OPTION 1: TARGET PRACTICE
Today’s lesson takes us to the second generation in the wilderness. The first generation didn’t trust God to take them into Canaan and claimed it would be better to die in the wilderness, so God took them back into the wilderness for 40 years as that generation died. Their children now face the same test of trusting God to take them into Canaan. Would they be just like their parents or would they learn from their parents?
Use your own target or download the simple target here.
Depending on the size of your Youth Sabbath School, have just a few do target practice, or have each person do it if you have the time. (You don’t want to spend the entire Sabbath School doing target practice!) You can use foam darts, a ball, a slingshot, or even hold an eye dropper of colored water over your head in an attempt to drip the water onto a target on the floor instead of on a wall.
You only get one chance to hit the bull’s eye. This represents the first generation’s opportunity to enter Canaan.
After each person selected has completed their first chance of hitting the bull’s eye, give them a second chance. You can expect that some will do better the second time, some will do worse, and some will do just about the same. That’s true for the second generation compared to the first generation in our Bible passages this week.
If any parents of the youth are present, have the parents go first and see how their children do compared to them.
You can follow up with some questions or just move to the next component of Youth Sabbath School. Some follow-up questions could be:
- How did you do the first time?
- How did you do the second time?
- What difference did a second time make?
- Which is more important: Your skill or getting a second chance?
- What skills do you already have?
- Do you expect to do better, worse, or the same compared to your parents?
OPTION 2: BETTER OR WORSE?
Ask the youth if they are better, worse, or the same as their parents. They might ask for clarification, so give each participant a copy of the “Better or Worse” handout and have them fill it out.
The handout lists seven different areas (plus a very brief explanation) in which the youth can make comparisons. Once everyone has completed this, ask a few volunteers to share maybe just one area of their choice. If there’s time, you can go do another round with a second category. If you have a large group of 10+, divide into smaller groups for the sharing time.
TRANSITION
As we look at today’s topic, “The Trust Test,” keep in mind that it’s easy to say the word “trust” but it’s much more difficult to actually trust others. Our experiences help determine our ability to trust others. This doesn’t mean a non-trusting person can’t learn to trust, but that won’t be their tendency. Are you naturally trusting? Are you too trusting? How does this affect whether or not you trust God?