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Lift Off: a 4-Week Teaching Series for Youth Ministry TOPIC: Grow's 4 Spiritual Habits SCRIPTURE: Gospels DECORATING THEME: Outer Space AGE GROUP: Students (Get the Elementary version here !) DISCIPLESHIP ACTIVITY: Get Spiritual Habits Tracker, the discipleship activity that goes along with this teaching series, here ! There's nothing quite like a rocket launch. The buildup, the ignition, the moment it clears the tower and keeps going-further and faster than anyone standing on the ground can fully comprehend. That's what spiritual growth can feel like for a teenager who finally understands how to fuel it. In this four-week series from the Gospels, we'll see how Jesus pulled people out of spaces where they felt small or stuck, and set them in motion. The same thing is possible for us. Whether your students are preparing to lift off for the first time or looking for a re-launch, the countdown begins here: We grow by spending time with God, through godly relationships, when we use the gifts God gave us, and when we share God's story. BIG IDEAS & BIBLE STORIES We grow by spending time with God. (Jesus & Zacchaeus the Tax Collector: Luke 19:1-10; Colossians 2:6-7; John 15:4-5) We grow through godly relationships. (Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man: Mark 2:1-12; Galatians 6:2; Proverbs 12:26) We grow when we use the gifts God gave us. (Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand: John 6:1-14; Romans 12:3-8; Matthew 25:14-15) We grow when we share God's story. (Jesus' Resurrection & the Great Commission: Matthew 28:1-9, 16-20; 1 John 3:18) WEEKLY CURRICULUM SUMMARIES: This week, students see Jesus pursue and transform Zacchaeus, a tax collector, with nothing more than an invitation to spend time together Every rocket needs a launch pad-a fixed point it returns to before it can go anywhere. This week, we'll see how Jesus spotted Zacchaeus up in a tree, stopped, looked up, and invited himself over. That one moment of closeness changed everything for Zacchaeus, and the same can be true for us, too, because we grow by spending time with God. This week, students watch four determined friends break through a roof to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus. It takes an entire team on the ground to make a launch happen. This week, we'll see how four friends took their paralyzed friend to Jesus-they carried him, climbed a roof, and lowered him down-and Jesus responded to their faith together. We'll talk about the people we surround ourselves with who carry us closer to God, because we grow through godly relationships. This week, students see Jesus take a boy's small lunch and multiply it to feed a crowd of five thousand. A space crew is made up of all kinds of people-commanders, pilots, mission specialists, engineers-each with different skills but essential to the mission. This week, we'll see how Jesus took one boy's small offering of five loaves and two fish to feed thousands. God can use what we have in ways we never imagined because we grow when we use the gifts God gave us. This week, students witness the risen Jesus appear to his disciples and send them out to share what they've seen with the entire world. Missions to space aren't just about going up-they're about coming back and telling everyone what you saw. This week, we'll see how the resurrection changed everything for Jesus' followers and how Jesus sent them out with one final instruction: go and tell the story. Our stories of what God has done aren't just personal-they're powerful, because we grow when we share God's story. MEMORY VERSE: "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." - Psalm 119:105 (NIV)

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