Leader Guide

Theme
Confidence; In Christ

Objective
Students will learn that lasting confidence only comes thru knowing Christ. Because of that, He deserves our praises and longs for us to tell others about Him.

Warm Up
List It Out – Have students list five things that they are really good at. Then have the students list five characteristics/actions of God that they are thankful for. After the students have made their lists, have them take a few minutes to share what they wrote.

Transition
After hearing the students share their lists, discuss these questions:
• Was it easier to make the list about you or the list about God?
• What are some ways that we can talk about God a little more?

The Video
Play the video and encourage the students to write down any lyrics that stand out to them.

Transition
Explain that Trip Lee isn’t talking about going around all day bragging to everybody about everything. He’s encouraging us to do the exact opposite. He wants us to only brag about who God is and what He has done. Bragging about God may seem a little bit weird. It goes against that whole “God opposes the proud” thing, right? Yet that is exactly what God wants for us to do. He wants us to tell the world about how amazing He is.

Bible Study
Ask the students to look at 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. Talk through these questions with the students:
• Why would God choose the “weak things of the world” to shame the strong?
• In what ways do you think you can boast about God to your friends?

As you talk through this Bible Study, encourage students to take notes in the Bible Study section of their Student Guide. Feel free to adapt this outline in teaching this lesson:

God Has Your Back – God’s Word reminds us there are plenty of times when things go wrong: we fail, we sin, we’re scared, we’re not smart enough. God knows we are going to struggle during hard times. Not only does He know that we will have hard times, He’s there to help us in them. That’s why God reminds us in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that “God’s strength is perfected in weakness.” Even when you’re weak, everything’s okay because God has your back.

Depend On Christ – Our hope and salvation have everything to do with what Jesus has done. His perfect life became our righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:21) His death bought our eternal life. Our eternal hope has nothing to do with how awesome we are—it has everything to do with God’s grace. (Ephesian 2:8-9) We don’t have to freak out when we’re not “good enough” because Jesus does what we never could – He saves us. We can depend on that!

Boast About God – God gives us strength. God saves us. God makes us righteous. With all of these amazing things that He has done for us, shouldn’t we tell other people about how amazing He is? YES!!! Before we boast about how awesome we are, we should boast about how awesome God is! (Jeremiah 9:23-24) Don’t be afraid to talk about God – He is deserves it.

Wrap Up
God wants us to be confident in Him and to take every chance we get to boast about how awesome He is. Challenge the group to think about three different ways to boast about God this week. Have them write their three ways to boast about God in their Student Guide. Close in a prayer for the students that God would give them boldness to boast about Him.