1 & 2 Timothy: Growing Up In The Faith
Week 2: The Problem With Stuff
This includes:
1. Leader Preparation
2. Lesson Guide
1. LEADER PREPARATION
Lesson Overview
Outside of how our society obsesses over sex and sexuality, materialism might be one of the most heavy-handed messages your students receive. Everywhere they turn, they are targeted by marketers. They see celebrities collecting cars and houses. Recording artists sing about money, fame, and the all-consuming pursuit of possessions. It’s easy in this atmosphere to get caught up in the chase for more “stuff.” The Bible, however, calls us to turn from this and to embrace the ways of God. This lesson will challenge your students to do just that.
Lesson objectives
1. WHAT: God’s perspective on stuff, possessions, and success runs contrary to the way our culture promotes such things.
2. WHY: God calls Christ-followers to have a holy and healthy view of their possessions.
3. HOW: Your students will be challenged to consider their attitudes toward their possessions and to make any necessary changes.
Primary Scripture
1 Timothy 6:3-12
Secondary Scriptures
Matthew 19:16-24 and Luke 16:13
TEACHING PREP
The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you’ll definitely want to refer to it as you lead.
Read 1 Timothy 6:3-12.
As mentioned in the previous lesson, 1 and 2 Timothy are letters from Paul to his “spiritual son” Timothy, letters that pass along heartfelt leadership advice and wisdom. Some of the advice is specific to the context in which Timothy was ministering, as a young pastor among Christians in Ephesus. But some of the advice is broader and relevant to any Christ-follower, especially those who find themselves in a leadership role. That is where this lesson’s passage falls.
This passage comes in a greater section addressing the importance of addressing false teachings and false teachers. Paul leads into this passage by rebuking the false teachers who see preaching the message of Jesus as a means of financial gain. This leads into verses 6-10, where Paul is describing and alluding to the manner in which these greedy leaders act and think. Then, in verses 11 and 12, Paul contrasts Timothy’s actions with these ungodly leaders. While it is a specific passage addressed to Timothy, there is a ton of rich truth that our students can discover and apply.
We live in a society consumed by materialism and the collection of “stuff.” Consumerism has impacted and infected virtually all aspects of our cultural identity. Paul rightly challenges Timothy to be content in what God has given and to spend his energy not chasing money but pursuing God-centered character. It’s a timely and important message for students.
THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional]
Text Message Questions
We’ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry.
· How do you define success? If money entered your mind, tonight’s discussion is going to be a good one.
· What do you spend most of your energy on? Pursuing God, or pursuing comfort? Think about it and we can talk more tonight at small group.
Parent Email
We’ve provided you with an email below that you can send to your parents following the lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and customize the email to fit your ministry needs.
Dear parents,
Our small groups are continuing their study on the books of 1 and 2 Timothy. In this week’s lesson, students were challenged to be grateful for the sustaining blessings God has given them. Students considered their attitudes toward their possessions and were encouraged to make any necessary changes to their attitudes if they valued their stuff more than they valued some of the God-honoring attributes and pursuits we discussed.
As you go throughout the week, help reinforce this teaching in your child’s life by asking the following questions as you have the opportunity.
· What are some ways to know if our priorities are inconsistent with God’s priorities when it comes to our stuff?
· What stuff do you have that might be better utilized if it were donated?
· How can we as a family have better attitudes toward our possessions and toward our finances in general?
Have a great week!
1 & 2 Timothy: Growing Up In The Faith
Week 2: The Problem With Stuff
2. LESSON GUIDE
GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional]
Bring, borrow, or buy an assortment of newspapers or magazines. If possible, collect publications from a wide range of sources—but even if you can’t, one copy of the newspaper will still work well for this activity.
Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then lead this activity:
Distribute your collection of newspapers and magazines. Ask students to find examples of people our culture would consider successful. Encourage each teenager to find at least two or three examples. Give your group about five minutes to search through the publications.
ASK:
· Let’s go around the group. Share one example of someone our culture would consider successful. Give us a brief summary of this person and why they’d be viewed as a success.
· What are some of the ways our culture defines success? Be as specific as possible.
· Are our culture’s ideals consistent with God’s standards? Completely opposite? Somewhere in between? Explain.
