INTRODUCTION
Young people understand imagery relating to the battle between good and evil. It is the battle that exists at the heart of most stories, movies and role-play games. For Christians, this is so much more than a movie plot. We need to prepare our young people to be ready to face the spiritual battles they will experience in their daily lives. This session provides an opportunity to share real-life experiences of spiritual battle sensitively and helps prepare our young people to stand firm when they come under pressure.
Before the session, print out some images of well-known heroes and their villain counterparts, and display these around your room. Provide the group with paper and pens and challenge them to identify each person in the pictures, then match the pairs together. You could award a small prize to the person who correctly identifies the most characters.
Explain to the group that, as Christians, we often focus on our ‘good guy’ or ‘hero’, God, but we sometimes choose to ignore that there is also a villain, Satan. We need to be clear that we have nothing to fear because God has already won the war, but that doesn’t stop Satan trying to cause us harm, and we need to know how we can stand firm to resist him.
TRACK: WHAT ABOUT US
Play the track, then help the group to see how some of the words in the song could be understood as imagery about how Satan treats us.
Invite some of your leaders to share some of their own experiences of times when they have experienced an awareness of this spiritual battle. Be careful to use examples that are age-appropriate. They should be things the young people can relate to and are not too scary, but that show the difficulties Satan can throw up for us in a real-life way. This may include temptation, making us fearful, or deception. Invite the children to share their own experiences and questions.
Look together at 1 Peter 5:8-9, helping the young people unpack the meaning of this text. Ask the group what they think it means to stand firm.
Go on to read Ephesians 6:10-18 and talk about what it means to wear the armour of God. Help your young people understand each element of the armour and what it looks like to put it into action. Invite leaders and young people to share some of their own ideas and experiences of how they have stood firm in the face of spiritual opposition.
As you draw to a close, pray that each of them would stand firm in the week ahead. Remind them that God has already overcome, so they have nothing to fear.
