YOUTH GROUP LESSON ON TRUST
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This lesson is a part of a larger series called Living as Strangers. We have an entire sermon series library loaded with resources like this at youthpastor.co.
Lesson Overview
• Trust is a challenging but necessary part of our relationship with God. What does it mean to trust God and how can we practice it? This youth group lesson unpacks trusting God through the story of Abraham and Isaac.
Breakdown
• Main Scripture: Psalm 146:3; Genesis 22:1-18; Matthew 6:28-34 • Bottom Line: Trust God’s provision.
Capture: Grab their attention with an illustration.
• Illustration/Story: Share a story about a time you really needed to rely on someone, but they let you down. Maybe it was a parent or a close friend. Regardless of the situation, it hurts a lot when we are let down.
• Scripture is pretty clear about putting our faith in people: only God is trustworthy. Obviously, it’s important that we can depend on people in our relationships, but not as a replacement for relying on God!
Connect: Connect them to God’s word.
• Tension Question: Are you looking to God for provision — or to someone or something else? The only place we can securely rest is in God Himself. People will let us down, but God is trustworthy.
• Scripture: Psalm 146:3 — The only trustworthy being is God! People will fail us, but God will not!
Consider: What does this mean for us today?
• Scripture: Genesis 22:1-18 — God has finally provided His promise through Isaac. Abraham waited 25 years for this! Now, the ultimate test of faith occurs. God asks Abraham if He will truly trust Him with the promise He provided.
• Abraham was finally walking in pure faith with God. He trusted Him! Some scholars believe that Abraham hinted in verse 5 that God would raise Isaac from the dead after he was obedient to sacrifice him. Clearly, Abraham was ready to obey God and fully believed in Him.
• God again intervenes, and Abraham finally passes the test. God provided at just the right moment.
• Just like Abraham, we often have to fail the test quite a few times before we finally learn to trust God. This is an encouragement to all of us that God uses messy and broken people, but they are transformed by God from the inside out.
• Abraham learned to trust God and passed the critical test of his faith. In the same way, God calls us to learn this lesson. You can trust God’s provision and pass the test too!
• Bottom Line: Trust God’s provision.
Collide: How do we apply this in our lives?
• Scripture: Matthew 6:28-34 — Here’s the great news of this passage: God already knows your needs and wants to provide for you.
• Whatever situation you are going through that is challenging your faith in God’s provision, know that God knows exactly what you need.
• Keep first things first. Seek the Kingdom of God and pursue a lifestyle of righteousness in Christ. Then, all of the things you need will be added to you.
• When you pursue Jesus, God will take care of the rest. Set your mind on this passage and make it your one focus: just follow Jesus!
• Application: Seek the Kingdom first.
Call: How do we respond to the message?
• Altar moment: If you have taken your eyes off Jesus, don’t go another step forward until your focus is on Him. He will provide for you when you pursue the right things.
• Small Group Questions:
1. Have you ever relied on someone, and they let you down? Why did it disappoint you so much?
2. Are you looking to God for provision or to someone or something else?
3. What does it mean to trust God’s provision in your life currently?
4. How can you actively seek the Kingdom first this week? What are you pursuing now that can be replaced by Jesus?