RCCG JUNIOR ZEAL FOR AGE 13-19 TEACHER’S MANUAL SUNDAY 19TH OF NOVEMBER, 2023

– The teacher is to revise the previous lessons with the Teenagers

– You can also ask them questions to questions to ensure the lessons have been well understood

– Please, remember to tell your class to review the previous lessons during the week before the revision day

LESSON AIM: At the end of the study, teenagers should be able to understand why the government of a nation deserves gratitude and how it should be expressed.

CENTRAL TRUTH: Our Government deserve gratitude for all they do for the citizens and the country as a whole.

INTRODUCTION: The Government of any nation is responsible for its people, security, the daily running of the country to ensure their peace and prosperity. Their success depends on the law-abiding citizens. Good Governance is all about government officials sacrificing their time and expertise to ensure the country is doing well. As law-abiding citizens, we need to appreciate their efforts and sacrifice to ensure law and order in the nation.

The government is the constituted or elected authority of a state or nation to oversee the land, control the people and/or organizations, legislate, and even enforce laws or decrees to the end that all may live in obedience to the law of the land and lead a peaceable life.

• They provide leadership.

• They are ordained of God – Romans 13:1-2.,

• They are ordained of God – Romans 13:1-2.

• They help maintain law and order.

• They provide public services such as hospitals, electricity, water, education, etc.

• They provide national security.

• They provide economic security and assistance.

• They provide assistance to small scale industries.

• Pray for those in power and in authority – 1 Tim. 2:3-4, Ps. 122:6-8.

• Obey the laws of the land – Matt. 22:21.

• Protection of public property.

• Celebrate and appreciate people in power.

• Speak positively about them and to them.

• Good citizenship begins with good attitude – Titus 3:1-2.

LIFE APPLICATION: Governmental authorities are ordained by God for our own good. Even though some people may find it hard to trust politicians or even government employees, we are commanded to show them respect and appreciate their efforts in enforcing law and order. They need our prayers to perform effectively, to enforce law and order for us to live a peaceable life.

CONCLUSION: The Government deserves gratitude because they are ordained of God for our own good. Apart from obeying the law, we also need to pray for them always to enable us live a peaceable life.

LESSON AIM: At the end of the study, teenagers should be able to understand that one of the qualities of a grateful heart is being filled with the Holy Spirit.

CENTRAL TRUTH: The Holy Spirit helps to have a heart of gratitude to God.

INTRODUCTION: A grateful heart is sustained and brought about by the tangible indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life. It takes more than just wanting to be grateful to indeed be grateful. Being grateful to God is easier and acceptable when it is from a heart filled with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us how to please God and especially how to be grateful to Him always.

• Jesus is Lord over that life – Rom. 12:2.

• A Spirit-filled life express gratitude with the help of the Holy Spirit – Eph. 5:18-19.

•A Spirit-filled life is submissive and fears God – Eph. 5:21.

• A life that is led by the Spirit of God – Rom. 8:14.

• A life that exhibits the characteristic nature of God – Gal. 5:22-23.

• A life that lives on the Word of God – Col.3:16-17.

• A life that can receive extraordinary power for service from God- Acts 2:4.

• We would be able to please God – Heb. 11:6.

• Our eternity is sure – John 10:28-29.

• Our victory is assured -1 John 5:4-5.

• It helps us live with and have a heart of worship and thankfulness to God – Eph. 5:19-20.

• Accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

Confess and forsake all known sins with a heart of repentance – 1 John 1:9.

• Yield every area and aspect of your life to God – Rom. 6:13.

• Walk by faith and not by feelings or emotions – Gal. 5:16-18.

• Dwell on God’s Word daily – Col. 3:16-17.

• Avoid sin – I Thess. 5:22.

• Pray, especially in the Spirit – Jude 1:20, Eph. 6:18.

LIFE APPLICATION: Without the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to please God, let alone have a heart of gratitude. Hence, as believers, we must ensure the Holy Spirit resides in us as He alone can teach and dire us in ways to please God.

CONCLUSION: A heart of gratitude is strengthened by the Holy Spirit and if you’ve not accepted Jesus, you do not have access to the Holy Spirit. Accept Jesus today if you have not and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit from today.

LESSON AIM: At the end of the study, teenagers should be able to understand that humility is needed for a grateful heart

INTRODUCTION: A humble heart is such that sees others before himself or herself and by so doing, also sees the goodness and kindness of others when expressed to him or her. A proud heart on the other hand, feels entitled to whatever is done or given and as such sees it as people’s responsibility to care or do whatever it is they do for him or her. Knowing this gives us an understanding of why God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6)

• A humble person is grateful for everything in life – 1 Thess. 5:18.

• A humble person is a seeker of God – Ps. 69:32.

• A humble person lives in respect and honour of God – Dan. 4:37.

• A humble person rejoices with others – Romans 12:15.

• We should be humble so that God will exalt and lift us – James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6.

