Gather for Soul Reports (5 min)
• Youth will gather in a circle and sing “Sanctuary” and offer soul reports about how their week was, and any praises or concerns
Introduction of the Scripture (5-8 min)
• Scripture can be offered in a variety of ways: group reading, acting out, storytelling, video, song – as long as it gets heard once without interruptions by one reader
• Today: Read the scripture Matthew 5:1 – read the verse once, and then have everyone read it aloud once so they have heard it a number of times (yes it is short, there is a point I promise)
Message (5 min)
• The message will have the same application concept as the sermon, but at a more appropriate level, and should also contain some context and content information about the passage.
• Today: Tough Job – Even though they have now heard the scripture several times, they may not have picked up what is special about it. Ask them if they can find what is unusual about Jesus, and remind them that Jesus is about to teach for several hours. (After a few guesses, tell them that Jesus the teacher sat down, and everyone else had to stand) Have them stand around you for this next part so they get how different that must have felt.
Application (10-15 min)
• This is where things like a project with a purpose (not just a craft), role play, and other application activities fit in – making it the most interactive of the worship
• Today: Living as a Christian- It is not easy to be a Christian, especially for them because the world doesn’t support a Christian life. Have the following conversation (while you are sitting and they are standing)
o What does it take to be a Christian?
• After a few answers tell them the Jesus said we should love God above everything else, and love our neighbor as ourselves
o What is hard about being a Christian?
o What are your priorities?
• Sports, school, grades – all things our parents and school tell us we have to take seriously, which makes it hard to make God our top priority
o Do you have to love your neighbor all the time?
• What about when we are competing against them, when they are mean to us at school, when they try to get us in trouble?
o So what helps to keep us from giving up?
o One of the best ways is to be silent with God, to not pray by talking to God, but to be silent, because that you can’t hear God if all you are ever doing is talking.
• Activity – learning to filter what we hear
o This activity will take at least one extra helper.
o Set up an obstacle course that the kid will have to navigate through blindfolded, and divide the kids into pairs.
o One pair at a time will go through the obstacle course. The blindfolded child will be guided by their partner at the end of the course through vocal commands, and everyone else can make noise at a “reasonable inside-voice level”
o The ending point is for them to figure out how hard it is sometimes to tune out the world in order to hear God, and how much it helps that God knows us enough to “call us by name” through our memories and experiences.
Communion (5-8 min)
• Youth will sing “Let Us Break Bread Together” and gather at the table for a real communion meal. After the adult prepares the group for communion with words and prayer the youth will have a slice of bread, glass of juice and have a “Meal of Remembrance” until everyone finishes.
• Youth will be reminded that while they are eating the conversation needs to be about Christ: bible stories, things they know or learned about Jesus, or questions they are curious about – a weekly reminder will be given that communion is about remembering Jesus, and the words of the institution.
Closing (5 min)
• This should be a time to summarize and review the message and application with a short conversation, closing prayer, and end with the song “Bind Us Together”
• If worship isn’t finished yet, youth will quietly return to the sanctuary for the end of the service.
