YOUTH GROUP LESSON ON WORSHIP

Here’s a free youth group lesson on worship. The big idea: Worship is our response to God’s awesomeness.

Bible: Genesis 1:1,Psalm 19:1-4, Romans 1:20, Romans 5:8

God is the brilliant artist and creator of this amazing universe we live in, yet He loved us so unconditionally that He would lay down His life for us.

In this lesson, students will understand the meaning of worship and some of the reasons why we worship God.

Hope you enjoy the lesson!

-Nick Diliberto, Ministry to Youth

Looking for youth ministry curriculum? Check out the…

1 TIMOTHY 4:12 – New 4-week youth group series about how God uses teenagers and those who do not feel like they measure up to do amazing things!

YOUTH GROUP LESSON ON WORSHIP

There are some pretty amazing things in this world. Some of them you may have already learned about in geography class. There are places on earth (and even in space) that will mesmerize you and take your breath away. Some of these places cannot be explained by scientists or anyone else for that matter. The Cable News Network (CNN) compiled a list called the Seven Natural Wonders of the World which consists of seven of the most spectacular and breathtaking marvels from different parts of the earth that have astonished humanity for decades.

The list of natural wonders includes:

• The Grand Canyon – The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and attains a depth of over a mile.
• The Great Barrier Reef – The world’s largest coral reef system, located in Australia, is composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometers over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometers. 
• The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro – Located in the country of Brazil, South America, it is famous first for being the world’s largest bay, with mountains that come down almost to the water’s edge, and second for being a massive structure that looks down on the city and harbor from one of the mountain peaks.
• Mount Everest – The earth’s highest mountain, it’s peak is 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) above sea level.
• Aurora – Sometimes referred to as the polar lights, it is a magnificent natural light display in the sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions.
• Paricutin Volcano – It is now a dormant volcano in Mexico that suddenly erupted out of a cornfield in 1943.
• Victoria Falls – It is a waterfall in southern Africa believed to be the world’s largest sheet of falling water.

The canyons, the mountains, and the waterfalls in all their glory were all created by someone. Can you imagine who?

If you said God, you are absolutely correct! The Bible says in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God is the master artist who designed and formed the earth and all of its wonders. 

Have you ever seen a beautiful piece of artwork designed by a famous artist or listened to a musical arrangement that left you speechless? Maybe you’ve watched a movie or a YouTube video of someone inventing something great and you found yourself wondering, how in the world did they do that?

Well God has that same effect. He turns heads and blows minds, leaving people to wonder – how in the world did He do that? How did He take nothing and create so much? How did He suspend the sun and the moon in space? How did He come up with the idea of gravity? Have you ever asked yourself these types of questions?

The Bible says in Psalm 19:1-4

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech; they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

In this particular scripture the heavens refers to the atmosphere or the vast space in the sky that is home to the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, and the galaxies beyond. The heavens (or the atmosphere) declare the glory of God . . . Every time you look at the sun, it is telling you that there is a God. The universe does not speak with audible words like we do, but it does speak. Year after year, century after century we are reminded that God is real and is very much in control.

Read Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine power – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Although God is a brilliant artist, not everyone chooses to worship Him. 

The definition of worship is “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.”

Some people choose to worship other gods and justify their choices by saying that the one true God is not real. There are people who will not worship someone they cannot see. 

But there is evidence of many things in our universe that we cannot see. We know they are real because we sense or experience them.

Let’s take gravity, for example. Gravity is at work right now, this very moment, while you are hearing this lesson. Do you remember how the law of gravity works? Ok, let’s do a quick refresher.

Gravity is a force (like a magnet) which tries to pull two objects toward each other. It’s a very real force, yet it’s invisible to the naked eye.

Demonstration

Take a pencil, an ink pen, or any small object close by and hold it in your hand. Extend your arm out, open your hand, and drop your object. What happened?

Did it…?

a) Stay in your hand 

b) Float in the air 

c) Fall to the ground

More than likely it fell to the ground. That’s pretty much a guarantee because the invisible force of gravity pulled your object toward the ground. Gravity pulls all objects with matter (or substance) toward the center of the earth.

Now here’s the kicker: Can you see gravity? What does it look like? What color is it, and what’s its shape?

You cannot answer that question any more than anyone else because NO ONE can see gravity! It’s invisible, yet it’s very real.

A few minutes ago we read in Romans 1:20 that God’s invisible qualities have been clearly seen and understood from the things that He has made. We cannot see God but we can clearly see the creation of His hands all around us. God has provided everything we would ever need on earth and the truth is, we have no excuse for not worshipping Him because the universe undoubtedly defines His existence!

We worship God because He is so amazing. He’s omnipotent – which means He’s all powerful. He’s omniscient – He has all knowledge of all things. Finally, He’s omnipresent – He’s everywhere at the same time!

If the creation of this vast universe is not enough to puzzle you, just think about Jesus who loves you so much that He was willing to die for you. Can you wrap your mind around that? It almost seems unfair that God would send His only son, Jesus, who never did anything wrong to the earth to sacrifice His life for humanity whose hearts are full of sin. And another thing, why would Jesus die for the man or the woman who doesn’t even believe in Him?

Read Romans 5:8

But God demonstrated His love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It’s called love. Love is the reason Christ died for us. The perfect demonstration of His love was His death on the cross. Period. 

ILLUSTRATION

Pick a volunteer to stand at the front of the room with their back toward the group. Give everyone except one student a wadded paper ball. The one student has nothing in his or her hands. Have everyone begin throwing the paper balls at the volunteer’s back for ten seconds. STOP! Ask the volunteer to turn around and guess who was throwing the paper balls. When the volunteer finishes guessing, tell the one student who did not have a paper ball to go stand in the corner with his/her nose to the wall. Watch how everyone responds. The innocent person is receiving a punishment that’s undeserved. That’s what Jesus did. We were all guilty of sin but He who knew no sin took the punishment for us all!

If you were caught robbing a bank and went to jail for your crime, that would be right. Crimes deserve punishment. But if you were caught robbing a bank and your best friend took the fall for you and he went to jail instead that would be unfair, don’t you think? How would that make you feel? Would you want your best friend to suffer for something YOU did and get penalized harshly for it?

That’s exactly what Jesus did for you and me. He took the guilty conviction for a crime that you and I had committed, the crime of sin. He was brutally tortured and even put to a death for something He did not do! 

Wow, thank you Jesus for Your selfless sacrifice and for Your unexplainable love for us!

Worship is our response to God’s awesomeness! He’s an awesome God indeed. He’s the brilliant artist and creator of this amazing universe we live in, yet He loved us so unconditionally that He would lay down His life for us.

We worship Him because:

• He’s good
• He’s wonderful
• He’s faithful
• He’s unselfish
• And He’s our Father

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is your favorite natural wonder of the world?

2. God is the master artist of our universe. Can you name any other famous artists?

3. How does the law of gravity work?

4. Is it hard for you to believe in things you cannot see?

5. Do you doubt the existence of people you have never met?

6. What was the one reason Jesus died for you and me?

7. Would you be willing to go to prison for a crime someone else committed?

8. Do you want to worship God more after today’s lesson?

End Lesson

Looking for youth ministry curriculum? Check out the…

1 TIMOTHY 4:12 – New 4-week youth group series about how God uses teenagers and those who do not feel like they measure up to do amazing things!

Youth Group Lesson on being Lost & Found