Guide for Lesson 4 of “Young Teens Aflame” –

Section	Do List	Timing
RELAX	Get everyone to write their favourite movie/TV serial down, and why they like it Split into 2 teams to play charades! One team will have to act out and guess movies that people from the other team have written down. The point system is as follows ·             1 point for guessing the correct movie ·             3 points for guessing the movie and the person who wrote it ·             5 points for guessing the movie, the person who wrote it and why he or she loves that movie	10 Mins
RELATE	·      Share how last weeks lesson impacted you this week (try to get them to share something they had to let go off or give up, whether it’s music or something else) ·      If they were not at the lesson, share about something God placed on their heart that week – it may simply be a deep impression about a bible verse ·      Pray for one another, and 2 other items from the church PRAY FOR SERVICES	15 mins
REACH OUT	·      Have 2-3 persons share what they have done to Invest & Invite their friends/relatives to Christ or TTB (specifically related to the Tacklegames - try to encourage them to invite their friends, since this week we will be getting the invite slips) ·      Thank God for the effort and pray for these friends/relatives to be responsive.	10 mins
RECEIVE	Introduction: In this series, you have been learning that as a Christian, as God’s chosen generation (cf. 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”) you have the responsibility to be wise in your choices because they not only affect you but they also affect others around you. During the last session, you learned that what you listen to is very important as what goes into your mind will have a powerful influence on your life. Now, this principle applies even more to what you watch. What you watch is even more powerful because the mind remembers more what it sees and hears than just what it hears alone. Now, just to put things into context, all that we are going to discuss is going to raise awareness. It is easy to understand these concepts, but what really counts in that we put them into practice. (Cf. Matthew 7:24-25, James 1:22-25 – espcially 22, James 2:14-26 – especially 26) Some people will not want to practice what is taught because to them it seems like their freedom is being limited. But the truth is that God loves us so very much because we are his children. His laws are there so that we may live in freedom of sin that oppresses us, so don’t see whatever we are going to teach as oppressive, instead it is liberating! It is not easy to practice what has been taught in the bible, it is not meant to be, but know that it is POSSIBLE – “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. (Isn’t this amazing? It is a fact that we are stronger than what Satan tries to throw at us!) But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so tht you can stand up under it.” This reminds me a lot about the story about Joseph, so you may want to quickly remind them about it. Rationale: Why is it important to watch what you watch (haha)? This is merely a part of practicing Philippains 4:8 “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Look at the verses preceding Philippians 4:8 Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.” All of these point to having peace in us – Peace represents wholeness, harmony with God, contentment and satisfaction with life. First of all, no matter what the need or situation, you must learn to pray specifically for, and about your needs, accompanying your requests with thanksgiving for the answers before you see them. These practices alone would relieve many troubled believers and open the doors for peace. Secondly, Paul exhorted them to think about the things that would facilitate a positive mental attitude and a spiritual approach to every aspect of life. He said to think only about the things that are true, and worthy of reverence and honorable or seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise. He told them to think on or weight and take account of these things.  The results would be an abiding presence of God's peace that would make way for the help you needed. When we watch shows, we are receiving ideas and messages into us. (e.g. guy who perserveres and trains hard always wins, good triumphs over evil, the hot, smart guy always gets the girl, success is being famous, feeling like a winner etc…) These are all messages that are communicated via movies and TV shows. Some of them are good, but we have to be on our guard today, because moral filth (e.g. homosexuality, vanity, deceit, pride, violence) is being subtly interwoven into an idea of what is “good”. 2 effects: (1) We are being exposed to so much sin, that sin becomes a norm for people. We become familiar and hence desensitised to sin. THIS AFFECTS OUR GUARD AGAINST SIN! For example, shows like Modern family portray homosexuality as entirely acceptable in a “modern” family, or shows which have people lying or stealing in order to achieve a greater good seem promote the fact that sin is acceptable if it is for the greater good. (2) We end up having a carnal mind – a mind so full of moral filth that we annot think of whatever is true/noble/right/pure/lovely/admirable/excellent/praiseworthy. This causes us to face turmoil in our lives and be unable to rise above our circumstances as all Christians should be able to do. We should aim to steer clear from shows that promote sin (glorification of the self, sexual promiscuity etc). However, it is difficult in this day and age, where so many shows have strands of that. So, we need to start watching with sharp minds that sieve through the good of shows and the evil that displeases God. Also, the rampant evil in this world unfortunately means that we should try to watch less youtube and television. Much less. Afterall, time spent on television is time not spent with God, as with all other relaxing activities that we partake in. Note: To encourage them to watch less shows and movies is not to say that we run away from this world – the television/internet/theatres are merely a part of this world. Decreasing your time spent on them does not mean you become a hermit or withdraw from the world – this time is better spent with people, doing God’s work and most of all, spending time