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: By our world’s standards, success can be identified through our cars, our clothes, our possessions, our popularity, or our looks. Culture looks at the exterior and encourages us to pursue money and stuff and possessions. The problem is that this is the opposite of what the Bible says our attitude should be toward our stuff. Let’s find out how Paul addressed this issue.
If you came up with an opening activity, movie clip, or game that worked well with your group, and you’d like to share it with other youth workers, please email us at .
TEACHING POINTS
The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen are
(1) Examine your attitude toward your stuff, (2) Avoid the trap of loving money and possessions, and (3) Pursue God’s definition of success.
Remember: All throughout these lessons, it’s up to you to choose (1) how many questions you use, and (2) the wording of the main points—keep ours, or change the wording to make it clearer for your audience.
Read 1 Timothy 6:3-12 together as a group. Consider dividing verses among your students so everyone has a chance to read.
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Let’s take a closer look at this passage to see what truths we can learn about the risks of materialism and pursuing possessions and stuff.
1. Examine your attitude toward your stuff
ASK:
· What do you think it means to be content?
· Look at verse 6. What does God-centered contentment look like?
· Why is it difficult in our culture to be content with what we have?
· When we begin to find contentment in the way God meets our needs, instead of being dissatisfied when we don’t get all of our “wants,” how can this change our overall outlook on our lives?
· Think of one or two things you know you love more than you should. Could you go a week without them? How might God use that experience to help you grow spiritually and gain a fresh perspective on what matters most in life?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Our world makes contentment challenging. We are constantly bombarded by messages that say we must buy something to achieve a certain look, a level of comfort, or a certain status. God-centered contentment means recognizing that God is the source of all good things and will provide everything we need—not everything we want, but everything we need. If we can begin to express thanks for what God provides us and become content that our needs are met, we begin to free up so much of our mental and spiritual focus, and then we can place a greater emphasis on our service to God.
2. Avoid the trap of loving money and possessions
ASK:
· Paul makes a bold statement in verse 10. He doesn’t say money is the root of evil; he says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. What’s the difference? What do you think Paul was communicating?
· How might a love of money and a pursuit of money lead someone to do things that were wrong?
· Paul seems to insinuate that other harmful desires go along with greed. How can being greedy with our money and our stuff lead us to fall into sin in other areas?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Money in itself is not evil. In our culture, we need money to eat. We also can use money to serve people, spread the message of Jesus around the world, feed the needy, care for orphans, and an endless list of other efforts that build God’s kingdom. But when we pursue money above God, we are heading down a path that won’t end well. When we seek worldly success or material possessions as our highest priority, we are putting money and wealth before God.
3. Pursue God’s definition of success
ASK:
· Look at verse 11. What does it mean to pursue righteousness? What does that look like in your world?
· Can you relate to Paul calling Timothy to fight the good fight in verse 12? How does staying true to God feel like a fight sometimes, particularly when thinking about materialism, money, and success?
· In your own words, rephrase what Paul is communicating in verses 11 and 12. How do you think God defines success?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Pursuing money and stuff as your primary goal will always leave you feeling hollow. Pursue God! Spend your energy seeking Christ. He will provide for your needs and give you a life that is rich in ways that matter for eternity: Christ-centered friendships, influence in your community, impact as you serve the needy, and involvement in the lives of people who need forgiveness through Jesus.
ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional]
Ask students to form groups of two or three for these questions.
ASK:
· Read Matthew 19:16-24. Why did Jesus tell this man to give away his money?
· Why did Jesus say it’s difficult for a rich person to enter heaven?
· Read Luke 16:13. Why is it impossible to love money and also love God? Why are the two not compatible with each other?
Bring everyone back together, and ask for volunteers to share answers to some of the previous questions, as time permits.
APPLICATION
ASK:
· How would you describe your attitude toward your stuff? Toward money? Is it healthy? Or does it need work?
· What comes between you and following Christ as the highest priority in your life? Is it money? Or something else?
· What habits or steps might help you become more consistent in placing God as the center of your life, instead of your stuff or money?
· What are some actions we could take that would demonstrate that our things are just things and that what really matters is Christ as the center of our lives?
SUMMARY
End your lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or take-home challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the teaching and discussion time.
FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE]
Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below.
But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction (1 Timothy 6:9).