About the Class

This class is designed for middle school students to encourage them to believe the good news of Jesus and live it out. It presents the tools needed to build spiritual maturity by discussing and applying key biblical teaching on such topics as God’s love and forgiveness, faith and repentance, sins of the heart and the power to change, justification by faith, living as God’s child, Bible reading and seeing the Bible’s big story, prayer and worship, loving our family and friends, and sharing Jesus with others.

Each weekly class includes discussion in which students are invited and expected to share honestly what they are personally learning, as well as teacher instruction and interactive activities. The assignments for this class will include Bible and workbook reading, memory verses, written reflections, and quizzes.

The goal for this class is to help students understand why the gospel really is good news, and to learn how to lean wholly and happily on Jesus during their formative teen years. As they do so by the power of the Holy Spirit, their lives are changed from the inside out.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

1. Bible (preferred translation: ESV, NASB, or NIV)

2. Harrell, Deborah and Jack Klumpenhower. What’s Up?: Discovering Jesus, the Gospel, and Who You Really Are (Student Guide). Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2015

3. Thornton, Champ. Radically Different: A Student’s Guide to Community (Student Guide). Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2019.