A session exploring the theme of change, how God helps us cope with change and a study of some biblical characters who experienced change.

Suitable For Ages 11 upwards

Required: Pens, Paper (ideally flip-chart)

Extra Files Needed (i.e. worksheets etc): Changes Studies – click to download

Session Plan

Session 1 – Change – your life and the bible

Explain: This evening we are going to be focusing around change, what it means to change, why we change and how God helps us with that along with looking at some people in the bible who experienced change first hand.

Everyone experiences changes no matter how big or small

Brainstorm: Get the young people to brain storm any changes they’ve gone through in the last couple of weeks. (Might be things like new job, change of school, new modules in a course etc)

Ask: Ask the young people to explain how these changes have made them feel. What emotions have come up as a result of these changes?

Explain: Often with change comes fear, fear of the unknown, when things around us change sometimes we change as a result of those but at the same time when we change those around us can change as a result of that too.

Ask: What do you think of change? Do you think it’s a good thing?

Game: Ask someone to leave the room, explain that when they get back in something will have changed, it might be someone’s hair, it could be one less shoe on someones foot. Play this a few times, some changes should be more subtle than others.

Explain: Changes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, some are big perhaps moving where you live or school, others are smaller perhaps changing class or your hair-style and one thing we should remember is that God is with us throughout these changes.

Group Studies Split everyone into 3 groups, each group will have a character to study and some questions to think about.

Characters are: Saul (blinded), Jonah (big fish), Calling of first disciples (see additional sheets for these studies)
Allow about ten minutes for this task

Feedback: Ask the groups to feed back as a whole

Explain: Some of these changes were caused by God, others were a choice the people made i.e. disciples chose to follow Jesus but in all the changes God was there alongside them. In the story of Jonah there’s a prayer and I want to read it to you.

Read: Jonah 2: 1 – 9

Explain: So Jonah is in this big fish (probably a big change), but he prays to God and God is still with him, and after he has prayed he’s took out of this fish and goes to do what God told him to do, but through all the changes he experiences God is with him, and through all the changes we go through God is with us, he helps us to cope with them, he supports us when we pray to him, and he can inspire us with ideas of how to show his love in those situations.

Pray to finish