YOU is a teaching and learning Sunday school resource developed for multicultural audiences. It is a three-in-one learner and leader curriculum with an inspirational feature. The YOU Sunday school curriculum has great value for Christian education ministry. Through a collaboration process, Lifeway’s curriculum developers and theologians with expertise in Sunday school ministry develop Bible study sessions that lead to a deeper understanding of the Bible, spiritual maturity, and life change. These sessions are developed to meet the biblical learning needs of multicultural individuals, congregations, and ministry leaders.
Learner Pages
The Bible encourages every believer to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). This means we must be focused on obediently moving beyond the point of salvation to ever expanding Christian growth, using principles and truths of God’s Word in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. The Learner sessions in YOU are developed to shape the will, goals, and dreams of learners, helping them to respond to and see the world around them through the lens of Scripture. Each session of YOU Learner pages is packed with sound, easy to understand biblical commentary and strong application principles. Features include:
- Digging Deeper – provides a deeper look at a word, character, or other aspect of the session.
- Did You Know? – provides an African American or urban historical fact or cultural update connected to the session.
- Live It – provides a summation of the session with suggestive points for application beyond the session.
Leader Pages
The teaching methods of Jesus fill the pages of the New Testament and provide a sharp contrast to teaching just for the sake of teaching and teaching that results in spiritual transformation. Most of His hearers walked away in awe of what they had learned. The YOU Leader pages seek to provide that same experience. YOU leaders receive guidance on using a variety of teaching methods that capture the hearts of learners and challenges them to learn at the deepest level. Featured in each lesson is:
- Before You Teach—provides ideas for use in preparation of teaching the session.
- Look Back—guides the teacher to remind learners of the previous sessions.
- Teaching Plan—provides step-by-step guidance for using a variety of teaching methods. Included are questions that generate discussion and analyses centered around The Point (stated goal) and question of each session.
- Object Lesson—provides a physical object or visual that can be used to represent a point or an idea in the session.
- Commentary—guides with understanding the meaning of the passage of Scriptures on which the session is based. It can also include historical and theological context of each session.
Daily Readings
This inspirational feature includes five devotionals with each session. The devotionals are based on one verse or a small passage of Scripture that supports the session. These mini sermons are meant to help learners focus the application of each session on a day-by-day basis.
Bonus Content: Articles
Five to six articles are included in each issue of YOU. These articles provide an extra layer of knowledge to strengthen retention and enforce the lessons learned in each study. Teaching and learning ideas are also included in some articles for leaders.