Magnified! Session 1: God Sees Me
60-Minute Youth Teaching Timer
VBS Schedule Reminder: Youth Bible time is 7:30-8:30. After Crafts at 8:30, everyone returns to the Worship Rally at 8:45.
60-Minute Flow: Warm-Up 8 minutes, Opening Scripture 5 minutes, John 1:1-3 and 14 12 minutes, Mark 10:13-16 15 minutes, God Sees What Others Miss 8 minutes, Gospel Focus 8 minutes, Closing Challenge and Prayer 4 minutes.
60-Minute Flow: Warm-Up 8 minutes, Opening Scripture 5 minutes, John 1:1-3 and 14 12 minutes, Mark 10:13-16 15 minutes, God Sees What Others Miss 8 minutes, Gospel Focus 8 minutes, Closing Challenge and Prayer 4 minutes.
00:00 - 08:00 ↓
Welcome / Warm-Up / Connection Time
Suggested pace: Schedule reminder 1:00, first question 3:00, second question 3:00, transition 1:00.
Schedule Reminder
Alright, everybody, we are settling in for our Bible time from 7:30 to 8:30. After this, we will move into Crafts, and then everybody heads back to the Worship Rally at 8:45 to close out the night.
Opening Question
If you could spend one hour with any famous person in history, who would it be and why?
Follow-Up Question
How many of you have ever felt overlooked, ignored, left out, or misunderstood?
Opening Thought
Everybody likes being noticed by someone important, but tonight we are going to see something far greater: the most important Person in existence already knows who you are and wants a relationship with you.
Transition: Tonight's point is simple, but it is bigger than we may realize: God sees me.
08:00 - 13:00 ↓
Opening Scripture: Magnify the Lord
Psalm 34:3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
Suggested pace: Read the verse 1:00, explain magnify 2:00, class interaction 1:00, transition 1:00.
Introduction
To magnify God does not mean we make God bigger. God is already as big, holy, powerful, and glorious as He will ever be. Magnifying God means we begin to see more clearly how great He already is.
Youth Question
What are some things that make you think about how big God is?
Key Thought
Sometimes God shows us His greatness through the biggest things we can imagine, and sometimes He teaches us His greatness through the smallest details we usually overlook.
Transition: One of the clearest ways to magnify God is to compare His greatness to our smallness, and John starts before the beginning ever began.
13:00 - 25:00 ↓
I. The God Who Created Everything Knows You
Suggested pace: Main text 2:00, subpoint A 2:00, subpoint B 2:00, subpoint C and illustration 4:00, transition 2:00.
Main Text
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Key Thought
Before there was a universe, there was Jesus, and the Jesus who made all things stepped into our world so we could know Him.
A. Jesus is eternal.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jesus did not begin in Bethlehem. He stepped into flesh in Bethlehem, but He already was before creation ever began.
Ask Here
- What does “in the beginning” tell us about Jesus?
- Why does it matter that Jesus did not begin when He was born in Bethlehem?
B. Jesus is God.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John does not leave Jesus as a teacher, prophet, or good example only. John says, “the Word was God.”
Ask Here
- Why do some people want Jesus as a good teacher, but resist Him as God?
- What changes when we understand that Jesus is truly God?
C. Jesus created everything.
John 1:2-3 The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The same Jesus who created the galaxies also created people, and the same Jesus who created the stars knows your name.
Ask Here
- What is the biggest thing you have ever seen in person?
- If God is that big, why do you think He would still care about us?
Illustration Path
Earth, sun, UY Scuti, Milky Way, universe. Then pause and bring it home: out of all that God created, He still knows where you are.
Transition: That sounds amazing, but how do we know God actually cares about people who may seem small to everybody else?
25:00 - 40:00 ↓
II. Jesus and the Children
Suggested pace: Main text and context 3:00, subpoint A 3:00, subpoint B 4:00, subpoint C 4:00, transition 1:00.
