What does it mean that the Bible is inspired by God?

Who wrote the Bible how does God speak to us through it today?

Junior highers (6th-8th graders) often wrestle with these questions and others like it.

Use this free lesson to help students understand that God uses His Word to speak to them and work in their hearts and lives.

More details:

  • Includes a fun opening game to setup the message
  • Based on 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16 and Philippians 4:8
  • Specifically created for junior high students
  • Helps land an abstract concept in a concrete way

Enjoy the lesson!

– Nick Diliberto, Ministry to Youth

Looking for youth ministry curriculum? Check out the…

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JUNIOR HIGH MINISTRY LESSON ON GOD’S WORD

Bible: 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16 and Philippians 4:8

Bottom Line: God uses His Word to speak to us and work in our hearts and lives.

SUPPLIES

OPENING GAME: HIDDEN MESSAGE

GAME PREP

Divide students into teams of 3-4 people.

Give each team a Bible, a copy of the Hidden Message PDF and a pen/pencil.

Game Answers: Correction, Guidance, Knowledge and Salvation

Have teams spread out across your meeting space.

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME

Say: Today, we’re talking about God’s Word. 

Some people might think that the Bible is complicated to understand and you need to be highly intelligent to read it.

But, we’re going to learn that God gave us His Word to help us learn about and grow closer to Him – so, He wants us to understand what it says.

In this game, the message won’t be quite as clear.

I’ve divided you into teams, and I’m going to give you 5 minutes to decipher the “hidden message” on the piece of paper I’ve given to you.

It might not be as easy as you think, but if you work together, you can figure it out.

You have all the tools you need: the Bible, the sheet of paper, a pen/pencil, and your brains.

Ready? On your mark… get set… GO!

Feel free to walk around and help students as they need it, but try not to give them the answers. 

Recognize the first team to decipher the message and read the answers aloud for the teams that were unable to finish the game.

See answers in game prep section above.

TEACH

Ask: Do you think reading the Bible is as much fun as it was to play that game?

Tell me how you feel when you read the Bible.

Allow a few responses from students.

The average home in the United States has over four Bibles. So we have them, but how much do we read them?

Today, we’re going to learn that it’s not as much about how much you read the Bible, but what you allow God to do in your heart as you read His Word.

You might want to mention at some point in this lesson that if a student doesn’t own a Bible, you can help them get one.

Because many of us have grown up with Bibles in our homes, we may not realize there are places all over the world where there is no access to Bibles.

In some places, it’s illegal to own a Bible.

North Korea, Libya, Morocco, and many other countries have created laws concerning carrying a Bible that can result in a person suffering imprisonment, persecution, torture, and even death.

In other parts of the world, the Bible has not been translated into the language of a people group.

In fact, there are over 2,163 languages that do not have a translation of the Bible.

For over 60 years, the organization, Wycliffe Bible Translators, has submersed themselves in a culture, and sometimes even developed a written language and taught it to a people group, in order to produce a printed copy of the Bible for the people.  

Why? Because there are still over 1.5 BILLION people in the world, who do not have a copy of the Bible.

That’s insane when you think about how much we can communicate with each other in our society.

We can send pics, texts, and videos at the drop of a hat, but one out of five people in the world can’t get a hold of a Bible to study for themselves.

The Bible is essential; otherwise, God wouldn’t have given it to us.

Did you realize the Bible we read today was written over a period of 1,400 years and by 40 different people?

The Jewish people recognized the Old Testament books for hundreds of years before the New Testament was written.

They studied and taught the Scripture for generations – scribes copied the text by hand, over and over.

We have over 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the Bible that have been compared to each other to look for mistakes that took place in copying.

Because of this, we know that we can trust the copy of the Bible that we hold in our hands.

Don’t let what you hear people say about whether or not the Bible is true get in the way from you discovering the truth.

So, let’s take a look at what the Bible has to say about God’s Word.

Read 2 Timothy 3:16:
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right.

In this verse, Paul says that all Scripture is “inspired” by God. Another word for inspired is “God breathed”.

Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13:
Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.

Scholars believe the Apostle Paul wrote between 8-13 books of the New Testament.

These books were in the form of letters that Paul wrote to churches, as God gave Him the words to say and the messages to deliver to the people.

Both of these verses say that the Bible is more than mere human ideas – its more than just words on a page.

The Bottom Line: God uses His Word to speak to us and work in our hearts and lives.

Ask: What does it mean if someone reads a scripture that “speaks” to them?