with God! (James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.) In fact, Christians should be watching documentaries and the news to see the needs of this world and how to pray for people other than ourselves – this is a different kind of watching, it’s watching as worship to God, where we want to be people who know the needs of others, who know the needs of the society and want to make a difference. It’s very different from watching funny/exciting shows that make us feel good and relaxed. (Basically, the difference lies in who we are watching for – to enjoy ourselves or to be used by God) Teaching them how to think about shows: Let’s find out what some of the things are that make a good show: Exercise: Have them write on a piece of paper all the shows that they like watching – be it genres (romance, thriller, action) or different types of shows Go through criteria: (1) Compare it to God’s ways Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. What do you think these worthless things are? Approach: If there are worthless things, there MUST be worthy things. We should learn how to define worthless things by recognising what is worthy and realising that the rest should be discarded. Specific examples: ·             Violence ·             Explicit love scenes ·             Wrong ideas and values conveyed ·             Bad language, bad jokes ·             Horror or ghost stories ·             Occult or sorcery Ephesians 5:3-5 “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed because these are improper for God’s holy people. Not should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person – such man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.” All these things can and will be encouraged by the watching of wrong movies – how often have we been desensitised to coarse joking? Some of us do this even in church. We repeat the hilarious jokes that are uttered in the cinemas, and yes, they are so very funny and provide for a good laugh. But when we see the agony of God even as we are having fun sinning – I hope you don’t see this as an exaggeration, because this really does happen and I am speaking from experience – I think you will start to realise how truly borne of Satan some movies are. (2) Choose what will result in Good Philippains 4:8 Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. The good stuff – which there are a lot of also! ·             Good ‘clean’ humour ·             Good acting ·             Teaching right values and morals ·             Fun and entertaining ·             Absence of bad language ·             Good storyline ·             Documentaries ·             Talk shows on important issues Personal application Getting personal This is a very difficult lesson, so please make sure your students understand. ·             For those who are open to what you are teaching, have them clear up questions that they may have. à This involves you finding out the answers to your own question, be it from the bible or the internet or from older Christians ·             Go through the list of movies that they wrote from the charades and ask each of them to share what they feel about their favourite movie – whether it is a good movie and they will keep it, whether there are certain areas in the movie which are not pleasing to God, and finally whether they are shows that should just be forgotten (have a very nuanced view of movies. Not all movies are all good, or all bad, so discuss them and pick out the good parts BUT IF IT’S REALLY A BAD MOVIE PLEASE DON’T GO LIKE “I LOVE THAT MOVIE TOOOOOOOO.” Or if you really do then ask God for the strength to recognise that it is bad or something haha.) ·             And FOR SURE some of them aren’t hearing in their hearts (1. Don’t worry, God makes everything beautiful in his time (Ecclesiastes) 2. Pray before you teach the lesson – only God can soften their hearts and unblock their ears) Important and not optional: Addiction: Ask them how much time they spend watching tv/youtube. Ask them if they get angry when they parents tell them to stop watching. If they would rather sin by shouting at their parents than stop watching then evidently there is a problem. But all you should do is ask to pray with them. You can also present the biblical perspective, but it’s going to differ from person to person. Some people are ready for the truth, others need God to soften their hearts first. Important but optional: The issue of pornography. We may want to split the group into two at the end of the lesson to address this issue. We should root out this evil when they are at a young age. Leaders, if you suffer from this and want to stop, please seek help, from pastors or even your trusted and cell groupmates who are more mature than you. God wants to deal with this in you so that you can be FREE! Remember that truth, openness and humility are the only way for true fellowship in the body of Christ. There’s no need to pretend to be holy, we are all sinners.  Closing Thought: Watching shows are only one aspect of our lives, but it is also a very major aspect because what we watch very much determines the way we think and live our lives. In an age where there are so many things to watch, we watch a lot of things. Let us not make an idol of serial dramas etc. Worship means giving worth to – you worship anything you give worth to, so if you are addicted to shows and you watch them more than you read the bible, that is idolatry. May we, in all things, learn how to worship God and not created things! Closing Prayer: Dear God, you are the God of all of me, the God of my mind, my body, my spirit, my soul and this includes my ears, eyes and brains. Thank you for creating me in your image. Thank you also for providing me with the bible that shows me how I can live my life that is righteous and pleasing to You. May you give me the desire to know you more through reading your word, and the discipline to read your word each day. I confess that I do not love you and your word enough. May you also convict my heart of the choices that I have to make, that the choices I make should be right in your sight, not just in what I watch but in everything I do. Thank you for having mercy on me and forgiving me even when I have sinned so greatly against you. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.	40-55 mins

