin? Why does he use such strong language?
  • What role do you think the Holy Spirit wants to play in your sin? In other words, how repulsive must it be for the Holy Spirit of God to be dragged in to your sexual sin?
  • How might our choices change if we truly understood what Paul says in verses 19 and 20, that Jesus paid the price for our sins through his death and resurrection, and that our lives are not our own, if we’re followers of Christ?

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of sin andrighteousness. When we engage in sexual sin, we drag the Holy Spirit into our filthy sin. That should cause a big moment of reflection in each of us. We should desire to be pure when it comes to sex and sexuality out of a heartfelt desire to please and honor God. But we should also be convicted about the idea that our bodies are a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. This should keep us from being so quick to engage in sexual sin.

ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional]

Ask students to form groups of two or three for these questions.

ASK:

  • Read 1 Peter 2:11-12. Do you think having a Christ-centered attitude toward sex and sexuality makes a big impact on the people around you? Why or why not?
  • How does God’s attitude toward sex and sexuality conflict with the world’s view?
  • What does Peter say here is the point of living pure lives when it comes to morality in general?
  • Read 1Thessalonians 4:3-5. As a teenager, how easy or difficult is it to obey what Paul writes in these verses? Why?

Bring everyone back together.

APPLICATION

ASK:

  • Are your attitudes and actions toward sex and sexuality healthy? Or are you struggling?
  • If you feel open to talking about it, what is the biggest struggle? A dating relationship? The Internet? TV or movies?
  • How canyou develop an action plan for making wise, healthy, God-honoring choices in the area of sex and sexuality? What steps might help minimize the temptation, changeor avoid certain behavior, and keep you on the right track?
  • Do you have someone to talk to in your life when you are being tempted in this way? If not, how can you find a friend or trusted adult who could help you?

If students have additional questions about making wise choices in this area, encourage them to talk with their parents, a youth leader, or another trusted adult to gain some further insights on how to live wisely and biblically.

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.

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body (1 Corinthians 6:18).