January–April 2019
Unit 1: Stewardship—Managing God’s Gifts
What does the word “stewardship” mean? While many youth and adults alike may immediately think of money, practicing stewardship is about much more. This unit explores the role of stewardship across four distinct aspects of youth’s daily lives. Across four sessions, youth will discuss and learn how stewardship applies to friendships, schedules, possessions, and creation as they embrace God’s call to a life of caretaking and caregiving.
Unit 2: Pillars of Character
Teenagers are leaving childhood behind, looking forward to adulthood, and searching for stability in their lives. During this time, they are discovering and adapting the tenets of their individual characters as dynamic Christians. These four sessions will study examples of fairness, responsibility, caring, and respect through gospel texts and Paul’s letters. Youth will have the opportunity to explore how these examples of character fit into their own lives.
Unit 3: Missions—Risk Yourself for God
What do teenagers risk when they commit themselves to God’s mission in the world? This unit invites youth to consider how they can embrace the risk that comes with missional experiences. As youth grow in their faith, texts from Matthew and Paul’s letters to the Corinthians will provide examples of ways youth can encounter change in their lives as they embark on any mission they undergo.
Unit 4: Easter—Luke’s Account
Luke’s account of the Easter story reviews the events of Jesus’ earthly ministry in four sessions of exploration and discovery. Teenagers who are familiar with the Easter Sunday celebration often encounter these episodes lumped together. In this five-lesson unit, however, youth will have a chance to spend time in the details of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension and explore how these events can empower them today.
May–August 2019
Unit 1: Family Living
The first unit of this volume begins with a basic question: who is my family? Although the answer may be different for everyone, the weight of this question has been the same for centuries. Youth will study Scripture texts in Genesis, 1 Peter, James, and Deuteronomy to consider who counts as a family member in their lives, and how they can contribute and relate to this intimate community.
Unit 2: Disciples Follow Christ
Whether teenagers have grown up in a church setting or have just been introduced to Christianity for the first time, discipleship probably doesn’t sound too appealing. Today’s Christians face persecution all over the world and, at the very least, youth in your church probably fear how their peers will see them if they truly embrace discipleship. Discipleship at its most basic is composed of calling, study, prayer, service, and worship. This series of lessons will help youth develop a faith strong enough to weather the struggles and challenges of their daily lives.
Unit 3: Old Testament Basics
Each of the four sessions in this third unit focuses on introducing a broad collection of Old Testament books: Law, History, Writings, and Prophets. By exploring truths found in the main collections books of the Old Testament, this unit will lead youth to consider how they can take their biblical history with them as they grow.
Unit 4: Pressure to Succeed
Even within the Church, there are many different ways to define success and failure. This makes the path to victory even more complicated for youth, who are learning to navigate their Christian identities in the world. This unit will ask youth to explore biblical definitions of success, allowing them to find ways to apply these truths to their own lives.