What we want students to learn: That God is uniquely suited to rule as King over all creation.

What we want students to do with what they’ve learned: To consider whether their image of God is big enough to account for His role as King, and to readjust the way they approach God accordingly.

Scripture Focus: Psalm 66:4, Psalm 103:19-22, Psalm 22:27-28, Psalm 89:11-13, Psalm 113:3, Psalm 135:5-7, Psalms 145:8-16

Overview: God's Kingdom is admittedly a tricky concept to nail down. But that's OK. This lesson will help students lay a great foundation for understanding God's Kingdom and how it impacts their lives. In this lesson, you'll start by helping your students know how to define God's Kingdom, namely that it's seen in the context of His reign and realm. You'll help students see that God's reign is about His authority to rule while His realm speaks to the "where" of His Kingdom. Through it all, your students will be challenged to see God as King and to relate to Him in their personal lives as such.  

What we want students to learn: That through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus inaugurated God’s Kingdom here on earth, allowing us to experience aspects of God’s Kingdom in our everyday lives.

What we want students to do with what they’ve learned: To identify ways that, as Christ-followers, their lives can be avenues through which God’s Kingdom breaks through the world they live in.

Scripture Focus: Matthew 3:1-3, Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25, Matthew 13:31-33, John 3:1-7

Overview: Jesus ushered in God’s Kingdom on this earth. As God incarnate—literally God taking on human form—Jesus’ presence on earth served as a physical embodiment of the arrival of God’s Kingdom. Here. Now. Jesus’ teachings brought the Kingdom near. His healings and miracles were small samples of God’s Kingdom goodness breaking through our sinful, fallen world. His death and resurrection signaled a new order, a defeat of sin’s curse that is at work in our world and a preview of the eternal life that awaits all Believers at Christ’s return. Your students will be challenged to consider how their own lives can serve as pathways through which God’s Kingdom can shine through, impacting the worlds in which they live.  

What we want students to learn: That they are called to be messengers of God’s Kingdom, being used by God to give evidence of His Kingdom in their day-to-day lives.

What we want students to do with what they’ve learned: To identify practical ways in which they can be messengers of God’s Kingdom to specific people in their lives who don’t have a faith relationship with Christ.

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 5:1-5, 2 Timothy 2:22-26, 1 Peter 2:11    

Overview: Your students have learned that God's Kingdom is defined by His reign and His realm. God has authority over all things, and His rule extends everywhere. Your students learned that through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, God's Kingdom broke through into our world. Through Christ, aspects of God's Kingdom were seen and experienced. The cool thing? As Christ-followers, your students are tasked with being walking, talking messengers of God's Kingdom and His Kingdom values. Through their words and actions, your students can interject aspects of God's Kingdom into the world around them, each day. And this has a powerful effect. It literally serves to draw others to God, in turn, welcoming them into God's Kingdom as well. This final lesson will challenge your students to consider specific people who need to experience some of the characteristics of God's Kingdom in their lives and committing to showing them what this looks like.