Introduction
Teaching End Goals are 40 statements we pray teens know and personalize by the time they graduate from high school. They aren’t the whole of scripture or Lutheran theology, but they are critical pieces of understanding our Baptismal faith. We pray young people here these key tenants in worship, Bible study, youth ministry but most especially in their home. Families can be powering places to teach and apply these Biblical truths in young people.
Below is a guide to discuss each of the 40 Teaching End Goals with your teen. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
- You aren’t doing this alone. Be sure to center discussions in Scripture. Use the Lutheran Study Bible (if you have one), the catechism and trusted digital resources like youthesource.com and lcms.org. Reach out to your pastor, church workers, and other supportive adults as you need.
- These are meant to be back and forth conversations, don’t dominate or teach at them. Instead, listen well and ask good follow up questions.
- There is a good chance that your teen will have difficult questions or respond differently than you might expect. Treat those moments with warmth, challenge and grace. Keep the conversation going rather than shut it down.
- Be willing to be vulnerable. As it’s appropriate, share your questions and tell your personal stories of failure, grace and joy.
- There is no “right way” to have faith conversations in your home. We know that young people who are active in the LCMS today reported higher levels of being able to have difficult conversations of life and faith in their home than those that left the church. Just trying it can be a step forward in helping your young person better understand their baptismal faith and develop resiliency in their identity in Christ.
Discussion Guide
Have everyone share a high (celebration) and a low (disappointment) and something surprising for that day.
Read one of the 40 Teaching End Goal Statement and the scripture (where provided) that follows.
Discuss the following questions:
- What does this tell us about God? about ourselves? About our Christian community? About our world?
- When is a time you understood this in a different way or more clearly?
- In what ways have you or do you struggle with this?
- Where else in God’s Word do we hear something similar? Does this remind you of any Bible stories? Of any part of the catechism?
- Where does this remind us of our sin? Remind us of the good news of Jesus?
- How can God’s truth here impact how we make choices and live day to day?
Discuss prayer request you might have for that day. Pray together.