Synopsis
The album which brought the Danish band (yes, confusingly, they’re a band) to worldwide attention.
Introduction
The teenage years are a hotbed of change. This session is designed to talk about some of the issues relating to your young people’s experiences and to help them prepare for further changes.
The session
Display baby photos of your group leaders and challenge the group to identify who’s who. Explain that during this session we are going to think about how we change as we age: what exactly does it mean for us to grow?
Give each young person a long strip of paper and distribute marker pens. Tell the group that you want them all to create a timeline of their lives: either in brief note form, or quick drawings. Ask them to include key events in their life so far, from birth to present day, and then to imagine what other events there may be in their future life, such as marriage, travel, careers, university, and children. Encourage the group to be as imaginative as they wish. Once they have completed the activity, invite some of the young people to share their timelines with the group.
Track 1: 7 Years
Play the track, and encourage the group to think about how the experiences of the singer relate to their own stories. Discuss:
- What do you remember your parents saying to you when you were younger?
- What particular ages stand out from your timeline? Why do you think they are important?
- Friendship is a key theme of this song; what do you think the key themes are in your own life?
Remind the group that as we grow up physically, we also grow and mature in other ways. Over time, some of the things that matter to us now will matter far less, while there are other things which we will hold close from the cradle to the grave, just as the singer held fast to the friends he had.
Explain that there are many verses in the Bible about what it means to grow and mature, and about how we should treat those who are older than us. We could explore some of those at a later date, but for now, look at the way Jesus grew by reading Luke 2:52. Ask: what do you think that looked like?
Challenge your young people to take a look at their timelines and think about what it means for them to ‘grow in stature and favour with God and man’. How do we grow spiritually and physically? How does this appear at different ages? Are there any particular life events we should add to our timelines that show spiritual growth?
As you close the session, pray for your young people, for their own spiritual growth stories and for any particular issues raised by this session.
Becky May is a freelance writer and children’s and youth leader. She can be found at theresourcescupboard.co.uk
