From the Publisher

Weekly studies for junior highers that help them discover the truths Jesus taught—and dare them to apply those truths in their own lives

This exciting curriculum from Youth Specialties features twelve active Bible studies for junior highers that send kids straight into the words of Jesus to discover the truth. Then it dares them to live that truth in their own lives. These weekly studies reinforce what students are learning from their Wild Truth Journals. The curriculum includes games, activities, sketches, handouts, and reproducible worksheets.

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Read a Sample Chapter

Table of Contents

Read a Sample Chapter

Wild Truth Bible Lessons-Dares from Jesus 2

Zondervan

Chapter One

GOALS

Understand that this dare isn't about keeping promises, but being a person whose word can be counted on

Consider what this looks like in the life of a young teen

Rate their own current level of trustworthiness, and choose an application for this week

SAY WHAT YOU MEAN

You'll Need

copies of 1.1 (Say What You Mean!) and pens or pencils for each student.

Optional: a small candy prize for the winning team(s)

Pass out copies of the opening worksheet (Say What You Mean!) and pens or pencils to each kid. Explain that the sentences at the top of the page are super-wordy versions of the common phrases at the bottom of the page. Have students work in small teams of two to three to match them by writing the number of the wordy version into the blank next to the corresponding common phrase.

Give them five minutes or so (not too much time-keep them a bit rushed). Then call the group back together, and go through the questions one at a time. Read the wordy sentence (if you can!), and have the students shout out their guesses of the correct translation. Then reveal the correct answer. Consider giving some sugar stimulant (a small candy bar or something) to the winning team or teams.

Here are the answers-

"Caution: apple filling may be hot long after crust is cool." 3

"If you're going out of the house, wear clean underwear." 2

"Look both ways before crossing the street." 4

"Wash your hands before you eat supper." 1

Make a transition by asking these questions. Don't offer answers yourself or correct students' responses at this point. Just surface some ideas that you'll clarify later.

What's the purpose of making promises?

Theoretically, it means your word can really be trusted on that item.

If you tell your friend you'll do four things, but you attach a promise to one of them, what might that mean about the other three? Hey, no promises! Maybe it's true, and maybe it's not-maybe you mean it, and maybe you don't.

PLAY ON WORDS

You'll Need

Bibles or another way to make the dare passage visible for an extended period of time (the passage is too long to put on one PowerPoint or MediaShout slide).

Divide your students into larger teams (eight to 10), depending on the size of your group. If you have a small group-say six kids-then you'll have one group! Instruct the groups to turn in their Bibles (make sure each group has at least a couple Bibles) to today's dare, in Matthew 5:33-37. You read it to them:

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

Now tell them they have five minutes to come up with a short play based on this passage. It doesn't have to be a literal interpretation of the passage-it just needs to communicate the dare. (Note: you still haven't really explained the dare. That's okay-you'll unpack it more after the dramas.)

Give them at least five minutes for their creative work. But at some point, round 'em back up and have each team present its drama. Make sure you heap praise on any micron-sized amount of effort, and that no one gets teased or ridiculed (zero tolerance, baby!).

Now lead a discussion on the dare with this line of questions-

Jesus wasn't talking about swearing, as in cursing-he was talking about making promises. Can someone give me an example of this kind of swearing? I swear to you that I'll return your money.

But Jesus isn't really making a big deal about promises-it's not like he's saying, "I dare you not to make promises." So what do you think this dare is really about? (This might be a tough question. It may have been clarified by one of the dramas-but it may not have been. Push your kids to think-encourage them to look at the last sentence of the passage.) Jesus wants us to be truth-tellers. When we promise some things and not others, it implies that our word can't be taken at face value all the time. The dare is: speak the truth, don't try to mislead people or manipulate them with what you say. Just speak honestly. (Note: if your kids don't get something remotely close to this in their responses, you'll want to state the dare for them.)

What does it look like to be someone who speaks honestly? Can you give me examples? (Some kids might assume this is about lying-that is not the point of the dare.)

ARE THEY TAKING THE DARE?

