Teaching young teens is both a challenge and a joy. They're famous for their short attention spans, ability to be cruel, and high energy levels. At the same time, any biblical concepts they can catch and internalize have the potential to change the whole course of their lives. What an opportunity!
That's why we've worked so hard to design a Sunday School curriculum that will capture the attention of 12-15 year olds just long enough to communicate one key biblical principle each week. Our desire is that the Scripture Press Young Teen Teaching Guide will give you the tools to make each class productive, meaningful, and even fun.
All Scripture Press Sunday School lessons are built on the Focus, Discover, Respond model of teaching. We suggest a class schedule somewhat like this:
Focus on your students' personal needs and interests to prepare their hearts to turn to God's Word for the answers to their questions (10-20 minutes). Discover--lead students in fun-filled, inductive Bible study, discovering God's truth and its implications for them (20-30 minutes). Respond--help each teen respond individually to God's Word as the Holy Spirit leads him or her to a specific life application (10-20 minutes).
Our curriculum is designed to be as easy to teach as possible. We've included the following teacher helps to make your preparation and teaching time quick and effective.
"Building on last week's Bible Truth" at the beginning of each lesson will help you to link the current week's teaching to what's come before.
In one concise box, the "Overview" lists the Scriptures to be studied; the Bible Truth; the Life Response Aim; the Key Verses; and the Focus; Discover, and Respond for the week's lesson.
The "Materials" box lists every item you'll need to prepare and bring to class in addition to the Young Teen Teaching Guide.
"Preparing Your Heart to Teach" is a brief devotional to help you apply the truths you'll be teaching to your own life before you present them to your students.
The "Enrichment Ideas" in each lesson are special activities and projects that require extra preparation. These options allow you to customize the lesson for your particular group.
David C. Cook is a nonprofit organization dedicated to publishing and distributing leadership and discipleship resources to help Christians all over the world grow in their faith and pass it on to the next generation. They call this "DiscipleShaping". They were established in 1875 by David Caleb Cook in Chicago, IL. Since that time, they have published numerous bestselling books from The Picture Bible to Crazy Love by Francis Chan, developed over ten lines of Sunday school curriculum, and published many of today's most popular praise and worship songs through their music division, Kingsway.
