Break Out Group Notes

Lesson 22: Knowing God Through the Bible, Part 2

What we want students to learn: That one of the key traits of Christ-followers is “storing up” God’s Word in their hearts.

What we want students to do with what they’ve learned: To understand the importance of knowing God’s Word, personally, and committing to know it even better.

Scripture Focus: Psalm 119:11-16

Supporting Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Overview: As people who strive to live as disciples of Christ, being intimately familiar with God’s Word is essential. And yet, few teenagers (and dare we say few adults) make memorizing Scripture a key practice. The only problem with this is that the Bible is full of examples of people who knew God’s Word personally and put it to great use. The challenge of this lesson is to help your students understand the VALUE of knowing God’s Word by heart, and then to move them to commit to an increased, practical effort at memorizing Scripture.

The Last Word

  • Goal: For students to understand the importance of knowing God’s Word, personally, and committing to know it even better.
  • Set Up: None needed

FIRST, explain to students that as you begin to wrap up your lesson, you want to talk about how the practice of Scripture memory is a fundamental discipline to their Christian life.

Ask the question, “Does anyone know the best way to eat an elephant?” If one of your students has heard this question, they’ll know the answer. But the rest will probably think it’s gross.

  • Answer: The best way to eat is one bite at a time!

Say something like this:

  • A lot of times we view memorizing Scripture as an insurmountable task because there is so much of it. But just like the elephant, I think we should approach memorizing it in small chunks. Maybe you don’t let your first Scripture memory task be to memorize the book of Hebrews. Shoot to memorize one-two verses a week from a book that you are currently studying.

THEN, talk about how with any discipline we want to cultivate in life (working out, studying, eating right), there are always excuses we can make. Follow that by asking:

  • What are some practical things you can do to make sure you commit to Scripture memorization?
    • Answers will vary. There are two practical things: 1) Write out memory verses that we can put before our eyes often: write on bathroom mirrors, carry around index cards, use an app, etc. 2) Also, partner up with a friend and create a Scripture memory game-plan. This will provide accountability and keep us going when we want to give up.

NEXT, drive home the point of perseverance and accountability by using this illustration:

  • Have you ever been on a long hike with friends so that you could get to a beautiful view? I’m not just talking about a 1-2 mile hike, but one in which your calves burned and sweat poured down your face. If you’re normal, then there’s probably a time in the midst of the hike where you wanted to give up and turn around. At that moment the view was too far out of sight, and the struggle was an all too present reality. But your friends wouldn’t let you give up. The only reason you got to your destination and gazed upon the immaculate view was because of the brothers and sisters you had to uphold you. Much like this, the Christian walk has its ups and down. That’s why we need faithful friends around us to encourage us in the spiritual disciplines, especially meditating on the Word and memorizing it. When we commit to this, the Lord transforms our lives into a beautiful view that glorifies Jesus and others take notice of.

Encourage them to evaluate where they are at in their devotional life and to take the next step to implement this spiritual discipline.

FINALLY, allow time for any closing thoughts or questions from your students. Then, close in prayer.

Main points from the Lesson (when they ask us what we learned):

  • God has chosen to make Himself known to us is through His Word.
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