Download UNDERSTANDING OTHER RELIGIONS

UNDERSTANDING OTHER RELIGIONS
Week 2: Judaism
This includes:
1. Leader Preparation
2. Lesson Guide
1. LEADER PREPARATION
LESSON OVERVIEW
A significant foundation of the Christian faith is God’s relationship with the patriarchs of the
Old Testament. The patriarchs—such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—walked with God and
taught the Jewish people how God wanted them to worship and live. The goal of this lesson
is to help your students understand the basic beliefs of Judaism and how those beliefs line
up with Christianity.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. WHAT: Christianity shares a common origin with Judaism, but the two faiths differ on
the person and purpose of Jesus and whether he was the Messiah.
2. WHY: Your students may interact with people who are Jewish and need to be
equipped to explain Christianity and to share Christ with them.
3. HOW: Help your students understand some of the basic teachings of Judaism and
how they differ from Christianity, and then consider ways to pray for Jewish friends
and be prepared to explain and share their faith.
PRIMARY SCRIPTURE
Acts 2:36-39
SECONDARY SCRIPTURES
Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 14:2-3; Isaiah 53:5-6; and Romans 11:13-32
TEACHING PREP
The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may
not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you’ll definitely
want to refer to it as you lead your small group lesson.
Judaism believes in God. Typically, Jews believe that Jesus was a good rabbi (teacher) but
not the Messiah. Belief in God, his law (the Old Testament), and the lawgiver (Moses) are
core themes in Judaism.
Judaism is divided into several branches (like Christianity), including Orthodox,
Conservative, and Reform Jews, and these Jewish groups have significant differences in
their beliefs and practices.
Orthodox Jews fall into two broad groups, Modern Orthodox and Hasidim. The Modern
Orthodox are considered the “more academic” group, while the Hasidim are more traditional
and are sometimes known for the men wearing dark colored suits and the kippah (in
Hebrew) or yarmulke (in Yiddish.)
Conservative Jews seek to make allowances for modern culture, while trying to conserve
their Jewish heritage as much as possible.
The Reform Jewish is the most modern in both belief and practice. They embrace current
culture, humanism, and liberalism in their view of Scripture.
The overall commonality is the belief that they are Jewish because they were born into the
faith or they married into a Jewish family and converted to Judaism. They see themselves
as God’s chosen people because of the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.
Read Acts 2:36-39.
It’s important to remember that in this passage, Peter was preaching to a crowd of Jews
gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, or Shavuot. He wanted his audience to
realize that Jesus came to provide a way for humanity to have direct access to God. We no
longer have to be separated from God. Peter desired for his fellow Jews to realize that Jesus
was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah.
Peter’s sermon delivered the biblical truth that it doesn’t matter what your religious
background is; you have to repent of your sins to experience spiritual rebirth. The same gift
of salvation that was offered to the Jews is offered to the Gentiles—anyone who isn’t Jewish.
THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional]
Text Message Questions
We’ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students
prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest
of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry.
Read to explore your Jewish roots? Come learn about them at small group tonight.
How do Jews see Jesus? Let’s talk about it tonight at small group.
Parent Email
We’ve provided you with an email below that you can send to your parents following the
lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to
edit and customize the email to fit your ministry needs.
Dear parents,
This week we continued our small group series on other religions. The focus of this lesson
was on Judaism. We looked at a portion of Peter’s sermon to a Jewish crowd, in Acts 2:3639. Our teenagers learned that the Jews were God’s chosen people based on a covenant
made with Abraham. God promised that through the Jews the Messiah would come to save
them and the world. We saw how Jesus was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies,
even though he wasn’t the kind of Messiah most Jews expected.
Our students examined some of the basics of Judaism and its ties to Christianity. We helped
them to understand that while Jews believe in God, they don’t believe in Jesus as the
Messiah or the Son of God.
I’d encourage you take some time this week to talk with your student about our lesson on
Judaism. Here are some questions you could include in your conversation:
In Acts 2, Peter told people in the crowd that they had to repent of their sins. Why
does God want you to repent to be forgiven of your sins? What is the significance of
repentance?
Peter also made sure to tell his Jewish audience that Jesus was the Messiah. Why
was it hard for Jews to embrace Jesus as the Messiah?
What’s the best way to pray for a friend or family member who is Jewish, and why?