Young teen minds are totally capable of grasping this dare. However, as you could see from the line of questions above, there's ample opportunity for total confusion about what it really means. (You might be thinking, "Isn't there always ample opportunity for total confusion when it comes to the mind of a young teen?") This exercise is designed to clarify the dare yet again, while giving tangible examples of what it looks like in the junior high world.

Read the following short case studies, and have students vote on whether the main character is taking the dare or not. After they give a "yea" or "nay" to each situation, ask a few questions about why they voted the way they did. Check for understanding and that kind of stuff!

Use as many of these as you have time for-

Rory wants to take this dare. So when his mom asked him if he did his homework, he answered, "Mom, I swear I did it!"

(Rory pretty much missed the point, and he did just the opposite of the dare!)

Nicole wants to be someone who speaks honestly all the time. So when her friend Mindi asked her to promise that she'd keep a secret, Nicole answered, "Mindi, everything I say is a promise-you can believe what I say."

(Yup, Nic gets it.)

Terrell isn't sure he understands the dare. But he's trying. When his mom asks him if her hair looks okay, Terrell answers honestly, "It looks horrible, mom-you look like a freak! Sorry, but that's the honest truth."

(Uh, good try, Terrell. But speaking the truth doesn't mean slaying people!)

Candace is convinced that taking this dare is important. She's not going to make a big deal about it by telling everyone what she's doing. She's just going to make sure that people can count on what she says to be true-all the time.

(Candace nailed it! Four stars for Candace!)

MY TRUTH METER

You'll Need

half-sheet copies of Wildpage 1.2 and pens or pencils for each squirrel, er, I mean, student

Pass out half-sheet copies of My Truth Meter (Wildpage 1.2) and pens or pencils to each student. Ask them to take a couple minutes on their own to complete the sheet-first being totally honest about their current level of trustworthiness on their word; then reflecting on what they could do this week to put the dare into action.

After a few minutes, ask if there are a few students who would be willing to share their answers (specifically to the "what now?" question).

Then close your time in prayer, asking God for courage and strength to be people of truth, people whose word can be counted on, people who live out this dare.

WILD PAGE

Say What You Mean!

Each of these sentences is a wordy version of the common phrases below. Write the number of the wordy sentence next to its corresponding common phrase.

1. Proper removal of foreign organic materials from opposable digitals connected to the primary function base is required to the later planetary rotational consumption of vital nutrients while gathered in the familial tradition of voluntary communication.

2. Current and unsoiled fabric weavings worn for the biological cleanliness of certain potentially infectible areas, as well as the need for support and foundation of lesser seen, though often favored bodily regions, is needed prior to the use of both manual and automatic means of transportation that carry individuals from a communally comfortable environment. 3. Mental and physical restraint applied to warning and non-pain-oriented precognitive thoughts must be strenuously applied at this time: pulverized contents of sweet, reddish, tree-born, roundish foodstuffs could most likely, and often are, heated past acceptable pain levels, and will remain so for extended periods after the flour-based artificially sweetened containment vessel has become acceptable to human standards of pleasantness.

4. When self-transporting by means of lower appendages, exercise extreme caution by dual-ocular organs in both left and right directions; only then proceed to the opposite foundation of mechanical transportation-designated pathways.

___ Caution: apple filling may be hot long after crust is cool.

___ If you're going out of the house, wear clean underwear.

___ Look both ways before crossing the street.

___ Wash your hands before you eat supper.

WILD PAGE My Truth Meter

First, put a needle on this meter to show how much you currently live out this dare. How much can people really count on what you say to be the truth-all the time, no exceptions, no exaggeration, no manipulation?

People can count on my word some of the time.

People can't count on my word at all! People can always count on my word!

Now, what can you do differently this week, if you really want to take this dare?

My Truth Meter

First, put a needle on this meter to show how much you currently live out this dare. How much can people really count on what you say to be the truth-all the time, no exceptions, no exaggeration, no manipulation?

People can count on my word some of the time.

People can't count on my word at all! People can always count on my word!

Now, what can you do differently this week, if you really want to take this dare?

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Wild Truth Bible Lessons-Dares from Jesus 2 by Mark Oestreicher Copyright © 2003 by Youth Specialties. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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