Creative Bible Lessons in Romans: Faith in Fire!
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ISBN-13: 9780310207771
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: HarperChristian Resources
Publication Date: 06-25-1996
Pages: 128
Product Dimensions: 7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range: 18 Years
Series: Creative Bible Lessons
Chap Clark, Ph D (Univ. of Denver), has more than 25 years of experience in youth and family ministry. He is Associate Provost for Regional Campuses and Special Projects and Professor of Youth, Family, and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. Chap’s extensive books, articles, and videos focus primarily on relationships. Among his many books are Hurt and Hurt 2.0; Disconnected: Parenting Teens in a My Space World (coauthored with his wife, Dee); and Deep Justice in a Broken World. Chap and Dee live in Gig Harbor, Washington.
Creative Bible Lessons in Romans Faith On Fire! Twelve Ready-to-Use Bible Lessons for Your Youth Group BIG IDEA God is at work in our lives to make us pleasing and useful to him. OVERVIEW In this passage Paul provides us with glimpses of his motive, commitment, and calling. He also sets the stage for the remainder of the book of Romans since Paul's two main themes are contained in it: "The integrity of the gospel committed to him and the solidarity of Jews and Gentiles in the messianic community" (Stott, Romans, page 36). The Big Idea of the lesson is that God is at work in our lives so that we're pleasing and useful to him. Paul's confidence in his conviction that he personally has something unique to offer to the Roman believers is unshakable. Yet he calls himself a slave (verse 1, Greek, doulos), and acknowledges that he receives encouragement from others. Paul's great assurance of God's leading and his response to God's call form a model for our students. The application, then, is for us to recognize that God is at work in our lives, that who we are is pleasing to God, and that we can be useful to him. YOU'LL NEED Four non-members of the youth group, a blindfold, and a half dozen gag prizes (see Before the Meeting, next page, point 3) Copies of The Key to Self-Confidence (page 25) TV, VCR, and the video Zelig (1983, PG) Paper, whiteboard, and markers (optional; see For the Younger Set, page 21) Copies of If I Were Writing to the Romans (page 27) This session's Big Idea written on a whiteboard, poster, etc. Bibles and pencils (or pens) for all students and adults Scripture memory verse cards (page 138) BEFORE THE MEETING 1. Preview the video clip from Zelig to determine its suitability for your group. By the VCR counter, the segment is 10:45 to 13:30. That's the scene in which Zelig is interviewed about his "problem" and he replies, "I just want to be liked." To cue the video by the VCR counter, set the counter on 00:00 when the first credit appears. Then fast-forward to 10:45. Cue up the video and adjust the sound before students arrive. 2. Get the Key to Self-Confidence worksheet (page 25) and its Leader's Guide (page 26) to your small-group leaders a week before the lesson. 3. Write this session's Big Idea on a whiteboard, bulletin board, poster, overhead transparency, or wherever it can catch students' eyes during the teaching session. Ideally, after the meeting add this Big Idea to a cumulative list somewhere in the room (perhaps on an empty wall) so your group can track what they've studied in Romans. If you don't have the wall space, use the master on page 137 to make a transparency to project during your review time at the beginning of each session; reveal only the Big Ideas you've studied to date. 4. Recruit four non-youth group members to be the heads for the Opening Guess the Heads game. For example, recruit a pastor, a graduate from your group, a parent, and a teacher (see below). 5. Recruit three students to read the following passages from Romans: 1:1-7; 1:8-13; and 1:14-17. Give them a few days to practice their passages. LEADER HINTS Take a few minutes during your introduction to talk about Paul's conversion and his importance in church history. He's first mentioned as Saul in Acts 8:1 as giving approval to the stoning of Stephen and in Acts 8:3 as beginning to destroy the church. His story is picked up again in Acts 9, where he encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus and becomes a believer. In Acts 13, he was sent on his first journey into the world of the Gentiles (to all those who were not Jewish). This was the beginning of Paul's leadership and work among the people of the Roman Empire. (By the way, Acts 13:9 describes how Saul's name was changed to Paul.) OPENING (15 MINUTES) Play Guess the Heads. Here's how: Ask for four student volunteers and take them out of the room to a place where someone is waiting to blindfold them. While the student volunteers are out of the room, have the four "heads" sit at the front of the room. Bring the blindfolded students back in, one at a time, and