In our culture, preteens are told to trust themselves and to build their lives on their own convictions and beliefs.

But the Bible teaches something very different!

The sooner you can help your preteens understand that the foundation they should build their lives upon is Jesus (and that Jesus can be trusted because of what He’s done for us) the better!

Use this free lesson on 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 to connect your preteen students to the real significance of celebrating the resurrection on Easter.

– Ministry to Preteens Team

Looking for preteen ministry curriculum for 4th-6th graders? Check out the…

ONE YEAR PRETEEN CURRICULUM, VOLUME 3 – Get one year of new preteen ministry curriculum designed to help 4th-6th graders explore their faith and wholeheartedly follow Jesus.
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PRETEEN LESSON ON EASTER: THE FOUNDATION OF THE FAITH

Written by Joshua Thompson

Bible: 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Bottom Line: Easter is important because it’s the resurrection of Jesus that matters most to our faith!

All verses are in the New Living Translation.

OPENING GAME:  EGG-CELLENT FOUNDATIONS

SUPPLIES

  • Popsicle sticks
  • Tape and/or string
  • Cotton balls
  • Plastic Egg/Real egg (boiled or raw)
  • Rubber bands/ping pong balls
  • Table
  • Stopwatch
  • Prize candy

GAME PREP

The flow of the lesson will be enhanced if you group the supplies ahead of time. For instance, 20 popsicle sticks, 1 role of tape, 10 cotton balls, and 1 egg can be grouped in a container ahead of time to give to the groups in this game.

You will need one container of supplies for each group of students.

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME

This game is all about foundations. First, split your students up into pairs or into bigger groups. Once the students have been grouped together, give them their supplies, and tell them that they have two minutes to build a structure that will support their egg and keep it from falling. They cannot use any tape on their egg.

Once the two minutes for building are up, mark off a square or circle boundary (make it large) and then pick a group to place their structure on a table inside the boundary.

Then give the other groups 30 seconds to knock down the structure with rubber bands or ping pong balls. If the egg falls off the structure, then the group who built the structure loses. But if it last for 30 seconds, it moves to the next round.

Once the first group goes pick another group and repeat the process. Keep going until time runs out or until there is only one group left whose egg did not fall. Be sure to reward this team with candy!

TEACH

I think you all did a great job with our game, and I really enjoyed seeing the creative ways you went about protecting your eggs from getting knocked over.

After playing this game, I think we can all agree that keeping things standing firm can be difficult.

For instance, if you have just completed an awesome Lego set of more than 1,000 pieces, what would happen if it got knocked off the table where you built it?

[Allow preteens to answer.]

So when it’s done, where would you want to place it?

[Allow preteens to answer. Hopefully they will say something along the lines of “I would place it on a firm foundation/a secure place.”]

That’s right!

You would place it somewhere secure where it won’t be knocked down and shattered.

This is because no matter how cool your Lego set is, if it gets knocked over and breaks, all of that time, money, and hard work you put into it goes to waste.

But when you have the right foundation, you can enjoy your hard work and be confident that it will last.

This is kind of what it’s like when it comes to the Christian faith and Easter.

There are so many wonderful things that are a part of the Christian life, from being promised a life forever with Jesus to being able to make a difference in the world for God’s glory.

Yet now more than ever before, there are things and people who claim that belief in Christ is worthless, and they try to break the Christian faith into 1,000 pieces.

Even though there have been multiple attempts to break the Christian faith, none of them have been successful.

Why do you think that is?

[Give your preteens a moment to answer and be sure to affirm good answers.]

It’s because the Christian faith has the resurrection of Jesus Christ, or what we celebrate as Easter Sunday, as its foundation.

This is what you need to know about Easter Sunday … when we celebrate Easter, we celebrate the most important moment of the Christian faith.

That’s because without the resurrection, our faith is worthless.

The Apostle Paul thought this was the most important thing to know about the Christian faith too!

Listen to what he says as he talks about preaching the gospel message to a group of believers in a city named Corinth:

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him – 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Notice that of all the things Paul could have talked about—like the creation of the world, the awesome display of God’s power throughout the Old Testament, or the miracles Jesus did for others—Paul called the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the most important part of his teaching.

He knew that without these things occurring, especially the resurrection, the Christian faith would indeed be worthless.

Think about this: without the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s promises to deal with sin and evil (Genesis 3:15) and to save and bless the world (Genesis 22:18) would be proven false.

And if God could not be trusted to keep His promises with these things, how could we trust any of His other promises?

[You can make this either a rhetorical question or an actual one.]

Here’s another thing to consider.

If Jesus does not come back from the dead, there would be no church to change the world.

If Jesus does not come to His apostles after His death, they would have not received the Holy Spirit and would have not started the church.

Without the church spreading the good news about Jesus, millions of people would have been lost in their sins and would be forever separated from God.

These are just two of the many important parts of the Christian faith that come apart without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Just like a Lego set that gets knocked off a table will split into a bunch of pieces, our faith would fall apart if it weren’t for the resurrection!

But there is great news!

Because Jesus DID rise from the dead, those who believe in Him have a faith that is more valuable than anything else in the world!

And best of all, this faith is placed on a foundation—the resurrection of Jesus—that will make sure that it will never be made worthless and that it can be enjoyed for eternity by those who follow Jesus.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. When it comes to Legos, are you the type of person who likes to build a set and keep it set up for a long time, or do you build with Legos and break them apart to re-make other things?
  2. In the lesson, we talked about resting a finished Lego set on a foundation that is secure so it doesn’t get knocked over. What is the foundation that we rest our faith on? (Hint: We talked about it in the lesson!)
  3. What are other foundations that we could put our faith in that aren’t as firm as the resurrection of Jesus? [Examples of answers: being good, going to church, having a Christian family, etc.]
  4. Why is the fact that Jesus rose from the dead so important?
  5. How would you explain the reason for Easter to another student who maybe hasn’t heard about Jesus before?
  6. What does it mean to be saved?
  7. What are some ways we can learn more about Jesus?

End Lesson

Looking for preteen ministry curriculum for 4th-6th graders? Check out the…

ONE YEAR PRETEEN CURRICULUM, VOLUME 3 – Get one year of new preteen ministry curriculum designed to help 4th-6th graders explore their faith and wholeheartedly follow Jesus.
tween bible lessons

Like this free lesson?

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