YOUTH GROUP LESSON ON BETRAYAL
CLICK HERE FOR A YOUTH GROUP GAME ON BETRAYAL
This lesson is a part of a larger series called Best Friends. We have an entire sermon series library loaded with resources like this at youthpastor.co.
Lesson Overview
• Betrayal feels like a knife to the back! Friendships can be ruined over betrayal, and teenage friendships are just as susceptible to betrayal. This lesson discusses how we can heal from betrayal by finding security in the friendship of Jesus.
Breakdown
• Main Scripture: Proverbs 18:24; John 15:12-15; John 14:15
• Bottom Line: Jesus calls us His friends.
Capture: Grab their attention with an illustration. • Illustration/Story: Share a story about a time a close friend betrayed you and ruined the friendship. One of the worst feelings in the world is being stabbed in the back by someone you trusted. • Maybe you’ve experienced betrayal in an all too familiar and painful way. It causes some serious relationship wounds that make it hard to trust people. If you’ve been hurt by a trusted friend before, I believe Scripture offers some encouragement for us.
Connect: Connect them to God’s word.
• Tension Question: How do you respond to betrayal? Some of us get really angry — others of us isolate and run. However you have been hurt relationally, the only hope we have is found in a friendship with Jesus.
• Scripture: Proverbs 18:24 — Friendships can often fail us, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother and is always consistent: Jesus Christ.
Consider: What does this mean for us today?
• Scripture: John 15:12-15 — Jesus laid down His life for us, His friends. This is the ultimate selfless sacrifice.
• Jesus makes a shift in His relationship with His disciples. Up until now, he has been their teacher and master, and while he still is, he makes a point to call them friends.
• This promise extends to us today in verse 14: Jesus calls us friends when we live in obedience to his commands!
• So many of us view Jesus from the wrong perspective. We become weirdly religious and spiritual when talking to Jesus. Sometimes it helps to simplify things and treat Jesus like you would a close friend. He wants to be in that type of relationship with you — one that is full of comfort, openness, and affection.
• Bottom Line: Jesus calls us His friends.
Collide: How do we apply this in our lives?
• Scripture: John 14:15 — This is a very simple and practical next step. Jesus, like he says later in John 15, calls us his friends when we walk in obedience with him.
• Jesus wants a real friendship with us, but also makes it clear: my real friends do what I ask! He is still our Lord and master that requires obedience from us.
• Ask yourself: do you truly love Jesus? We may say that we love him, but our obedience is the true measurement of our love for Jesus as a friend.
• Wherever he leads you this week, be in tune with Jesus and ask him how you can obey his will for your life.
• Application: Obey Jesus!
Call: How do we respond to the message?
• Altar moment: Focus on your friendship with Jesus. Instead of treating him like a distant cosmic being, get up close and personal with him today at the altar!
• Small Group Questions:
1. How have you experienced betrayal in friendship before?
2. How do you respond to betrayal in friendships? Is your response healthy or not?
3. Why is it difficult at times for us to view Jesus as a friend?
4. How can you actively obey Jesus this week?