‘Teach Me the Way I Should GO’ Bible study now available for youth and youth groups

Free study is third of five scheduled resources in Post Presbyterian Youth Triennium mission impact initiative

by Emily Enders Odom | Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE – From its opening call to worship to its closing benediction and commissioning, the 2016 Presbyterian Youth Triennium — themed “GO!” — was intentionally designed to send young people out to change the world.

Held July 19-23, 2016, on the campus of Purdue University, the Presbyterian Youth Triennium — a gathering for high school age youth from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church — attracted more than 4,700 young people and their adult leaders.

And now — not quite a year after Youth Triennium participants were charged with “The Great GO-Mission”— there is good news for those who attended last year’s event, as well as for those who didn’t. Continuing through July 2017, the “Keep GOing” mission impact initiative will encourage youth, youth leaders, and Presbyterian congregations to GO!

Through a total of five different Bible studies to be released through July 2017, Triennium participants will be able to continue on their journey into active discipleship. Each of the five studies — intended to transport students back to a key scripture passage from the Triennium — follows a contemplative rhythm. The studies can be utilized individually, in a small group, or with a large group. Each resource ends with an invitation to identify “3 Things” that students will do to “GO”— to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ, to serve those in need, and to respond to God’s call.

“’Keep GOing’ is a simple, no-cost, user-friendly process designed to further engage students with the theme, scriptures, and goals of the Triennium,” says Bible study writer, Gina Yeager-Buckley, associate for the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Ministries with Youth.

The third study, “Teach Me the Way I Should GO,” is now available now as a free download.

Built around the ancient words of the psalmist — writing what entered the biblical canon as Psalm 32 — study participants are invited to consider their own paths that might have had less than perfect results. As they consider the ways in which their failure or mistakes have impacted them throughout the course of their lives, they will hear God’s promise to repair, and to bring about wisdom even in the face of failure.

“Through the study, we are reminded that God sees us, that God surrounds us, that God loves it when we remember to include God in our comings and goings,” says Yeager-Buckley. “For young people who were at the Triennium, they might recall the powerful stories shared by the four youth on the drama team — stories about the parts of their lives that were less than perfect, that were flawed, but where God met them and where they learned a lesson. We also remember in this study that in order to be led, we are asked to be discerning, to listen carefully, and to seek teachers and leaders who don’t just tell us what we want to hear but who speak the truth to us. In order to GO in a way that deepens our relationship with God and with each other, we need to include God in the process, remembering the psalmist’s words, ‘Be glad in the Lord.’”

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Click here to download “Teach Me the Way I should GO.”

Click here to download other resources in the series.

Ministries with Youth — including the Presbyterian Youth Triennium — is made possible thanks to your gifts to the Pentecost Offering.