YOUTH GROUP LESSON ON MOSES

Awe.

That’s what I thought the first time I watched the movie, The Prince of Egypt.

I had never seen in such vivid Technicolor what this passage in Exodus described.

As corny as it might sound, it deeply moved me to see the awesome power of God, yes, even in a cartoon.

Let’s face it, many of us adults have simply lost our sense of wonder.

That wonder that sneaks up on you as you see God working in mighty ways.

That awe that comes when you know in your head that God can do anything, but then the grip it takes on your soul to really see with your own eyes His power and might.

Or maybe you are still waiting for these moments.

Well, your students are probably in one of these camps also – either they believe it could happen or they just don’t.

And that is okay because God is in the business of surprising us.

That’s what we can pray for as we prepare for this lesson – that God would wow us again with his power and his might.

And that waters would again be parted in the lives of our students as we come to this story with fresh eyes.

– Tiffany Hollums, Ministry to Youth

Looking for youth ministry curriculum? Check out the…

SET APART – New 4-week youth ministry series about being holy (or set apart) in order to identify with God and live differently than those around us.

YOUTH GROUP LESSON ON MOSES

DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THIS LESSON

Bible: Exodus 14: 21-31

Bottom Line: Moses believed that God could do amazing things and he helped others to believe too. God still does amazing things today!

SUPPLIES

Prince of Egypt movie clip of Moses parting the Red Sea – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjJi6mu_Rg0

Balloons (can be filled with water if students are notified to wear clothes that can get wet)

Glass rocks (blue or clear)

White board or large post-its with pens, to write on and display

OPENING GAME: DODGE BALLOON

Divide the group into two teams.

The size of your play area will be determined by how many students are on each team.

Choose one team to go first and have that team divide their crew in half.

Next, form two parallel lines facing one another.

Take 6 steps back from one another – if using regular balloons.

If using water balloons they need to be farther apart because the other team will be running in between their lines trying to avoid being hit by a balloon.

Explain to this team that they must stay within the boundary of the other crews parallel lines and try to avoid being hit with a balloon.

If they are hit—they are out.

The team will run and try to avoid the balloons until there is no one left on their team OR they are able to catch the balloons which would then cause the person who threw the balloon to be out (in dodgeball fashion).

This will be even more difficult if using water balloons, but much more fun to watch!

Switch the teams once everyone is out.

Each team will get a chance to be the ‘Blue Crew’ –  which simply means they will be running through the center and having blue balloons (can be water balloons) thrown at them from each side by the other team.

If you use balloons just blown up, then have the boundaries be a few feet.

TEACH

After you have played a few rounds of the game…

Ask: Was there anything about the game that we just played that caught you off guard?

When was the last time that you were truly surprised?

When was the last time that you were left speechless?

Share with the group a time in which you were left speechless by seeing the power of God. 

If you don’t have an example, take some time before the lesson to talk with other Christians (would be a great Facebook question) about times when they’ve been truly wowed by the power of God in action.  

Say: Some of you might have seen this movie – it’s an old one, but a good one.

Play the clip of the parting of the sea from the Prince of Egypt.  

OK, imagine that you had been there when God parted the sea for the Israelites: In a word, what would you have thought?

Write these words on the board or on large post its around the room.  

Say the words slowly. 

Ok, now when was the last time that you said these words from seeing God do something amazing?

Ask a student to read Exodus 14:31.

I know that some of you are thinking that maybe this is just a story from the Bible and things like this don’t  happen anymore.

But, what if it isn’t that things are not happening, but that we aren’t seeing them or recognizing them as being from God.

Here is something I want you to think about not only today but for a while: God hasn’t stopped doing amazing and powerful things.

Sometimes the things that He is doing can seem strange to our human minds.

Sometimes even small, yet when you stop to consider just WHO is doing these things it really is quite huge.

Maybe you have been praying for someone and then BOOM they text you out of the clear blue, or your think of something at just the perfect time.

It might even be things that you would have never considered were God – like maybe you actually left your house late but didn’t realize that if you’d left just a few minutes earlier things might have been really different.

Small, yet miraculous.

Maybe some of you sitting here today ARE miracles.

I could sit here all day and give you examples of ways that God is still at work and yet there would be so many other things that even I wouldn’t even consider are things from God, but they are.

God is still at work; we just have to be on the lookout, and unfortunately sometimes those things are not as obvious as a big wall of water forming on either side of us.

But that doesn’t mean they are any less a show of His power, right?

He still changes people.

God takes lives that others think are wasted and makes them whole again.

Share a personal story or a story of someone you know who has been changed by God.  

Today God is still (read the words the group shared earlier that you wrote down) and this week I want you to carry around a reminder with you everywhere you go to be looking for God.

Hold up the blue glass ‘water’ stone.

Each of you are going to get a ‘water stone.’

You can use a pen to write one of these words on your stone to remind you that you are supposed to watch for these (say some of the words again) moments because God is still up to amazing things because that is who He is.

Play the Prince of Egypt clip again and invite the students to come forward to get a water stone and write their word on the stone.

Challenge the group to share their ‘water stones’ on Instagram or Snapchat to remind one another to be watching this week for God!

Close with prayer.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Share a moment in which you have been in awe or ‘wowed’ by God.  

What were your thoughts after watching the movie clip?

Which word did you write on your rock and why?

DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THIS LESSON

Looking for youth ministry curriculum? Check out the…

SET APART – New 4-week youth ministry series about being holy (or set apart) in order to identify with God and live differently than those around us.

Want another free lesson? Check out this…

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