Youth group Olympics
10 minutes
Play the classic strawberry lace game (who can consume it the fastest) and add the points to the score board.
Recap
5 minutes
Introduce today’s session, saying that you are continuing the theme of discipleship. Recap and discuss what people can remember from last week and discuss what people can remember from the session.
Things Christians say…
5 minutes
Show the ‘Shoot Christians say’ video from YouTube. Say: sometimes we can get the impression from church, youth group or festivals that the more passionate you are in worship, the louder you are in prayer, the more Bible verses you can recite and the more ‘Christianese’ you can speak - the better a Christian you are. Today’s passage demonstrates that this isn’t necessarily the case.
Read
10 minutes
Read Matthew 6:1-24 and say: there are three different things talked
about in today’s passage - giving, prayer and fasting. In each of these, Jesus is assuming that the people around him do all of them regularly. It isn’t saying ‘do these things!’ (because that is assumed) but is explaining how Jesus’ disciples are to go about these things.
Giving
5 minutes
In the first section of today’s passage it talks about how we should give to those in need. Split into groups, and discuss the following questions:
- What is this saying about how we should give?
- Why do you think it is important that others don’t see us giving?
- Why do you think it says that our right hand shouldn’t know what our left hand is doing? Is that even possible?
Trumpets
10 minutes
Say: It’s odd that the people in Jesus’ day would have walked around with trumpeters when they were giving money, so that a big blast at the opportune moment could draw attention to themselves and what they were doing! We might not walk around with a trumpeter - ask the group to discuss some of the ways we might draw attention to our giving or good deeds.
Prayer
10 minutes
Next, Jesus talks about prayer, and how we should pray. Invite the group to shout out anything it says about how not to pray. Answers could be: not like hypocrites, not publicly or deliberately for attention and not babbling with long prayers.
Now ask the group to identify how they should pray. Answers could be: praying without seeking the attention of others or praying the Lord’s Prayer.
Say: We often pray to impress other people with our faith, our big words and our religiousness. God is not interested in these prayers - he listens to the humble prayers of a heart seeking after him.
The Lord’s Prayer
5 minutes
Ask: How often do you pray the Lord’s Prayer? Invite the young people to spend a few minutes praying through the Lord’s Prayer. Ask the group: what stands out to them. Did they find it helpful?
Fasting
5 minutes
Ask the young people to share their experience of fasting (if they’ve ever done it, or know someone who has). Say: fasting is about refraining from something in order to seek God more. Traditionally this has meant not eating, but there are many ways we can fast. Ask them to write down some ways we might fast.
Say: Again the assumption here is that the followers of Jesus already fast (which is a challenge to us). It is about how they fast; to seek God in the quietness of their hearts, not publicly in order to get praise and glory from others.
Praying through the Lord’s Prayer
10 minutes
Revisit the Lord’s Prayer. Read a line at a time, inviting the young people to respond by praying themselves (leaving pauses for silence in between).
Our father in heaven… reflect on the fact that God is your heavenly father. Spend a few moments in his presence, thanking him for being your father and accepting you as his child.
Hallowed be your name… recall moments of his faithfulness, grace or love, and praise him for them.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven… think of things in the world that aren’t right, and aren’t in line with God’s plans and usher God’s will in to those situations.
Give us today our daily bread… the Bible says that everything we have comes from God. Ask God for what you need today, and thank him for all of the good things in your lives.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us… maybe you need to ask God for forgiveness, or forgive someone else for something they have done to you.
Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil… there may be areas in your life where you are struggling with sin. Bring these before God now, and ask for his help.
For the kingdom, the glory and the power are yours, now and forever… spend a few moments reflecting on what this means for your life. How can you give God the glory this week?
Amen.
Phoebe Hill is Youthscape’s head of research.
