Weekend Overview
We all face pressures. By the time we’re adults, we’re supposed to have learned healthy ways of dealing with things and to have developed a good perspective on life so those pressures won’t feel overwhelming. However, those lessons are just being learned in middle school.
This weekend, we want our students to know that pressures are going to continue to come their way, but with a strong foundation in faith, a strong support group, and healthy strategies for dealing with pressure, they can thrive in the pivotal years of middle and high school.
Message Overview
For maybe the first time, middle schoolers are aware of the pressures of life and are learning that they have to release the pressure or else! It’s like blowing up a balloon. The pressures of life will continue to build and build, and we have to learn how to release them. Tonight students will learn that Jesus knows all the pressures they feel and shows them how to deal with those pressures. Dealing with pressure in healthy ways will actually release the pressure they feel.
BOTTOM LINE
Choose healthy ways to deal with the pressures you feel.
SCRIPTURE
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. // Mark 6:30–32
WATCH
CONVERSATION STARTERS
What was your favorite part of session tonight?
Did you think they were really going to pop that balloon on stage?!
How would you define pressure? (Examples: Pressure is when you feel stressed or pushed to do something, like trying to fit in, do well in school, or not let people down. Pressure is when it feels like everyone expects something from you, and it’s hard to handle. Or pressure is when things feel too much.)
What other words would you use to describe pressure? (stress, anxiety, worry, etc.)
GROUP ACTIVITY
Leaders, hand each student a notecard.
Ask everyone to write down the pressures they feel. They should write down more than one.
Use this list if students need help identifying the pressures they experience.
Leaders, collect all the cards and read aloud or have students share what they wrote.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
What were the pressures that were said the most? Do you think those are normal for most middle schoolers?
Are there times when you feel more pressure than others? (End of semester tests, tryouts, when school dances are coming up, etc.)
Does anyone want to share what pressure(s) you’re feeling the most right now?
WHAT GOD SAYS
Read Mark 6:30–32. What pressures were the apostles feeling?
Here’s the background of the Scripture: First, Jesus’s friends see that people in Jesus’s hometown reject who he is. It was probably stressful to see people discount the amazing things Jesus did and who he was. Then, Jesus and his friends go from town to town to town to town for Jesus to teach. Talk about a whirlwind tour. THEN Jesus sends his 12 apostles out on their own for the first time. They have to go from town to town and try to teach like Jesus did. Talk about pressure! Then, they get word that John the Baptist, a relative of Jesus, was killed (actually beheaded) by the king for believing in Jesus and teaching about him! Finally, we see Jesus feed over 5,000 people and the crowd wants more and more from him and the apostles.
So, to recap:
The disciples were doing something they had never done before.
They traveled to places they’d likely never been.
They told strangers about Jesus (a stranger they’d never met).
They relied on those strangers to feed them and give them a place to sleep.
They attempted to perform miracles.
They likely heard the news about John the Baptist and were now worried about possible imprisonment or death.
How did Jesus encourage the apostles to deal with the pressure?
Why would Jesus want his apostles and you to deal with pressure in healthy ways instead of harmful ways?
If Jesus were sitting in our small group, what would you want him to know about the pressures you’re dealing with?
WRAP UP
Leaders, thank students for sharing their pressures with you and let them know that you’re there for them and that your small group will be there for them.
Close in prayer.