• God gives more grace, strength and ability to the humble – James 4:6.

• Being humble prevents God’s wrath – 2 Chro. 32:26.

• Humility makes God hear us – 2 Chro. 34:27.

• Humility helps us follow God and learn from Him – Ps. 25:9

• Being humble makes us receive God’s favour – Prov. 3:34

• Be born again – 2 Cor. 5:17.

• Recognise what God has done for you and constantly live in that consciousness (a heart of gratitude) – 1 Thess. 5:18.

• Living in submission and obedience to the will of God – John 5:30.

• Acknowledge and confess your sin to God – Prov. 28:18.

• Acknowledge your wrongdoings to otherS and make amends – James 3:2, 5:16.

• Our perfect Role Model Jesus Christ – Phil. 2:6-7.

• David – A man after God’s Heart – I Chron. 17:16-19.

• Abraham – A friend of God -Gen. 18:1-8.

• Paul -The New Generation Apostle – 2 Cor. 12:6, 1Cor. 15:10.

• Our Father-in-the-Lord – Daddy E.A. Adeboye.

LIFE APPLICATION: Only a humble person can manifest a grateful heart and acknowledge the sovereignty of God. We are who we are today through Christ and His grace. We should therefore live in recognition of what God has done and be thankful continually. We should never feel too big to acknowledge God and be grateful for all that He has done for us,

CONCLUSION: Humility is often characterized as genuine gratitude. True humility is seeing ourselves as we are, fallen in sin and helpless without God. Through humility, we develop a grateful heart. However, a life without Christ will always struggle with pride and cannot achieve humility by strength but with the Help of God through the Holy Spirit.

LESSON AIM: At the end of the study, teenagers should be able to know that being a witness of the gospel is a quality of a grateful heart.

INTRODUCTION: Being grateful goes beyond appreciative gestures and just saying thank you. We see this displayed in product adverts where people who have used a certain product not only show their gratitude to people who introduced them to it, but also tell others about it, especially those who need it. The same goes for every grateful child of God who has experienced not just salvation but all the other good things we enjoy in Christ. One of the ways by which we are expected to show our gratitude is being a witness of the Gospel.

Witnessing is sharing your personal experience with Jesus through the gospel. It is a call to all believers because it’s subject to even the great mission that all should preach the gospel. Nevertheless, you cannot teach if you have not learnt or been taught. Witnessing involves having a relationship with Jesus and carries a lot of responsibilities.

•A witness is firstly, a child of God – a born-again Christian.

•A witness is a person who spreads the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• A witness is a carrier of GOd’s power and presence.

• A witness is Christ-like in nature.

• Accept Jesus as Savior and Lord.

• Sharing our faith and testimony in Christ Jesus – 1 John 1:1-3.

• Consecrating and separating ourselves unto the Lord -2 Tim. 2:21.

• Prayers & intercession for unbelievers – Eph. 6:18, 1 Tim. 2:1.

LIFE APPLICATION: Only a grateful heart can be a true witness of the gospel through the testimonies of what God has done and the salvation he/she has experienced. Nevertheless, this can only be done by the help of God through the Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION: Witnessing to others can only be done effectively with good results when we have encountered Christ to the extent of our lives being transformed. This results in our being grateful and having the zeal to share with others about Christ and His goodness to us.

INTRODUCTION: Brenda was a teenager who had missed out of childhood due to an illness she’d been battling with since birth. This had affected her education greatly and even her ability to make friends, as she was always in and out of the hospital. One day while on the hospital bed, a group of teenagers who came on hospital visitation introduced her to Christ and His healing power. She gave her life to Christ and that day the journey to healing from the disease began, such that by the end of that month, she had stopped taking all forms of medication.

She was so happy that she decided to show her gratitude by attending the teenage witnesses’ Church, the address of which she found behind the tract she had been given in the hospital on that fateful day. She ensured that she testified during the service of what the Lord had done. She joined the teenage evangelism team to start sharing with other teenagers the testimony that led her to Christ.

1. A testifier is someone who reports an event, or someone who is a witness. Mark 5:20, John 4:28-30.

2. A testifier is someone who proclaims some news or an event that happened before his or her very eyes.

3. A testifier is someone who is so grateful for what God has done that he or she can’t keep it to him or herself

1 The mad man of Gadarene – Mark 5: 1-20

2. The woman with the issue of blood – Mark 5:35-34.

3. Blind Bartimaeus – Mark 10:46-52.

4 The woman by the well – John 4:28-29

1 The testifier draws more men to God in Salvation – John 4:39-4)

2 People are encouraged to stay in faith to receive their own healing

2 The healing becomes divine, there 1S wholeness and all the scars are gone – Luke 8:48, Luke 17:19.

4. The person becomes an Overcomer – Rev. 12:11.

CONCLUSION: Anyone who is grateful will testify of God’s goodness. Are you grateful for life? Share it. Did God heal you? Share it. Did God provide when all hope was lost? Share it. Share your testimony and God will do more for you.