explain that they're to guess whom the four heads belong to-by only touching the heads. Let them explore each head for 15 seconds. The winner of the game is the person who correctly guesses the most identities. Hand out gag prizes for the best and worst guesses. FOR THE YOUNGER SET Have each student find two other students who are approximately the same height to make a small group of three. Hand out a sheet of paper and a pencil to each group, and ask them to come up with a list of words we use to identify and label people. Provide them with a few examples to get started, saying, "Describe Bill. Bill's tall, funny, popular, and a little nerdy sometimes." At the end of three minutes, ask each group to determine the five most interesting, funny, or unusual words or phrases on its list. After a minute or two, have each group share its top five with the large group. If you have time make a list on a whiteboard or overhead. SCRIPTURE (25 MINUTES) Give a brief overview of the context and purpose of Romans, saying something along these lines: We're going to start studying a book of the Bible. Even though we call it a book, it's actually a letter from Paul, one of the most influential leaders of the early church. Paul not only addresses the concerns of those followers of Christ in and around Rome; he also provides a dynamic description of what it means to be a Christian. By doing this study we're going to get to know Paul, but, more importantly, we'll also get to know Jesus and understand what the Bible says about belonging to him. Make sure every person has the same Bible translation in front of them so they can follow along. Have the three students you chose beforehand stand up in front and read the Romans texts for this lesson. When the Scripture has been read, break into small groups of six students or fewer. Be sure there is an adult leader in each group. Smaller groups are fine, providing you have enough trained leaders to be with every group, but try not to have more than six students per group. Hand out The Key to Self Confidence worksheet (page 25) and pens, and give your students time to complete the activity. ACTIVITY: VIDEO (10 MINUTES) After your students have finished the worksheet, introduce the video clip from Zelig by making comments such as these: This film is a fictional documentary on the life of Leonard Zelig-played by Woody Allen-the human chameleon. It's about a man who has had such a hard childhood that he doesn't have a real identity himself. He simply becomes whomever he's with: an obese man, a black musician, a major league baseball player. This clip lets us in on his problem. Show the clip. Then say, When Leonard Zelig was asked, "Why do you change?" he said, "It's safe. I want to be liked." Later in the movie Zelig says, "Ever since I was a child, I've always wanted to fit in. I was afraid I wouldn't have a place to belong. I put all my effort into being like those around me. After a while, I couldn't control my transforming to where I'm now. Now I don't even know who I am." We all want to be liked, and we're all a bit like Zelig in our own ways. But Paul was different-he was confident of God's power to love him and God's desire to use him in a unique way. Romans 1:6 says, "And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ." Jesus Christ has called you and me to trust him with our identities because we belong to him. Just as Paul was confident in the truth of God's gospel, we can be sure of this: God has made each of us unique, and he wants us to have quiet yet solid confidence that who we are is pleasing and useful to him. You don't need to work to fit in with Jesus. He already knows all about you, and he loves you right now, just the way you are. MEMORY VERSE Romans 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." APPLICATION (10 MINUTES) Hand out copies of If I Were Writing to the Romans (page 27). Instruct the students to imagine they're preparing to write to some followers of Christ in a foreign country, just like Paul did. Have them fill out the worksheet so they'll have a summary of their credentials. Encourage them to take their handouts home and to display their worksheets where they can periodically look at them to be reminded of God's work in their lives. Go over the memory verse, hand out verse cards, restate the lesson's Big Idea, and display the poster. Close with a time of prayer by having your students get with two other people, take two minutes to discuss prayer needs, and pray either out loud or silently for one another. THE KEY TO SELF-CONFIDENCE (ROMANS 1:1-17) The book of Romans is actually a letter from Paul to the Christians living in and around Rome. Like any letter (or any book in the Bible), it's important to get to know the human author and see why he's writing. This first chapter gives us a glimpse into the life and ministry of Paul. 1. List nine things we learn about Paul from this passage. a. Paul's role (verse 1) b. Paul's title (verse 1) c. Paul's position (verse 1) d. Paul's job or calling (verse 5) e. Paul's commitment (verse 9) f. Paul's desire (verse 10) g. Paul's talent or gift (verse 11) h. Paul's motivation (verses 14-15) i. Paul's reason for confidence (verse 16) 2. Paul believes that-. God can use anybody for this stuff, so I don't really matter. God does all the work; I just get out of the way. I've been called and gifted by God to make a difference in the world, using my gifts to the maximum. Why did you choose the answer you did? 3. Place an X where you think Paul fits on this scale between humility and arrogance. Humble Arrogant Why do you think Paul fits there? 