Allow a few responses from students.

Share about a time when a scripture came alive and particularly spoke to you.

Here’s an example of how God can speak to you through His Word.

This example helps junior high students apply the big idea of the lesson to their lives. You’re giving them a concrete example of an abstract idea.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed entirely to the point that you don’t know what to do?

Read Philippians 4:8:
Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

That scripture reminds us to change our thought patterns – instead of allowing stress to overtake our thoughts, think about the things that are true (you’re going to make it), honorable, and right (if I stay stressed, I’m keeping myself from feeling peace), pure, and lovely, and admirable (I might feel stressed out right now, but it’s going to get better).

As you think about these things, you’ll often feel God’s peace even in the middle of a stressful situation.

This is just one example of how God can speak to you through the Bible.

WRAP UP

Allow God’s Word to speak to you as you meditate and think about what He’s saying through the scripture.

Many times, the answers we are seeking are found in God’s Word.

It’s our responsibility and privilege to open up our Bibles and seek after God.

He’s given us everything we need to follow Him, and He desires to work in our hearts as we dwell in His Word.

As we wrap up today’s lesson, here are a few questions to consider:

How do we know for sure the Bible is God’s Word?

What do we do when we struggle with accepting God’s Word as-is?

Is the Bible 100% accurate and historical?

Is it okay to question and wrestle with what’s in the Bible?

These are all great questions to ask.

In fact, these questions and others like them help us explore the Bible on our own. They help us to seek truth and can lead to a deeper appreciation of God’s Word in our lives.

I encourage you to ask these types of questions.

We’ll have time in small group to do that today.

But also know there is an open invitation to approach any of our youth leaders with questions you have.

We also encourage you to go to God with these types of questions.

Close in prayer.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. What questions do you have about the Bible?
  2. Is it easy or hard for you to accept that the Bible is God’s Word? Why or why not?
  3. Why do you think God gave us the Bible? What is its purpose? 
  4. What role does God’s Word play in your life? What does the Bible mean to you?
  5. What can you learn from God’s Word? Why is it important?

End lesson.

Looking for youth ministry curriculum? Check out the…

ONE YEAR PASS – For one year save 93% on $1,440 worth of youth group lessons, Bible studies, games, events & more. Only available through March 28!

Looking for another junior high lesson? Check out this…

Junior High Lesson on Identity

11 Replies to “JUNIOR HIGH LESSON ON GOD’S WORD”

  1. Jacqualine Riddle
    • October 5, 2021

    Thank you so much this is so much needed for me for my 12 yr old son today and his friend God bless you

    Reply
  2. Susan Franklin
    • October 5, 2021

    Please Note: I found that the game has some errors in 2 of the clues.

    Clue #4 should read:
    4. What is the “2nd” letter of the name of the man who died in Romans 8:34? _____

    Clue # 9 should read:
    9. What is the 2nd letter of “one” of the shortest book in the Bible____
    (3 John, 2 John, Philemon, Obadiah, Jude)

    Reply 1 Response
    1. Nick Diliberto
      • December 15, 2021

      Thanks for the heads up!

      Reply
  3. Ray
    • October 5, 2021

    Downloadable PDF for the sermon?

    Reply
  4. Bethany
    • October 5, 2021

    Thank you for this lesson–it came just as I trying to write my own on this same topic.

    I also wanted to point out the clue errors Susan pointed out. Additionally, some of the answers I got were ‘wrong’ because of the Biblical translation I used. This activity works best if using NIV.

    Reply
  5. Ruth Happ
    • October 6, 2021

    Thank you for the wealth of info and great ideas.
    Please cite your sources so we can verify for updates and to give credit where due. Thank you!

    Reply
  6. Claire Reyes
    • October 12, 2021

    Thank you so much for sharing this lesson. It will be a lot of help to teach in our teens group. God bless your ministry.

    Reply
  7. Kevin Harris
    • December 1, 2021

    I agree with Susan on the questions and no matter what translation you use those questions would still be wrong. I used this activity to show how important reading and studying the word of God is. They all saw how some of the answers were wrong.

    Reply 1 Response
    1. Blake
      • February 1, 2022

      Is there a correct answer key floating around somewhere

      Reply
  8. christine franco
    • February 10, 2022

    What should the answer code be? I can make my own, but I just want to know what the answer at the end is. Thanks

    Reply
  9. Rev Joseph Adner
    • June 27, 2023

    Looking for Sunday lesson for the youth every week from 3 years to 10 and10 to 12

    Reply

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