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youth lesson

Youth Group Lesson – Relationship With God

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Youth Group Lesson on Growing Your Relationship with God

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Bible:  Luke 10:38-42
Bottom Line: Use this youth group lesson to help students make time to develop their relationship with God.
This lesson is a great tool to help teach youth about discipleship.

OPENING GAME: What’s Your Schedule?

Divide students into groups of 3-5.
Give each small group a large sheet of butcher paper.
Ask leaders to write the days of the week (Sunday-Saturday) along the top of the butcher paper.
Instruct the small groups to talk about their weekly “schedule.”
Have students write their daily chores and activities on the schedule under the particular day.
Encourage them to think of things like school, sports, homework, chores, family time, getting ready, etc.
The point of the activity is to get a visual representation of the extremely busy schedules we all have.
After the activities have been listed on the butcher paper, allow groups to share some of the activities with the entire youth group.
After the activity, say: 
We all have some really busy schedules.
From the time we wake up to the time we go to bed, we have to go-go-go to get it all done.
Do you ever feel like you’re going to forget to do something you’re supposed to do or be somewhere that you’re supposed to be? Do you ever get tired?
All of these things are good things.
We have to do chores around the house, go to school, eat, and shower (hopefully)….right?
And it’s a great thing to be able to play sports, play an instrument, spend time with friends, and all those things, right?
These are all good things, but sometimes we get so busy with good things that we miss out on some great things.
Let’s read the story of 2 sisters, Mary and Martha.
Read Luke 10:38-40
While Jesus and his followers were traveling, Jesus went into a town. A woman named Martha let Jesus stay at her house. Martha had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him teach. But Martha was busy with all the work to be done. She went in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to do all the work? Tell her to help me.”
Say: Jesus was very close to Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. Jesus loved them enough to decide to come to their home and spend time with them.
Can you imagine if Jesus was coming over to your house?  Do you think your parents would make you clean up if Jesus were coming over?
Probably so, and this is exactly what Martha was doing. She wanted everything to be just right for such a special guest.
Martha was very busy playing hostess. She had to cook. She had to clean. She had to make sure everyone had a place to sit down and relax.
She had to make sure that there was water and towels to wash everyone’s feet. The list went on and on.
There was just so much to do!
Meanwhile, her sister Mary is not doing anything to help her!
She’s just sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to Him talk and teach.
You can imagine how this made Martha feel. She was MAD! In fact, she’s so made that she goes to Jesus and tattles on Marry.
She says, “Make her help me!” Now, listen to how Jesus responds to Martha.
Read Luke 10:41-42
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things. Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her.”
Say: Jesus understood why Martha was so upset. He understood why she was working so hard to make everything right.
But Jesus wanted Martha to see that there was something more important. She was doing good things, but she had missed our on the most important thing.
The most important thing is spending time with Jesus. Just like Martha, we can get so busy with other things that we miss out on the most important thing, spending time with Jesus.
In our busy lives, we need to focus on spending some time with Jesus.
You still need to do those other things, especially the things you’re asked to do by parents or teachers.
However, we need to be sure that we make time in our schedule to meet with God.
He loves us and wants to speak to us, so we need to take the time to listen.
Jesus told Martha that Mary had “chosen what was better.”
Mary has chosen to spend time with Jesus so that she could learn and grow closer to Him.
Jesus wants us to choose time with Him over anything else. This is the most important thing.
We can get busy doing lots of important things, but we need to make sure that we remember the main thing.
The main thing is spending time with Him and growing in our relationship with Him.
Spending time with God is a choice.
Just like we put all our other activities on the calendar, we need to set a time to meet with God.
Whether it is in the morning or evening, in the car or in our room, with our parents or by ourselves, find time to spend with God and grow in your relationship with Him.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Was the work Martha was doing a “bad thing”? How did Jesus respond to her work and her complaining?
What was the “one thing” that Mary did? How did Jesus respond to Mary?
How does spending time with someone (God) show your love for them?
Which personality are you more like: the to-do list Martha or the laid-back Mary?
If Jesus spent a day at your house, what would be some things He might say are distracting you from spending time with God?
What are some ways or activities you can do to spend time with God?

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY –  Make Time for God

Take another look at the schedule created in the opening activity.
Give students time to think about the places in their schedule that they would make time for God.
Encourage them to think hard about a consistent time that they could spend with Him.
It may mean they wake up 10 minutes earlier or spend less time on fun things, but encourage them to make time for God.
At the end of the discussion, give each student an index card and have them write down their chosen time.
Ask them to place the card in a visible place to remind them of their commitment to spending time with God this week.
If students have a smartphone (who doesn’t these days), lead them to set a calendar reminder on their phones.
This is a great way to help them remember the main thing!