4. Verse 17 summarizes the whole book of Romans by helping us to know what's revealed by the gospel of God: For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." Rewrite this verse in your own words (righteous, by the way, means good, pure, holy). THE KEY TO SELF-CONFIDENCE LEADER'S GUIDE (ROMANS 1:1-17) Introduction. Have a volunteer read the introductory sentences. 1. Have the group work together on the first question. Avoid having the same students always answering. Here are the answers: a. servant of Jesus Christ (or slave, a better translation of the Greek word doulos) b. apostle (a name Jesus personally gave to the 12 disciples in Luke 6:12-16, and one which Paul also received from Christ) c. set apart (see Galatians 1:15 where Paul states he was set apart from birth) d. to call people from among all the Gentiles (anyone not Jewish; in other words, the rest of the world) e. to be a servant of God with his whole heart f. to see the Roman believers g. his ability to impart a gift h. his eagerness to preach because he felt an obligation toward everyone i. he wasn't ashamed of the gospel 2. and 3. Ask the students to do these questions individually and then share their responses with the small group. These questions especially focus on verses 11, 14, and 15. Although Paul is very confident, he seems to know the balance between self-righteous arrogance and abject humility because of Christ: He is able to give a spiritual gift (verse 11), yet he is obligated to, among others, the foolish (verse 14). 4. Discuss the verse and the directions before you invite students to paraphrase the verse. When you believe they understand, ask them to work on their own for a brief period before sharing their answers. Question 4 looks at what Paul calls the "gospel of God" (1:1). To paraphrase Paul, this gospel is what God spoke of in the Old Testament Scriptures through the prophets. These prophets, wittingly or unwittingly, spoke of Christ-their ultimate message was about Jesus. In his human nature Jesus was a descendant of David; also, through the Spirit of holiness-and demonstrated by his resurrection from the dead-he was declared with power to be the Son of God (1:4). God, therefore, desires to make his people righteous-that is, good, holy, and pure. Righteousness comes by faith in Christ. IF I WERE WRITING TO THE ROMANS (ROMANS 1:1-17) 1. My three best qualities are ... a. b. c. 2. I can be a good friend to people because ... 3. God has made me with the ability to ... 4. My greatest desire when it comes to following Jesus is ... 5. The three ways I see Jesus Christ working in my life are ... a. b. c. 6. If I could choose the way for Jesus to use my gifts, talents, and interests to change the world for God, it would be ... (Continues...) Read an Excerpt
By Chap Clark Zondervan Copyright © 2008 Youth Specialties, Inc.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-20777-1
Chapter One THE SOURCE OF SELF-CONFIDENCE SESSION 1: ROMANS 1:1-17
Excerpted from Creative Bible Lessons in Romans by Chap Clark Copyright © 2008 by Youth Specialties, Inc.. Excerpted by permission.
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Table of Contents
Contents INTRODUCTION WHAT THIS BOOK IS ALL ABOUT AND HOW TO USE IT....................9
SESSION 1 THE SOURCE OF SELF-CONFIDENCE (ROMANS 1:1-17)....................19
SESSION 2 SO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOOD? (ROMANS 1:18-3:31)....................29
SESSION 3 TRUST, THE KEY TO FAITH (ROMANS 4:1-25)....................41
SESSION 4 THE GIFT OF FAITH (ROMANS 5:1-21)....................53
SESSION 5 LIVING FOR CHRIST (ROMANS 6:1-23)....................63
SESSION 6 THE SIN STRUGGLE (ROMANS 7:1-25)....................73
SESSION 7 MORE THAN CONQUERORS (ROMANS 8:1-39)....................83
SESSION 8 SUPPORTED BY THE ROOT (ROMANS 9:1-11:36)....................91
SESSION 9 LIVING SACRIFICE (ROMANS 12:1-21)....................99
SESSION 10 GETTING INVOLVED (ROMANS 13:1-14)....................109
SESSION 11 WE'RE ONE! (ROMANS 14:1-23)....................117
SESSION 12 UNIFIED IN LOVE (ROMANS 15:1-16:27)....................127
SUMMARY OF BIG IDEAS IN ROMANS....................136
BIG IDEAS IN ROMANS POSTER....................137
SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSE CARDS....................138
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