Leader Guide

• How many of you, by a show of hands, have a friend who’s confused about life?
• How many of you have a friend who is hurting? Lonely? Angry? Disappointed? Depressed? Frustrated?
• Don’t answer this, but how many of you have had these feelings lately?

Transition
Sometimes it’s hard for us to connect with God because we often think God does not understand us. But when Jesus came into this world, He experienced all of the difficult things about life that we do. Jesus sometimes got hungry, tired, frustrated, sad, angry, happy, lonely, and more.

And yet at the same time Jesus claimed that He could give people
a whole different kind of life. Jesus promised His followers two things: 1) they would have trouble in this world, but 2) that He had come to give them abundant life, a full life (John 10:10). Having an abundant life in a troubled world requires something very powerful—faith.

The Video
Former American Idol contestant, Danny Gokey, has a new song, Stand In Faith that explores this different kind of life that God wants to give us. Take a look at this video and as you watch it, think about the words.

Transition

• What words jumped out at you? (Faith is obviously one of those words.)
• How would you define the word faith? • What are some synonyms for faith?

Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as a confident assurance in God. In other words, we can put all of our hope and trust in God. A life of faith is a way of life that Jesus challenges each of us to choose. But that life of faith is not just meant for us. We are meant to have faith that impacts the lives of others.

Let’s look at a couple of stories where Jesus shows us what a life of faith looks like for us and for those around us.

Bible Study
Read Matthew 14:22-33

• What does Peter have to believe about Jesus in this story?
• What does this story teach us about the kind of people Jesus wants us to be?

Read Matthew 9:1-8, 14:13-21

• What are the people in these two stories required to believe about Jesus?
• How does the faith of the friends of the paralyzed man impact that man’s life?
• What does the faith that Jesus challenges His disciples to have, do for the people around them?

Wrap Up
Think about the people you know, your friends.

• How could their lives be different if they could see your faith in action?

The faith that God calls us to have is not just for ourselves. The faith we are called to have is meant to make a difference in the world around us.

Think about your school. Everyone there knows people who are angry, fearful, bitter, anxious, greedy, prideful, etc. Not that many of your friends at school know people whose lives are shaped by complete trust in God. When your friends see a person whose life is defined by faith and faith’s counterparts - hope and love - they are seeing something that could change and transform their lives.

• Do you believe that God could change your friends’ lives?
• Do you believe, do you have faith, that God could use you to make that difference in their lives?
• What is happening in your life right now that, if you stand in faith, oth- ers would be impacted by your decision to hope and trust in God?
• What might happen in your school if students began to see their fellow students living this new kind of life?
• What if they saw students standing in faith? What could happen?

Playlist
This song is featured on “The Linc: Faith” Spotify playlist – which is the perfect way to remind your students what you’ve taught them in this session. To share it with them, click the live link on the web version of this study.