Main Text
Mark 10:13-16 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Context
People were bringing children to Jesus, but the disciples treated the children like an interruption. They seemed to think Jesus was too important to be bothered by them.
Key Thought
The disciples saw an interruption. Jesus saw people.
A. Jesus was not annoyed by the children.
Mark 10:13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
Jesus did not treat those children as a problem to manage. He saw them as people He valued.
Ask Here
- Why do you think the disciples tried to stop the children?
- Have you ever felt like someone was treating you like an interruption?
B. Jesus was displeased with the disciples.
Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
The disciples tried to block the very ones Jesus wanted to bless, and Jesus corrected them because access to Him mattered more than their assumptions.
Ask Here
- What do you think made Jesus so displeased in this story?
- Do adults ever underestimate teenagers or younger children?
C. Jesus welcomed, held, and blessed them.
Mark 10:15-16 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
The Creator of the universe took time for children, and that means nobody in this room is too small for His attention.
Ask Here
- What does this tell us about the heart of Jesus?
- What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God “as a little child”?
Transition: What made those children valuable? The same thing that gives you value.
40:00 - 48:00 ↓
III. God Sees What Others Miss
Suggested pace: Main text and Hagar context 2:00, subpoint A 2:00, subpoint B 3:00, transition 1:00.
Main Text
Genesis 16:13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
Context
Hagar was in a hard place, and yet she learned something about God that still speaks to us: He is the God who sees.
A. God sees us in hard places.
Genesis 16:13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
God saw Hagar when she felt unseen, and He still sees fears, struggles, questions, temptations, and the parts of life others may never understand.
Ask Here
- Why do people sometimes feel invisible?
- Can someone be surrounded by people and still feel alone?
B. God sees beneath the surface.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
Psalm 139:1-2 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
God sees more than your parents see, more than your friends see, and more than you even see about yourself.
Ask Here
- What are some places teenagers look for acceptance?
- How is God’s view different from the way people usually judge each other?
Transition: God seeing us is wonderful, but He does not only want to observe us from a distance. He invites us into His family.
48:00 - 56:00 ↓
IV. Gospel Focus: God Wants You in His Family
Suggested pace: Main text 1:00, subpoint A 2:00, subpoint B 2:00, subpoint C and invitation 2:00, transition 1:00.
Main Text
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
A. Knowing about Jesus is not the same as receiving Him.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
You can know facts about Jesus and still need to receive Him by faith.
Ask Here
- What is the difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them?
- Can a person know facts about Jesus and still not know Him personally?
B. God gives believers a place in His family.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
God created us, but sin separated us from Him. Jesus came, died for sinners, rose again, and gives those who receive Him the right to become the sons of God.
Ask Here
- What does John 1:12 say a person must do?
- What does John 1:12 say God gives to those who receive Christ?
C. Jesus still welcomes those who come to Him.
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
The same Jesus who welcomed children still welcomes sinners who come to Him.
Ask Here
- What fear might keep someone from coming to Jesus?
- What promise does Jesus give to the one who comes to Him?
Invitation Line
John 1:12 is not only about information. It is about receiving Christ and becoming a child of God.
Transition: Before we pray, let’s pull tonight together and make sure we do not leave this truth in the room.
56:00 - 60:00 ↓
Closing Challenge and Prayer
Suggested pace: Review questions 1:30, closing challenge 1:30, schedule reminder and prayer 1:00.
Review Questions
- Who created everything?
- Who is “the Word” in John 1?
- What did Jesus do when the children came to Him?
- What is tonight’s main point?
Closing Challenge
The God who created galaxies knows your name, knows where you are, knows what you are facing, and wants a relationship with you.
Schedule Reminder
When we finish, we will move into Crafts, and then at 8:45 we will head back to the Worship Rally to close out the night.
Prayer Direction
Thank God that He sees us, ask Him to help each student understand their value before Him, and invite any who need Christ to respond to the gospel.
