In this step, you’ll be challenging your students to recognize God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promises in their own lives. If your class is meeting online, invite your students to bring a pen/pencil and paper with them to class.

Studying the prophetic history behind the resurrection of Jesus Christ definitely builds our faith. But Jesus didn’t die on the cross just to make the Old Testament look legitimate. He did it for you! Our sin separated us from God, and Jesus’ sacrifice brought us back to Him. So how can we understand Easter as so much more than a spring holiday? Let’s reflect on what He’s done for us. 

Allow your students to work in groups of two or three. Hand out papers and pens/pencils to your students. If your class is meeting online, invite them to have those items ready. Although your students are working interactively in this exercise, they should each complete a personal activity sheet to take home. Instruct them to make two columns labeled PROMISES and OUTCOMES on their papers.

First, let’s start with some obvious promises that God has made for us in the Bible. To get you started, on the PROMISES side, let’s all write “A Messiah or Savior” and on the OUTCOME side, let’s write “Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem.” Can we think of a few more that the Old Testament predicted?

Your group can reference things from today’s lesson like His crucifixion and suffering, His lack of earthly power, or the details of His birth. After you finish, lead them to a more personal application.

Now that we’ve identified some of the Bible’s promises, we can also pinpoint the ways that God’s promises have been fulfilled in our own lives today.

Instruct students to write down specific times in their lives where God has been faithful. These can be times of comfort, specific healing, lessons learned, sins forgiven, His character revealed, or personal salvation. When students have written things down, discuss these questions together.

• It’s easy to see how God’s promises were fulfilled explicitly in the Bible, but not so easy to recognize how He’s working right now! Would anyone like to share one promise you’ve seen answered in your own life? (Listen to students share examples; be prepared to share your own experience.)
• Why is it important to tell others about what He’s done? (We want to bring attention to HIS goodness and not our own actions. It is encouraging to hear about Jesus’ faithfulness during our valleys; it gives us hope and keeps us going.)
• Who can you tell this week about God’s promises? Write one name on your paper.

We never want to hold onto our sins, but we also want to acknowledge how Jesus destroyed them on the cross. Take your papers home, put them in a visible place, and make sure you share with at least one person how God has been faithful to keep His promises to you.

Close in prayer.