Free Preteen Ministry Lesson on Putting God First

Here’s a free lesson for your preteen ministry on putting God first!

This lesson helps preteens understand that God deserves first place in our lives. Through a lesson on Matthew 22:36-37 and Psalm 40:5, students will think about what gets most of their time and attention. They will discover what it looks like to put God first, even in the middle of everything that is competing for their focus.

(This lesson comes from Unplugged – check out the full series breakdown here.)

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FREE PRETEEN MINISTRY LESSON ON PUTTING GOD FIRST

Lesson 1: Plug Into God

Bible: Matthew 22:36-37, Psalm 40:5

Bottom Line: God deserves first place.

SUPPLIES

Opening Game:

• 2 tables
• 10 stackable cups for each player
• “Uneven surface” materials at each table (see OPENING GAME for details)
• 1 plate for each player
• 1 ping pong ball, ball pit ball, or other light ball for each player
• Countdown timer
• Prize(s) for the winner(s)

Teach:

• 8 pre-made “Focus Posters” (see TEACH section for details)
• 1 index card for each preteen
• Pen or pencil for each preteen

Small Group Activity:

• 1 copy of the seven “Focus Posters” or categories from the lesson for each small group
• Sticky notes for each group
• Writing utensils for each preteen

NOTES

Have leaders prepared to hand out index cards and writing utensils to each preteen when you prompt them during the lesson.

Optional: Have a leader prepared ahead of time to share a list of tasks and activities they spend time on daily. They can share this during the lesson if you choose.

OPENING GAME: Balance

Objective:

To introduce the idea that when you focus on one thing, it is easy to take your eyes off of something else.

Game Prep:

Choose how many players you’ll have ahead of time based on the dynamics of your group and your available space.

In the game playing area, set up a table on each side. On each table, prepare a stack of five stackable cups for every player.

At the tables, set up some kind of uneven surface that the players will have to balance and stand on while stacking cups.

Suggestions:

• Cut pool noodles in half lengthwise to create a balance beam that the players must stand on with both feet.
• Place a brick on the ground that the players have to stand on with only one foot.
• Have clown shoes for the preteen players to wear while they play.

Prepare a ball and plate to give to each player before the game begins. The plate should have a lip so that the ball can’t immediately slide off the plate, but make sure the lip is small enough that the ball could roll off if the player was off balance.

How to Play the Game:

In this game, preteen volunteers will try to balance several tasks at once:

• Keeping steady on an uneven spot
• Balancing a ball on a plate
• Building two different stacks of cups

You can play this game as a competition between players or a challenge against the clock for just one player!

SAY: Our game today is called “Balance” because the players will have to balance a few different tasks in order to win.

Select volunteers to play.

SAY: First, hold out one hand nice and flat.

On that flat hand, you will have to balance a ball on a plate and make sure it doesn’t drop to the ground, even while you walk from one table to the other table.

The next task you have to focus on is stacking cups on both tables.

You’ll start at one table and use your free hand to start creating a cup tower that is three cups on the bottom, two cups in the middle, and one cup on the top.

And while you stand at the table, you will have to balance on uneven ground.

Explain what they will have to balance on, according to your setup.

SAY: Finally, you will have to balance your time between both tables.

We will have a 45 second countdown running.

You may need to adjust the countdown time or the distance between tables to give the preteens a chance to win.

SAY: Before the countdown hits zero, you have to move to the other table and start working on the cups over there.

Then the countdown will start again, and you will have 45 seconds to move back to the first table.

You will have to keep the balance, moving back and forth until you are done building BOTH cup towers.

If you drop the ball, you are out.

If you don’t balance your time and make it to the other table before the countdown runs out, you’re out.

And the first player to successfully build both of their cup towers wins a prize!

TEACH

Prior to your teaching time, prep the posters you will need for the illustration.

You’ll need seven “Focus Posters” that you’ll use one after another. Write or print the following words on the posters, adding images if desired:

• School
• Friends (Phones, Internet, Hanging Out)
• Family
• Responsibilities
• Watching and Listening (TV Shows, Movies, YouTube, Music, Social Media)
• Hobbies (Video Games, Games, Reading, Creating)
• Activities (Sports, Performing Arts, Etc.)