Take time to pray that your child will have a passion to see friends of all faiths come to
know Christ. Have an awesome day!
UNDERSTANDING OTHER RELIGIONS
Week 2: Judaism
2. LESSON GUIDE
GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional]
Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, then ASK:
What do you know about the Jewish religion? [NOTE: Provide some time for your
students to speak from their experience. Give them time to respond and ask
questions. You may need to encourage them to keep from being judgmental or
condescending—an easy trap when talking about someone who is different.]
If you came up with an opening activity, movie clip, or game that worked well with your
group, and you’d like to share it with other youth workers, please email us at
[email protected].
TEACHING POINTS
The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with
more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen here are
(1) God’s plan, (2) God’s process, and (3) God’s promise.
Remember: All throughout these lessons, it’s up to you to choose (1) how many questions
you use, and (2) the wording of the main points—keep ours, or change the wording to make
it clearer for your audience.
Read Acts 2:36-39 together as a group. Consider allowing one or more of the teenagers to
read the text.
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: In the Old Testament, we discover how God, the creator of the
universe, selected the nation of Israel—the Jewish people—as a chosen people. God made a
promise with Abraham to bless them and take care of them. This week we are going to
examine the Jewish faith, which provides the roots and foundation for Christianity, and was
the faith Jesus was born into when he came to this earth.
1. God’s plan
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: After Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, God
knew that a plan would be needed to restore the relationship with humanity. God is holy, so
sinful people couldn’t spend eternity with him in heaven without some kind of sacrifice. In
the Old Testament, God provided a way for sin to be atoned through the sacrifice of
animals. But the ultimate plan was sending Jesus to earth to provide a way for us to choose
to be restored to fellowship with God.
ASK:
Judaism taught that God would send a Messiah to save the Jews, but Jesus didn’t
enter the culture the way many Jews thought the Messiah would—as a conquering
military and political leader. Why do you think God’s plan was different from what
people anticipated?
2. God’s process
ASK:
In Acts 2, Peter told people in the crowd that they had to repent of their sins. Why
does God want you to repent to be forgiven of your sins? What is the significance of
repentance?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Repentance is important because it’s the way of abandoning our
past and moving forward in following God. In order to be restored into a relationship with
God, we must admit that we are separated from God because of the sin in our lives. Once
we admit this and turn from the sin and turn to God instead, we can experience a restored
relationship with God. Jesus, the Messiah, came to earth to be the final sacrifice for our
sins.
3. God’s promise
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: God promises that if you repent of your sins and follow Jesus, you
will be able to spend eternity with him in heaven. God’s promise extends to all humanity—
Jews and Gentiles.
ASK:
In his sermon, Peter said the gift of salvation wasn’t just for the Jewish people but
also was intended for Gentiles. Why is that important? How might this knowledge
impact the way you see people of other faiths?
Peter also made sure to tell his Jewish audience that Jesus was the Messiah. Why
was it hard for Jews to embrace Jesus as the Messiah?
ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional]
ASK:
For Jews, the New Testament isn’t a part of their sacred Scripture. However, they do
believe in sin and its effect on a person. Read Psalm 14:2-3. How could these verses
help you share your faith with someone who is Jewish?
Judaism teaches the need for some type of payment for sins. This concept is
common to all branches of Judaism. Read Isaiah 53:5-6. How might you use this
Messiah reference to talk about how Jesus was the Messiah?
In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, you’ll find a prayer that many Jews pray every day. Read it
as a group and discuss one or two important truths from that passage.
APPLICATION
ASK:
Jews believe in God; however, they don’t believe Jesus was the Messiah or the Son
of God. What are some questions you could ask Jews that would help them wrestle
with Jesus’ “qualifications” as Messiah?
Pair up with another person in the group for these questions.
ASK:
Some Christians convey a sense that they’re superior to Jews because of knowing
and following Jesus. Read Romans 11:13-32 together. Based on this passage, what’s
an effective way we can interact with people who are Jewish?
When talking with a Jewish friend, what key verses and passages from the Old
Testament would be important to reference when discussing who Jesus is?
What’s the best way to pray for a friend or family member who is Jewish, and why?
SUMMARY
End your small group lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or takehome challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place
during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are
facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants
accomplished with the teaching and discussion time.
FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE]
Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below.
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).