Roster:

1. Gail (Choices- Music) 20th May

----Break 27th May: Discuss about holiday outing/blessing plans

2. Ariel (Choices-Tv/Movies)  3rd June

3. Elvie (Dating-Male/Female) 10th June

4. Su lin (Dating-Falling in love?) 17th June

5. Joel (Dating-When can i start dating?) 24th June

6. Mund (Family-Getting their act tog at home) 1st July

7. Heng Guang (Family- Inside a parent’s head) *forum

8. Kenn (Family- How to get them to say yes)

9. Joshua (Family- Communication)

10.  Alex (Family- Living with Siblings)

11. Alden (Life of Jesus)

12. Cher/ lish / Noel (Life of Jesus)

Guide for Lesson 2 of “Young Teens Aflame” – Fashion Parade

: Note that if possible try to split the boys/girls from the beginning of this lesson

Relax

1. Start off by getting them to think of a celebrity perhaps that they would like to dress
like?

-Instead of sharing their answer straight away, get them to do something like Taboo/
Charades so that the rest of the group members can guess the celebrity.
For eg. Tyra Banks (description could be like American next top model….)
Robert Downey Jr ( IRON MANNNN)



2. If they could get all their clothes from a particular shop anywhere in the world where
would it be?



3. Next get them to brain storm about a few issues

- Is it right for a Christian to follow trends?
- Are there right and wrong ways for a Christian to dress? (be it just going out/going to
church)
- How should you choose when it comes to what to wear?
(this links back to our first lesson on choice, we must be conscious of the reasons of
why we make certain choices)

Relate

• Share one high and one low point
• Pray for one another, and 2 other items from the church

PRAY FOR SERVICES
That the Word of God proclaimed on 06-May by Mrs Ng Moh Ying (8am, 10am,
11am), by Pastor Clarence Lee (TTB), and by Mr Patrick Chua (Mandarin) will bear
fruit & not return void to God; and that the Word of God being prepared for 13-May
by Rev Dr Kow Shih Ming (8am, 10am, 11am), by Rev Joel Yong (TTB), and by Pastor
Wendy Tay (Mandarin) will be God’s Word for God’s People even as we continue to
celebrate together God’s power in raising Jesus Christ from the dead.

Reach Out

• Have 2-3 persons share what they have done to Invest & Invite their friends/
relatives to Christ or TTB
• Thank God for the effort and pray for these friends/relatives to be responsive.

Receive

It is not wrong to follow trends but doing it blindly is indeed a problem.

Try to ask them to recall when we went through the choices lesson, what were steps
that were involved in making choices?

So lets review the 3 Cs




1. Consider the choice
-If they recall we looked at Gen 39:1-15 which described Joseph consciously making the
right decision, he knew exactly, why he said no to the pharaoh’s wife.
-Likewise for the clothes that we wear we should stop and think first before following
everything new that comes along.



