Overview
Connecting Youth to the Heart of Jesus
Following Jesus: The Ways of Jesus contains 7 lessons from the Following Jesus experience-based youth curriculum from Vibrant Faith and created by Rick Lawrence. These thought-provoking lessons move from a teacher-student model toward one of active, participatory discovery, modeled after the way Jesus engaged people in the Bible.
It’s important to consider the context for Jesus' famous "Sermon on the Mount" recorded in Matthew 5–7. Jesus NEVER just talks away at a crowd for three chapters, so there's something strategic going on. Jesus is contrasting the ways of the kingdom of God with the ways of the world. Or the Jesus Way versus the Me Way. Remember, Jesus is not pointing to the Way; he is the Way. In this series students explore the contrasts between the way Jesus is inviting them to live and the way the world is inviting them to live. The participants taste the heart of Jesus when they discover the beauty and power of his way of living—when they do, they're "ruined" for living a normal life.
The 6 lesson series topics include:
- Life Over Death
- Preference for the Poor
- Satire
- Inviting Vulnerability
- Playing the Blues
- Easy
- Satisfaction
Following Jesus is the ultimate youth curriculum for you and your ministry to:
- Encounter the love Jesus has for doubters, skeptics, and believers.
- Learn how weakness and fear can help students know the heart of Jesus.
- Think about the world the way Jesus does and lean into the events students commonly experience with a new kind of understanding and love.
- Approach relationships the way Jesus does—vertically and horizontally.
- Impact real-life relationships and the surrounding community with a new sense of purpose that's rooted in a Jesus-centered life.
All the Following Jesus curriculum lessons have student handouts, leader guides, and editable PowerPoint slides to further instill the learning material. All the Following Jesus lessons provide a platform to help students pursue the heart of Jesus and help them experience Jesus' love, not just admire him.
Following Jesus youth curriculum is brought to you by Vibrant Faith and created by Rick Lawrence.
What's Included
Your Lesson Plan Contents:
- 7 downloadable lesson plans
- A comprehensive User Guide (for either youth ministry or mixed-age groups)
- Editable Leader Guide & Participant Handout for each lesson
- Editable PowerPoint slide deck per lesson that includes embedded video segments
Author Bio
Rick Lawrence is the Executive Director of Vibrant Faith, publisher of Following Jesus. Rick is also the General Editor of Group’s bestselling Jesus-Centered Bible and author of 40 books and curriculums, including The God Who Fights for You and many Group books, including The Jesus-Centered Life and the Jesus-Centered Daily. He was also the longtime Editor of Group Magazine.
