Youth Sunday School - Dec. 9 - Stewardship and the youth budget

This week Matt and Adam were the guest teachers for the youth Sunday school class! The lesson was about Stewardship. It connects very closely to the combined lesson we did last month about Time, Treasure, and Talents, so instead of covering all three again, the class focused on being good stewards of our money. Matt taught about what the Bible has to say on the topic, and then the class spend the rest of the lesson creating a Student Ministries budget based on our actual numbers and expenses.

Basically, the groups had to allocate funds to each item on the budget list (e.g. giveaway Bibles, leader training, event supplies, curriculum...) and then justify why they thought those amounts were appropriate. From what I hear, the discussion was quite animated and not everyone agreed on each point. I plan on taking their work into consideration as a plan and budget this year. I really wish I was able to teach the lesson!

Here are some talking points for you and your teen:

• How is stewardship radically different than common Western culture, beliefs and practices (ownership, not stewardship)?
• How can we worship financially?
• What does the Bible say about stewardship (check out Hebrews 11:13, Proverbs 23:4-5, and Proverbs 21:5)?
• What made you want to spend more money on certain areas of the budget?
• Why are some things in our budget more important than others? (i.e. what principles are behind the various items on the list? Why might we spend money on Bibles that we give away - what does that accomplish? Why do we spend money on events - what does that accomplish? etc.)
• How has your view of spending money in Student Ministries changed now that you know what is in the budget?
• How could we improve the way we spend money in our ministry and in our church as a whole?
• How does the way we view and use money reflect our relationship with God?
• Has your view of money been challenged this morning? If so, how?
• What are some practical ways you can improve the way you use the money God has given you?