You’ll need one additional “Focus Poster” to use later on in the lesson. This one is in addition to the seven you already made. Write the following word on this poster:

• God

SAY: Finding balance in life can be tricky!

It’s hard to focus on more than one thing at a time!

That’s why there are laws against texting and driving at the same time.

That’s also why teachers don’t play cartoons on the TV while they are teaching long division.

Since we can’t focus on everything in our lives at the same time, we need to figure out what is most important to focus on.

I need a few volunteers to help me demonstrate this.

Choose seven volunteers to come into the teaching area and hold up the seven Focus Posters.

SAY: Take a look at all of these different things that people focus on in their life.

The posters say School, Friends, Family, Responsibilities, Watching and Listening, Hobbies, and Activities.

ASK: How much do you think we should focus on each area of life?

Raise your hand if you have an idea.

The volunteer holding the poster will move it higher in the air if you think we should focus on it a lot and move it down low if we should focus on it less.

Go down the line reading each Focus Poster. Invite responses from preteens about how much attention each area should receive.

SAY: Let’s thank our volunteers for helping us with this demonstration!

Collect the posters and allow the volunteers to return to their seats.

SAY: It seems like people in this room have different ideas of what should be the highest priority for us.

Priorities are things that people think are the most important.

If you prioritize something, that means you care about it and value it enough to focus on it more than other things.

Give an example from the discussion, such as: “Some of you said family should be higher than hobbies,” or “Some of you said responsibilities should come before watching videos.”

SAY: Here’s the thing … it’s a lot easier to talk about priorities in church than it is to actually prioritize important things in real life.

I might say that I prioritize eating healthy and working out, but when I get home, I might actually prioritize eating junk food and watching YouTube.

If you want to know what someone really cares about, don’t just listen to what they say – watch what they do.

Let’s think about that for a moment.

Optional: Invite a preselected leader to describe how they spend a typical day. Ask the preteens what priorities they think the leader has based on how they use their time.

SAY: If someone watched you live your life for a whole day, what would they think you cared about most?

As I explain what we’re going to do, your leaders are going to give everyone a piece of paper and a pen or pencil.

Ask leaders to begin passing out supplies.

SAY: I want you to be honest with yourself about the things that you actually prioritize with your time and attention.

This isn’t just about what you say is important.

This is about what you actually do.

What do you spend most of your time doing?

What do you want to do the most?

Who do you want to spend the most time with?

Where are you most plugged in or connected?

Go ahead and write down five things that get most of your time and attention.

Give the preteens about two minutes to think and write.

SAY: Hold onto those pieces of paper – we are going to do something with them later.

I realized that there is one poster I forgot to include in our demonstration earlier!

Bring out the hidden “God” poster.

ASK: How much focus should we give God in our lives?

SAY: Actually, don’t answer that yet.

I don’t want to rely on my own thoughts and ideas to know the right answer.

I want to look to God and see what He says is right.

That’s why we are going to look in the Bible to see what God says about focusing on Him.

Let’s read Matthew 22:36-37:

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: ”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”

ASK: According to Jesus’s words, how should we love God?

Allow the preteens to respond.

SAY: We should love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind.

God deserves all of our heart, soul, and mind, not just a little bit.

Showing love to someone means giving them your attention, spending time with them, thinking about them, listening to them, and doing things to show that you care.

That’s the kind of love and attention that God deserves.

Jesus teaches us that God deserves first place in our lives.

He deserves to be the top focus, the highest priority, and the most important One!

God deserves first place.

Why?

In Psalm 40:5, King David thought about all the reasons God deserves first place.

Here’s what he said:

5 O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.

   Your plans for us are too numerous to list.

   You have no equal.

If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,

   I would never come to the end of them.

SAY: Let’s try and think of just five reasons why God is worthy of first place in our lives.

ASK: Who can tell me one reason God deserves first place?

Allow preteens to share. Example reasons: God created us, He loves us, He forgives us, He is always faithful, etc.

SAY: God deserves to be loved and worshipped with all of our heart, soul, and mind.

