(10 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will consider what Jesus’ resurrection means to them.
Provide a dry erase board and marker.
Learning Goal: Students will evaluate what Jesus’ resurrection means to them.
Ask: What gradual process did the followers of Jesus go through that led them to believe that He was the Messiah? (They followed Him for three years and witnessed His teaching and miracles; He explained to them what would happen to Him; they found the empty tomb; Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection.) Ask: How did each of these steps culminate in a faith in Jesus that caused them to live their lives completely devoted to Him and to tell the world what they knew?
Explain that The Life Application Bible Commentary: John described a similar process that people go through as they place their faith in Jesus (p. 393). Write these steps on the board:
Invite students to turn their worksheets over and to draw a four-step staircase on the back of the worksheet. Instruct them to label the steps (from lowest to highest) with Doubt, Search, Encounter, Commit. Encourage students to mark on their papers where they are in their faith journey, and then ask the following questions for students to answer privately:
Conclude by praying that God will use today’s lesson to meet students exactly where they are in their faith journeys to encourage them to take the next step of faith. Pray that students will come to a point in which they commit their lives to Christ and live each day telling others of their faith in Him.