Preteen Ministry Lesson on Respecting Authority

Happy New Year!

I can’t think of a better way to start the year than to remind preteens the value of respecting authority.

This FREE lesson uses the hit game “Smashy Road Wanted” as a fun way to setup the message.

Based on Ephesians 6:1-4, this lesson reminds students that – “When we submit to those with authority, we honor God.”

Hope 2016 is a great year for you and the preteens in your ministry!
– Nick Diliberto, The Preteen Ministry Guy

SMASHY ROAD LESSON: Respecting Authority in Your Life

Bible Verses: Ephesians 6:1-4 and Romans 13:1

Bottom Line: When we submit to those with authority, we honor God. 

SUPPLIES:

Game:

  • None

TEACH:

GAME: LEADER SAYS

Position all your leaders around the entire group of preteens. On go, all the leaders will begin to call out commands for the preteens to do or preform. They should start slow at first. As the game gets going, the leaders need to speed up giving commands, talking over each other and even giving the same commands, trying to confuse the students as much as possible.

Game Directions:

We are going to play a good old fashion game of Leader Says! This is kind of like Simon says but all of the leaders will be calling out directions, and you will need to figure out which commands to follow. Just like Simon says, if a leader says to do something but does not say “Leader Says” before the command you do not have to follow it. BUT if they do say “Leader Says” and you don’t follow the command you are out of the game.

Play a few rounds depending on time and try and come up with as many fun and crazy things as you can to do.

That was pretty awesome and fun. It was a little crazy at times and probably seemed almost impossible to follow the right commands.  At times all the leaders were yelling out commands, and it was hard to figure out which ones you were supposed to follow. Then eventually you missed a command that you were supposed to follow and you were out of the game.

This reminds me of what it can be like when people in our lives tell us what to do.  We can get confused, not knowing whom we should listen to and whom we shouldn’t listen to.

Ask:

  1. Who are people with authority in your life?
  2. What are some things that they tell you to do that are hard to follow?
  3. Why is it hard to do everything they tell you to do?
  4. Why do these people have authority in your life?
  5. Who gives them this authority?

TEACH

The world we live in likes to confuse us with lies about people in authority.
See, we are told that it is ok not to listen to people who may have authority in our lives if we think we know better. The problem with this type of thinking is that God puts the people with authority in our lives.

Today we are going break down what God has to say about people with authority in our lives.

Has anyone ever heard of or played the game SMASHY ROADS?

This is a spin off game of Crossy Roads but with cars and cops.

The game is all about driving as fast as you can running away from the cops. The entire purpose is to get as much money as you can by smashing into buildings, through fences, through cops, and driving as fast as you can.

Then you use the money to get faster and cooler cars to keep doing the same thing. In fact, to get a better idea of the game lets watch a short clip of what the game looks like.

Play this Video:

We know in real life we aren’t supposed to do these things, but in a game like this we are told it is ok. Kind of like those people in our lives that actually have authority over us.

We know we are supposed to listen to them, but there is so much of the world telling us it’s ok not to listen.

Let’s read what the Bible says about authority.

Open up to Romans 13:1.

Can I have someone read this out loud?

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Romans 13:1

So who has to listen to authorities in their lives?

Right, everyone. See God does not say just some of us have to follow the authority in our lives. He says everyone has too. That means you, me, Mom, Dad, even the pastor of our church. No one has the right to defy the authority in their lives.

So who has real authority in our lives?

According to this verse, there is no authority EXCEPT from God. Then God is the only authority we need to listen to, right?  Well if we stop right there then the answer is yes. But let’s go a step further in this verse.

Someone read to me the last part of the verse:

….and those that exist have been instituted by God.

The word “instituted” means placed. God places people in your life that have authority over you. God has a perfect plan for each of you and those plans are different and awesome. These people are put there to help guide you down the right path. Some of those people are so important, God has written specific scripture about them.

Let’s Read Ephesians 6:1-4.

Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

I know this is the verse Mom and Dad pull out all the time when you are not listening to them or when they want to make you do something you don’t want to do.

But let’s look at this verse and break it down.

The first things God say here is what? (Obey your parents)

But this is no what I want to focus on. The bigger questions is, why should we do this?

If we belong to the Lord then our parents are people He has put in authority over us and it is the right thing to do, if for no other reason than to honor God.

BUT…

God goes on to tell us if we do this, obey and honor mom and dad, than things will go well for us and we will have a long life.

God does not tell us things and take them back, God’s promises are forever and never change. So why would we want to honor Mom and Dad knowing we will have a great life when we do?

Our Bottom line is this:

When we submit to those with authority we honor God.

To follow those with authority is to honor God; it really is that simple.

It may not seem like that most of the time, especially since the world tells us to live like the game Smashy Roads.  

I want you all to leave here knowing that those with authority over you have that position because God has given that authority to them.

This does not make them perfect or incapable of making mistakes. Mom and Dad make mistakes all the time, but this does not give you the right to not obey them. Others with authority are not perfect and make mistakes. None of those mistakes are excuses for you do to do whatever you want.

If we all lived our lives like the Smashy Roads game, running from those with authority and doing what we wanted, then we would not be following God the way He tells us too, and chaos would take over this world.

Close in Prayer.

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