YOUTH GROUP LESSON ON FRIENDSHIP
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Lesson Overview: Friendship is a pivotal part of our lives. Who you surround yourself with may very well determine the entire course of your life. This youth group lesson dives into friendship, and how God uses the friendships in our lives to mold our futures.
Bible: James 4:4; Proverbs 13:20; 1 Corinthians 15:33-34
Bottom Line: Your friendships determine your future.
Capture: Grab their attention with an illustration.
- Illustration/Story: Everyone has a best friend — someone that is extremely comfortable with you because they’re like family. Sometimes best friends are born from ridiculous situations! Maybe you and your best friend got into a bad situation by accident (or on purpose). Share a story about your best friend influencing you into silly (or scary) situation.
- While it might be lighthearted now, the reality is: our friendships can influence us towards good things or very problematic things. Our friendships often will dictate how we act, our responses, and the situations we walk into.
Connect: Connect them to God’s word.
- Tension Question: Do your friendships influence you towards God or towards trouble?
- Scripture: James 4:4 — The wrong influences in our friendships can effect our relationship with God. When we choose friendship with the world, we ignore God!
Consider: What does this mean for us today?
- Scripture: Proverbs 13:20 — Scripture encourages us to walk with wise friendships. When we don’t, we find ourselves influenced by foolish people into trouble!
- Friendships are God-given gifts because we were not meant to do life alone. However, the enemy would love to use friendships in a negative way to influence us towards sin.
- Take a personal inventory of your friendships now. Do your friends help you or hurt you? Do the people you choose to be in relationship with draw you closer to God or take you away from Him?
- We might not think it is a big deal now, but Scripture shows us that the people we associate with will dictate a lot down the road.
- Maybe you’ve heard the age-old saying: “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” Scripture shows us the same principle: the kind of people influencing you can determine your future!
- Walk with wise people and reap a great future. Walk with the foolish, and you will find yourself in a troublesome future you don’t want.
- Bottom Line: Your friendships determine your future.
Collide: How do we apply this in our lives?
- Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:33-34 — This is a powerful phrase: “bad company corrupts good character.”
- Scripture encourages us to take a next step in our friendships. Think carefully about what is right and stop sinning!
- One of the ways we can practically apply this in our friendships is to think: “Does this person help me do right, or lead me to sin?”
- As we think carefully about what is right, we have to choose friendships carefully! This week, make a decision to walk with people who help you walk with God.
- Application: Choose the right friends!
Call: How do we respond to the message?
- Altar moment: Tonight, take a stand in your friendships to walk with the kind of people who help you to do the right thing. Choose the right friends who lead you to God, not away from Him!
- Small Group Questions:
- Do you have a best friend? What sets them apart as your best friend?
- Do your friendships influence you towards God or towards trouble?
- How do our friendships determine our future?
- How can you choose the right friends this week to grow with God?
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