Something for everyone 
A youth Bible study for January 23, 2005 RSVP Sunday 
1. Open with a word of welcome and prayer such as the following: 
Dear Lord, We thank you for each person here today. We thank you for the gift 
of each new day. We thank you for bringing us here to learn from your Word. We 
ask you to guide our discussion and allow this opportunity to bring us into further 
relationship with you. Help us to set aside the worries of today so we may focus 
on this time we spend with you and with each other. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 
2. Choose an opening activity depending on the size and enthusiasm of your group: 
a. Name roles people play in making a movie (i.e. director, producer). Give the 
students three minutes or so. Then go over/compare lists. You may want to give a 
prize for who has the most. 
Ask questions about some of the roles. Ask if each is important/necessary and why. 
Say: When you see a movie, you only see actors, yet there are all these others 
necessary for making the movie. In the Lord of the Rings, a movie approximately 
three hours long, the credits are ten minutes long! 
b. Clear a large space in the centre of the room. Have one volunteer begin a 
repetitive action (may be accompanied by a noise) in the centre of the room. The 
next volunteer works from what the first person is doing by performing a different 
action, so it seems they are working in sync as a machine. Keep adding as many 
parts/noises/actions to “the machine” as you have youth members. 
Say: Each part of the machine seemed to depend on another part. What do you 
think would have happened if the first volunteer had stopped or sped up? Just as 
our “machine” seemed to be working together, so God’s family works together. 
3. Say: God is amazing! Just like our beginning activity, God takes a group of 
diverse people and gives them gifts and talents so they may work together to form 
the church. Let’s look back at the early church for an example of this. 
a. Does anyone know how many believers there were just after Christ ascended 
to heaven? 
Read Acts 1:15 (120 believers) 
b. How many were added at Pentecost? 
Acts 2:41 (3000) 
c. And then what happened to their numbers? 
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Acts 2:47 b Numbers were added to daily 
Acts 5:14 (5000) 
d. So in Acts Chapter 5, there were 5000 believers and the number was growing. 
Why were the numbers growing? (see Matthew 28:19-20) 
e. How many apostles were there? 
Acts 1:26 (11 plus Matthias = 12) 
f. Okay, there were 5000 people and 12 apostles. That’s about one apostle to 
417 people and the numbers were growing. Do you think the apostles could take 
really good care of each and every person? 
Acts 6:1-2 
Note that “disciples” = believers 
What was the problem? 
What were the apostles supposed to be doing? 
What solution would you suggest? 
Acts 6:3-6 
What solution did they come up with? 
How did they choose the 7? What were their characteristics? 
Acts 6:7 
Did the solution work? 
g. So the twelve apostles handed over some responsibility to the seven new 
men. Part of the work of the church involved not just spiritual care, but physical/ 
material care as well. While the twelve were okay doing both, they knew their 
main priority was prayer and ministry of the Word, not cooking and stuff. So the 
seven were chosen to “wait on tables.” In Greek, which is what the New Testament 
was originally written in, the word for “wait on” or “serve” is diakonos, the verb 
where we get the word “deacon” from. So a deacon is someone who serves or 
waits on others. 
4. Say: There are lots of areas in the church for us to serve in. Let’s list some roles 
or jobs people have in the church. (write responses on the board or large sheet of 
newsprint) 
5. Read Romans 12:1-8 
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Say: In this passage, we learn that we are to be “living sacrifices” for God. 
Because we have a new life in Christ, we are free to serve God. We do this out of 
response for His Love for us shown on the cross. But God doesn’t expect us to 
serve Him alone. He gives us gifts of time, talents, treasures, and each other! 
God makes us diverse—we see that in nature—things work together. As 
Christians, by grace, God chooses to gift us differently as well. This is what it 
means here by “the measure of faith God has given you.” 
6. Say: What gifts has God given you? What are your natural abilities? What are 
some areas in the church you are interested in? Where do you think you can serve 
right now? In what capacity/role would you like to be serving in five years? Ten 
years? 
7. Say: I encourage you to ask your youth leader, your parents, or your pastor if 
you would like to learn about an area or a role in the church or if you would like 
to serve in that area. I also encourage you to ask God for guidance as you try to 
figure out where He would like you to serve in the church whether it be as a fulltime 
vocation or once a month volunteering. 
8. Say: Not everybody is called to full-time church work. God calls some to be 
dentists and beauticians and television repairmen. These are all great professions 
in which you can serve your Lord and give witness to His greatness. 
Read: 1 Corinthians 15:58; Colossians 3:17 
9. Close with prayer such as the following: 
Dear Father in Heaven, 
We thank you that you have made us your own children and you let us serve you 
and help build your kingdom. We thank you that your perfect work makes up for 
our shortcomings, and we especially thank you for sending Jesus who takes our sin 
away so we are free to love you and serve you with our whole hearts. Help us to 
follow Jesus’ example of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. 
Let your Word be our guide and strength. May your Holy Spirit lead us and help us 
to stay on the path you have chosen for us. Show us how you would have us serve 
you in our lives, in our vocations, and in our congregation. Let us be salt and light 
to those around us. Give us the wisdom and courage to be a witness for you to those 
around us. Increase our faith and love for you and use us, our service and witness, 
for the conversion of unbelievers and the strengthening of believers. Preserve our 
comings and goings now and forever, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. 
RSVP'05 is a recruitment initiative of Lutheran Church–Canada which 
asks members of congregations to identify men and women whom they 
believe have the gifts and talents for church work vocations and local service. 
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