Do You Really "Follow" Jesus?

This is a super fun lesson for preteens on Christ's Lordship. It all starts with the simple question, 'who do you follow?'
This lesson will can last from 20 - 45 minutes depending on how many volunteers you accept and how much discussion you allow.

Supplies:
-- 4 Different colors of tape (I used red, green, blue, yellow)
-- Small notepad to write on
-- Space to tape numerous 2 - 4 inch lines on floor


Who do you follow? Is it Jesus? Do you sometimes follow what you think is fun instead?

Philippians 2: 9 -11
⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place 
   and gave him the name that is above every name, 
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
   to the glory of God the Father.

This verse is a perfect way to set the foundation for Christ's Lordship. It is good to explain the concept of a "Lord" to the preteens as well. Once you have fully explained the verse ask for a volunteer to step up to try a short game you have prepared.

Activity 1:
Make a 15 - 20 foot long path of randomly placed pieces of colored tape. Space them out, but mostly make sure the colors are varied and there is a distinct beginning and end.

On the small notepad you are holding write an order of colors that your volunteer must step on to win the game. Tell all of your class that you are holding the list that shows the order of colors your volunteer must step on to win. Then surprise your volunteer by telling him or her to begin. Do not show the list, simply ask them to try to figure out the way through all the wrong colors and step on only the correct steps.

This is super cool because the other preteens will shout out their guesses and try to help, when I did it my volunteer actually got the first 4 colors correct, then he stepped on the wrong colored tape and lost. This is when you demonstrate how difficult it is to try to make decisions in life without knowing the directions.

Ask for another volunteer and this time tell the class that in this case, your volunteer always reads their Bible and trusts Jesus as their Lord. With the list of correct colors to step on your volunteer should be able to make it across by stepping on all of the correct colors of tape! (It's fun to pretend that there's hot lava every where and if you step on the wrong tape you lose!)

The next verse will help the preteens to see how they begin this habit of trusting Jesus as their Lord and what it means in their life.

Matthew 5:6
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 
   for they will be filled. 


This is a great verse to show how Christians can seek God and His will with all their hearts and the promise that they will find answers--you will be filled. In order to really, really trust Jesus as your Lord, you must first trust Him, and the best way to trust someone, is to learn all that you can about them! And this verse from the Sermon on the Mount is a perfect example of continuously seeking God.

How do you obey God? 

Psalm 18:2

² The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
   my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
   my shield^[b] and the horn^[c] of my salvation, my stronghold.

Use this verse above to help illustrate for the preteens, what it looks like to trust Jesus as your Lord, to be your rock.

Luke 6: 46 - 49
⁴⁶ “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 


⁴⁷ As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 


⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 


⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”


I separated these verses so it would be easier to see them individually, because really each verse is almost its own idea. Be sure to read the entire passage emphatically in order to help your class really imagine these two different houses and which one collapsed into destruction.
Verse 46 is so powerful because it demonstrates our common practice of referring to Jesus as our Lord yet not obeying even the simplest of commands like "love your neighbor" (mention Justin Beiber to some preteen boys and you will get quite the reaction!). Verse 47 reminds us that Christians are called to apply what they learn, to be the city on a hill. Verses 48 and 49 are wonderful examples of these two types of Christians, as well as a warning if you happen to be the house built without a foundation...

Spend some time discussing these verses with your class, allow them to give examples in their life when they felt like they were the house built on rock, or the other without a foundation. Ask questions like: why does someone build their house without a foundation instead of using rock? how can we help other people building their houses without a foundation?

Matthew 7:25-27

²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Use this verse to continue illustrating this image of the two houses--two Christians, that have their foundation on sand and on rock. It is important to focus on the concept of sand, because the preteens will really grasp onto that image of "sinking sand" as opposed to strong sturdy rock. 

Romans 12:1-2 

 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

This final verse is the conclusion of the lesson, tying in the effects of trusting Jesus as your Lord. The trust in Him leads to obedience and the obedience leads to transformation "by the renewing of your mind." To truly be following Jesus, to make Him your foundation of rock, is to begin the transformation in your life! Paul reminds us to not conform to the patterns of  the world, to not build our houses on sand like the others, but to stand out and stand firm with our house built on the Lordship of Jesus Christ, built on the foundation of rock.