Young people's session

Read Bible notes on Mark 10.17-31

The rich young ruler placed his riches and security ahead of his relationship with God. He was good at giving the appearance of being holy, but Jesus is more interested in what’s in our hearts. Reflect on where your security lies: What is in your heart and what things could be getting in the way of your relationship with God?

Encourage your group to really engage with the parable and place themselves in the story. Help them to consider what things could be obstacles in their relationship with God, e.g. social media, phones, possessions, trying to fit in.

Love it or list it! 5 mins W E

You will need: list of what we might value (see below), paper and pens.

• Print out the list for every young person.
• Ask them to spend 2-3 minutes going through the list and ranking things in order of importance to them. Discuss what choices they made and why.

Love it or list it! 

Money 
Friends 
Clothes 
Family 
Social Media 
Tablet/Laptop/Computer 
School 
Work 
Food 
Nature 
Water 
Music 
Home 
Warmth  
Daylight 
Holidays 
Church 
God

First impressions

You could also use the image and following questions to help introduce the theme.

Click on the image to view a larger version or use the Jump menu to go to This week's images. For artist's details, see this issue's illustrators.

Questions

• What do you make of this image – its title is ‘With God all things are possible’?
• What is the difference between what is possible and what is wise?
• How might we encourage ourselves and others to develop a wise heart?

Read and rewrite 15 mins W E

You will need: video clip

• Read the passage together. Then, split the young people into small groups and ask each group to rewrite the passage in a modern-day context. Watch the video for inspiration and to show that this can be humorous.
• Encourage the groups to consider the following: What characters would you include? What would be a modern-day example of the rich young ruler?

Get through together  10 mins E S

Bring alive the analogy Jesus uses in the passage   

You will need: a large back pack, several objects.

• Invite the group to make a ‘tunnel’ by standing in two lines and linking hands with the person opposite, up above their heads.
• One by one, ask the young people to go through the tunnel while wearing the backpack. But each time someone has a turn, add an object for one of the things listed above God/church from the Gather activity.
• Discuss how some of these things might get in the way of our relationship with God.

What’s in your heart?  15 mins E S A

Explore what things we hold in our hearts

You will need: paper, pens; origami instructions.

• Give each young person a piece of paper and ask them to write down things they hold in their heart. It could be God, family, relationships or something that they are passionate about, e.g. climate change.
• Then ask them to follow the instructions and fold the paper into a heart.

 Play the track, ‘Holiness’, Sonicflood on SonicFlood, as the young people fold.   

Give it to God 5 mins E S A

Examine possible blockages in our relationships with God 

You will need: origami hearts from What’s on your heart?

• Ask the young people to pick up the hearts they made earlier.
• Invite them to spend some time in silent prayer, giving over the things written in their hearts to God.

     Play the track, ‘Idols’, Kirk Franklin on LONG LIVE LOVE, as they do this.

Check-in: Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues 

• Give out paper and pens. Ask the young people to draw something in their relationship with God that they’ve been challenged about today.
• Encourage everyone to take their drawing and put it up at home, as a reminder of their commitment to God.

Go with God 24/7

This week, where something is taking your time and focus away from God, make a change, e.g. if your phone is an issue, put a screen time limit on it.  E A

Before you finish, give out the ROOTS at home resource to encourage faith at home.