2. Comparing to God’s word
- Have them turn to 1 Peter 3:3-4

(New American Standard Version)
3 Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold
jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the

imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

-The bible doesn’t say that it is wrong to try to dress well but in God’s eyes what is
important to him is not what you put on to make yourselves look good on the outside
but his concern is what is “beautiful” on the inside.
-We should not get caught up in spending too much time, energy and money on what
is not so important (our external looks) instead we should be trying to build up what is
inside. (eg. spiritual life, loving more..etc)




3. Choosing to be others centred

-Turn to 1 Cor 10:23-24 (NIV)
The Believer’s freedom
23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have
the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. 24 No one should seek
their own good, but the good of others.

-So why is this important? I mean after all just what I wear it’s my choice and how
would it affect others?
-The verses here in Corinthians remind us that although we have the right to do
anything it might not be beneficial and constructive so instead our guiding principle
should always to seek the good of others.

-Leaders here you can lead them to discuss about the issues you think that might affect
your group more.




For eg.

1. Girls wearing skirts/shorts that are too short (stumbling their brothers in Christ if it’s
in church/ attracting the wrong type of attention)

Some believe that based on 1 Corinthians 7:4 (NIV)
4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In
the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to
his wife.
-Even if we are not married, our bodies are the temple of God and also they belong
to our future spouses and if we flaunt it off now it is seen to be robbing your future
spouse taking what belongs to him/her and giving it to someone else.

2. Guys wearing branded clothes/accessories / getting tattoos

3. Being overdressed/ under dressed



Closing Thought:
There are a lot of different trend of thoughts out there about how we should be
dressing as Christians, be it when we head out or to church but we must always bear
in mind the 3 Cs, we need to consciously make a choice and this choice must be in line
with God’s word and it must ALWAYS be others centred.
Encourage them beyond looking at their outward appearance and to also remember
that God’s concern is with our inward beauty

Closing Prayer:
Maybe the youths can pray for one another over the struggles they might have and
over the things that they discussed and that ultimately in everything that they do or
dress in this case would bring honour and Glory to his name.



Done by Petrina

Hey Guys,

For tomorrow's lesson. Ok we wont actually be doing a lesson since that some of the kids are still in the midst of exams and others have just finished. So we will be doing something more relaxing.

1) Game:

Objective: To allow everyone know each other better

Items required: A pen and a piece of paper


How to play: I think i may have played with some of you before. Basically everyone has a piece of paper and a pen. Except for one person. Oh and someone has to be the game show host as well. The game show host would ask the chosen youth (lets say aaron) a question. For example, aaron, who do you think is the prettiest girl in sea king? Then the rest of the people playing would have to write down the answer that they believe aaron would write and aaron would also write down his answer (honestly i do want to know this answer) haha. Yeah then slowly one by one everyone has to reveal their answer. The person or persons with the correct answer wins one point. After this, the game show host chooses a another person and ask he or she another question.


Here is a list of questions i thought of, just in case

1) Dream Job
2) When did you have your first crush
3) If you could only bring 3 things with you to a deserted island what would that be
4) First person you would turn to if in need of help
5) Worst food or thing you have even eaten before
6) If you could have a super power what would that be
7) If there was one thing you could change about your parents what would that be
8) Your pet peeve
9) Three things you never leave your house without
10) One person you always wanted to meet


Oh and after the games, as Petrina has already smsed you guys. Please go into a time of sharing and praying.

Sharing about:

1) The inner motivation, why the youths, strive to do well in studies. And you as leaders would also have to share what is that inner motivation that makes you strive for good grades (Its not about the money money money)
2) A recent exam experience for the uni students, or any significant exam experience you had.
3) How you dealt with the stress/ expectations from parents and self?
For the above question number 2, you can give practical steps or like you know stuff like go for a jog these kind of things, but also more importantly share with your youths, how by God providence/ grace and his word has empowered you to deal and stand upon the stress and expectations


Finally pray. Best if the ratio could be 1 leader to 3 kids. It is highly encouraged to get your youths to pray for one another instead of doing the typical mass prayer. Like melissa and heidi can pair up, find out each other's prayer request, and then pray for one another.
I think its good to start young, to get the kids to be comfortable praying for one another.

Ok lets see how it goes tmr, thanks guys

Alex