YOUTH GROUP LESSON FOR BACK TO SCHOOL
CLICK HERE FOR A YOUTH GROUP GAME FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL.
This lesson is a part of a larger series called Find Your People. We have an entire
sermon series library loaded with resources like this at youthpastor.co.
Lesson Overview
• With the new school year starting, friendships are in focus. Students are transitioning
into new schools, groups of friends, a new grade, etc. This lesson is all about the kind
of friendships we need (and don’t need) in our lives as we start a new school year.
Breakdown
• Main Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:33; Job 22:4-11; Proverbs 13:20
• Bottom Line: Friends point you toward God.
Capture: Grab their attention with an illustration.
• Illustration/Story: Share a story about a time when you were influenced by peer
pressure to make a poor choice. Maybe it was something silly or maybe it was serious
but looking back, it had to do with the people you found yourself with. The age-old
adage goes: “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future!” Who we spend
our time with can strongly influence how we live our life!
Connect: Connect them to God’s word.
• Tension Question: Have you been negatively influenced by the wrong people? Ask
yourself — are the people I spend time around pointing me toward God or away
from Him? Scripture shows us the danger of walking with the wrong people.
• Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:33 — Bad company corrupts good character! The wrong
people can influence us in the wrong ways!
Consider: What does this mean for us today?
• Scripture: Job 22:4-11 — Context: God has sovereignly allowed Satan to test Job
with trials and Job’s friends have gone from supportive to accusatory.
• Job’s friend, Eliphaz, with poor discernment and understanding, did not encourage
Job to trust God in hardship — he accused Job of evil and wrongdoing.
• This response to Job shows a lack of understanding in their friend, who Scripture
called a man of righteousness, as well as a lack of understanding in God, assuming
that God was angry and punishing Job.
• We all have experienced a friend like Job’s — someone who does not encourage us
and point us back to God but heaps shame and guilt on us. True friendship
encourages us toward God, not into despair and shame.
• Bottom Line: Friends point you toward God.
Collide: How do we apply this in our lives?
• Scripture: Proverbs 13:20 — Who we walk alongside can drastically influence the
direction we walk.
• Job’s friends were a great example of what it means to walk with the foolish.
Thankfully, Job was wise and trusted God despite his poor friends.
• However, many of us are guilty of the opposite! It’s hard to stand strong when we
surround ourselves with the wrong people. We compromise, people please and
forsake wisdom for whatever our friends are doing.
• Surround yourself with people who encourage you toward God and are following
Jesus themselves! Maybe you need to remove a friend in your life who is a negative
influence and intentionally walk through life with someone who loves Jesus.
• Application: Surround yourself with people who love Jesus.
Call: How do we respond to the message?
• Altar moment: If you have surrounded yourself with all the wrong people, come to
the altar and ask God for help in distancing yourself from the wrong people.
• Small Group Questions:
1. Have you ever made a poor decision because of peer pressure? Explain.
2. Do you have more positive influences or negative influences in your life? Why?
3. How do good friends point us toward God and bad ones away from Him?
4. Who can you surround yourself with that would point you to Jesus this week?