God will not share first place with anyone or anything else.

This month we are going to start getting unplugged from the things that distract us from God so that we can plug into God, who is truly the most important.

Putting God first doesn’t mean that school, family, friendships, hobbies, and all those other things don’t matter.

God gave us many of those things!

He can teach us how to handle them wisely.

But God belongs in first place over all of them.

When you plug into God first, He helps guide your heart, your soul, and your mind in every area of life.

He shows you how He wants you to live at school, in your family, and with your friends.

He helps you face your responsibilities.

When you plug into God first, He helps you make wise decisions when it comes to what you watch and listen to, what your hobbies are, and what kind of person you are when you are doing activities.

Right now, it’s time to look back at your list of priorities.

If someone watched your life, would they see God in first place?

Or would they see that other things are more important?

Do you get unplugged from distractions so that you can plug into God?

Or have you allowed distractions to become your priorities?

Anything we love more than God is something we’ve put in the wrong priority order in our lives.

Maybe today, you feel like God is showing you that something needs to change.

You may even feel sorry about how you have put other things above God in your life.

Maybe you’ve spent a lot of time plugged in on the internet, watching videos, being on a phone, playing video games, reading books … and you haven’t spent time with God except at church.

God can help us recognize that our priorities are out of order so we can turn back to Him.

If you see that you need to make a change, confess it to God.

Tell Him you are sorry for loving other things more than Him.

And then, with His help, make a change.

Maybe today will be the day that you not only talk about putting God first, but you start to actually live it out.

This week, choose one action to do every day that would show God how important He really is to you!

You could:

• Read the Bible
• Spend time praying
• Write a letter to God
• Tell someone something that you are learning about God
• Draw or create something that honors God
• Sing along to worship music
• Take time to thank God every day

Let’s show God the kind of worship that He deserves.

SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY

In this small group activity, preteens will explore ways to prioritize God in different areas of their life.

Note: Each small group will need a copy of the seven Focus Poster words from the lesson, or leaders need to be ready to list them out.

The posters say School, Friends, Family, Responsibilities, Watching and Listening, Hobbies, and Activities.

Each preteen will need access to sticky notes and writing utensils.

SAY: God deserves first place in our lives.

He is worthy of your whole heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind too.

When you make God a priority, you show Him that He is more important than anything else.

But that doesn’t mean that you stop doing anything else.

You can honor God and show Him love by the choices you make in every area of your life.

We are going to look at the seven areas of focus from the lesson again.

For each area of life, you are going to think of a way that you could honor God while you do that thing or spend time with those people.

Write down your idea on a sticky note and attach it to ________ (the poster, the wall, the board, etc.).

For example, I can honor God in my responsibilities by being grateful for the responsibilities I have instead of complaining about them.

SAY: How could you love God while you do a hobby or activity? I want to hear your ideas!

Have the preteens spend time writing and adding their ideas.

If there is time, look at the ideas on each poster and conclude with a group discussion.

ASK:

• Which one of these ideas do you think you could do this week?
• How do you know that this would honor God?
• If you did this, would people be able to see your love for God?
  

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What are some things that take up a lot of your time and attention during the week? (Encourage students to share what they wrote on their cards during the lesson.) 
2. Why do you think it can be hard to focus on more than one thing at a time?
3. Which of the poster categories is easiest for you to focus on too much? Why do you think that is? Categories: school, friends, family, responsibilities, watching & listening, hobbies, and activities.
4. How can someone’s actions show what they truly care about?
5. What are some of the good things that can become distractions if they take up too much of our time and attention?
6. Why do you think it is important that God comes first, even above good things like family, school, or activities?
7. What does it look like to love God with all of your heart and all of your mind?
8. What are some ways that a preteen could show love for God in everyday life?
9. What does it mean to be plugged into God?
10. How can putting God first help you make decisions at school, with friends, with entertainment, responsibilities, and hobbies?

End Lesson

Looking for preteen ministry curriculum? Check out the…

Custom Preteen Curriculum: Every church is different. Your curriculum should be too. The trusted curriculum you love is now fully customizable for your church.