Recently, I was asked by Mr. Yuri to plan a lesson for Youth Group. I accepted his offer and after giving that matter much thought and prayer, I decided to tackle the question, “Is Jesus God? I realize that this is a complex question that took centuries for church leaders to tackle, yet I also know that it is one of the most attacked and crucial parts of our faith. To be entirely honest it seemed a bit impossible to give the youth the necessary tools to answer such a heavy question in fifty minutes. To make sure that the students were involved and the question was well answered I decided to break the topic into three main sections of evidence. These were, things Jesus said, things Jesus did, and the testimony of James (the half-brother of Jesus) and Paul. Each of these looks at the Deity of Christ from a uniquely powerful angle and addressed different opposing points. 

I divided the youth into three different study groups and they each chose which topic they wanted to investigate.  They were then given a study guide and thirty minutes to explore their topics in separate rooms. The study guides were composed of key verses for the specific topics and questions designed to stimulate discussion. For example, the group that was give the section, “Did Jesus Claim to be God” had two main pieces of evidence to examine. The first covered the different times that Jesus called Himself the “Son of Man” and the second looked at the times that Jesus called himself “I am.” The students then used Old Testament cross references to determine why these titles are proof that Jesus believed he was God. Each group followed a similar study pattern with the goal of using Scripture to form a defense for some of the most attacked areas of our faith.

When the students had all finished studying, the groups gathered and shared with each other what their topic had been and what they had learned. Even though the topic was so complex and I supplied way too much study material, the students still seemed to have gleaned something out of the lesson and gained a better understanding of the topic. After everyone had shared, I played the role of a sceptic and asked each group a question that they could answer with the material from the lesson.

This was obviously a challenging topic to discuss, but necessary. As teens grow into adults and are sent into the real world they often are fiercely attacked with a barrage of lies from Satan and are unable to defend their core beliefs. The purpose of this study and other future studies is to give them a firm foundation of truth from which to grow. The purpose of youth group is not to answer every question or address every possible doubt that teens might have but rather provide a network of people and resources that they can fall back on in times of doubt. No amount of knowledge can replace the unfathomable and overwhelming love and redeeming power of Christ’s death and resurrection. However, life changing experiences are nothing if they do not lead one to action and that action will be of no avail without the blessing of the Holy Spirit and a defendable confidence in the God who gave you that experience.