If your class is meeting online, invite your students to bring an index card or piece of paper, along with a pen or pencil, with them to class.
If you’ve been hanging around church for very long, you’ve heard people share their testimonies. A testimony is a story about the way someone’s life has changed since she met Jesus. Some testimonies are very dramatic like a drug dealer whose whole life was turned around by God. Other testimonies are . . . well . . . not that exciting. Maybe you got saved at age five when your mom asked if you wanted to invite Jesus into your heart. You probably weren’t selling heroin at that point, so the way your life turned around may be a bit less noticeable.
- Have you ever wished you had a more exciting testimony? Why or why not? (Some students may wish they had a cooler story to tell. Others may thank God for sparing them from the consequences of sin.)
Some of us can see it more easily than others, but if you have a relationship with Jesus, He’s changed your life! Maybe He’s helped you grow into a kinder person, or helped you build Christian friendships, or given you encouragement when you’re feeling low. If you’re not sure you’re a follower of Jesus, I hope you’ll talk to me after class. He can change your life, too, if you’re willing to let Him in!
- How has Jesus made a difference in your life? It doesn’t have to be anything big and dramatic, but how has knowing God changed you—even in small ways? (Encourage, but don’t require, your students to say a sentence or two about the way their lives are different because they know Jesus. If students can’t come up with anything, try to help them brainstorm. This can be a difficult question for middle schoolers. Remember, not all of your students may have given their lives to Christ, so don’t force them to say something if they don’t want to.)
We’re going to write brief testimonies of your own. Make a statement about how Jesus has changed you for good!
Hand out one index card to each student and a pen/pencil. If your class is meeting online, invite students to have their papers and pens or pencils ready.
Take a minute to think about what your life was like before Jesus. If you got saved when you were young and can’t remember, think about this: What COULD your life have been like if you never met Jesus? In a few words, write down your idea on one side of the card. Even if you can’t see the changes, they are there—like “I used to find my worth in what other people said about me, but now I know my true identity is ‘God’s beloved child!’” Show your students the “before” side of your sample. Give them a couple of minutes to think about and write their own testimony. If any of your students have not made a decision for Christ, give them the opportunity to make a more generic statement on the front and back of their cardboard using phrases from Scripture (They may need your help with this. An example for the front side: “Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world’”; back side: “Light shines in the darkness”; etc.) Be sure you invite these students to come talk with you after class if they have a desire to know more.
Now, flip your card over! This is the side where you write down the way Jesus has changed you for good. What’s different now compared to your life before God was in it? Give them a minute or two to think and write.
Once your students have finished their cardboard testimonies, invite them to stand up one at a time and show the front and back of their cards. They can offer a short explanation if necessary.
If it wasn’t for Jesus, Paul would have spent his whole life persecuting Christians . . . and then died without God. If it wasn’t for Jesus, each of us would be worse off, too. That’s because Jesus is in the life-changing business! Let your testimony remind you of God’s power to transform. Whenever you look at your sign this week, take a few seconds to thank God for the way he’s changed you for good.
Close in prayer.
