Develop a Discipleship System
Note to the Teacher
The key phrase in this scripture for this lesson is “feed my sheep.” This lesson will discuss food insecurity. Ahead of time, look at statistics about hunger in your area so you can lead the youth through this discussion. (See "Feeding America") You may also want to do an internet search of groups in your area that work on food insecurity issues. One skill the youth can learn is asset mapping. This will be today’s activity. Full instructions from the Field Museum are easily printed and explained here. The icebreaker invites youth to see how easy or hard it is to remember a directive from Jesus. The discussion encourages students to discuss what Jesus meant by “feed my sheep.” The activity helps youth understand food insecurity in their area and how it connects to other issues that are present - and what they can do.
Icebreaker (10 minutes)
Telephone – Have students sit in a circle of some kind. If there are too many students, create multiple lines.
Have the group(s) transmit a message from one person to the next and hear how the message changed from the first person to the last person.
The first message or two could be something silly like “(Youth director name) said that we can eat pizza every time we come for youth group.” Make it long enough that the students have to work a little to remember the whole thing.
As the final message, use “Jesus told Peter, ‘Feed my sheep.’”
The goal of the final message being so short is that it can be passed with minimal changes - which is part of the reason we still have this directive from the Bible passage.
If you don’t use more than these two messages, that is fine; the activity might take longer than normal today.
Read Scripture (5 minutes)
Today’s scripture reading involves the idea of “feeding sheep.” Read John 21:1-19 (CEB preferred, but multiple translations welcome).
Discussion (10 minutes)
What do you think Jesus meant when he told Peter to feed his sheep?
Do you think that message was for Peter only? If not, what do you think it means today?
Where in the world do you think it is more difficult for people to get food or be fed? Do you think there are people who struggle with hunger at your school? Are there hungry people in our community? Have you ever struggled with not getting enough to eat? How did that make you feel? What emotions might someone else feel if they are hungry? What things get more difficult to do if you are not getting enough to eat?
What else do those neighborhoods lack?
Read “What You Need to Know About Food Security and Climate Change” to help you understand how food insecurity will increase as climate change continues.
Activity and Discussion (30 minutes)
Take this lesson to the next level by doing some asset mapping. Find instructions here. Focus on your local area/the areas served by your church or near your church. Using their (or your) phone/laptop/tablet, help the youth find statistics about hunger and what systems are in place for food distribution.
Make sure to assess the area for other concerns, such as green spaces, places for students to access the internet or just be safe to hang out after school.
Points for discussion:
- What issues besides food insecurity might an area have?
- Are there any groups already working on these problems?
- Does our church have the space/people/other resources to help solve these issues?
- How would addressing these issues follow Jesus’ instruction to “feed sheep”?
TOTAL TIME: 55 min.
NEEDED RESOURCES:
- Large paper or whiteboard for brainstorming/drawing
- PDF of asset mapping instructions
- Pens, pencils, markers/dry erase markers for writing on whiteboard
