Focused on Praise

High School

Lesson 5
Summer 2025
By: RLD Editorial Team
June 29, 2025

Lesson Focus:

Praise God for who He is!

Bible Basis:

—1 Chronicles 29:10-14

Materials Needed:

Step 1:

Internet access
Smartphones
Optional: screenshared view of celebrity social media pages (pre-screened by you for their content)

Step 4:

Smartphones
Paper
Pens/pencils

Summary & Links:

As a way to introduce the lesson topic of praise, students will discuss the hype surrounding influencer culture.

Memory Verse:

LORD, our Lord, how majestic
is your name in all the earth!
—Psalm 8:1a

As a way to introduce the lesson topic of praise, students will discuss the hype surrounding influencer culture.

Materials Needed:

Internet access
Smartphones
Optional: screenshared view of celebrity social media pages (pre-screened by you for their content)

Invite students to bring their smartphones with them to class. As your students arrive to class, invite them to have their personal social media accounts (if they have them) easily accessible on their phones (if they have them). Once everyone has arrived, engage teens in a discussion:

If your class is meeting online (or if many of your students don’t have social media), you can display celebrity social media pages for the whole class to see. You can also invite teens to show their social media feeds on the display or with the people sitting near them.

As social media continues to be a popular way to connect with friends, learn about trends, and follow the lives of famous people, more and more people are becoming social media influencers. Influencers’ job is to post about their lives, collaborate with brands, and promote products.

Let’s take a look at this short video highlighting an estimation of how much money Instagram influencers can make from sponsored posts:

How much money can you make with Instagram? 💰

Influencers and celebrities tend to get a lot of interaction with their posts, and people like to follow them because it’s fun to feel connected with famous people.

Take a look at your social media feed.

How many of the images you see on the feed include people other than the poster? (Allow teens to answer.)
If the images are mostly of the person posting, why do you think that is? (Accept all reasonable responses.)
Social media makes it easy for individuals to think all about their own platform, audience, and influence. Why is it easy for people to get caught up in the idea of their own uniqueness and importance? (People love to put themselves in the spotlight. Our egos crave importance and supremacy.)
If you were a celebrity or influencer, would you find it difficult to resist the attention and praise? (Let students share their answers.)
Do you think people naturally want to worship something outside of themselves? What are some things people worship today? (Most students will probably see that we have an inherent need to worship something: celebrities, money, success, beauty, etc.)

Despite all the praise focused on celebrity culture, there is one object of worship that is actually worthy of all the hype. Jesus has no equal; He is in a category all by Himself.

Looking for Steps 2 & 3?

You can find Steps 2 and 3 in your teacher’s guide. To purchase a teacher’s guide, please visit: Bible-in-Life or Echoes.

Materials Needed:

Smartphones
Paper
Pens/pencils

If your class is meeting online, invite students to bring supplies with them to class.

In this step, you will be encouraging your students to articulate their praise for God in different ways: through their words, creativity, and actions.

So many of the Bible’s authors used poetry to express their praise toward God. But we can also express our praise through modern media, internal prayer, acts of service, creative expressions, and so on. There’s no limit to the ways we can praise God.

Place students in three groups, either through random assignment, prepared groups, or self-selection. Assign three categories of praise, one per group: VERBAL PRAISE, CREATIVE EXPRESSION, ACTS OF SERVICE. You will probably want to assign each group an adult leader, if possible, to guide their discussion; if that’s not possible, circulate through the groups giving each one equal time to help them focus and refine. Distribute supplies (or invite teens to have them ready at home)

Instruct them to consider the ways they can praise God. Ask the VERBAL PRAISE group to write down the characteristics of God that make Him worthy of adoration. They can write them as brief prayers, or they can even take verses word-for-word from their Bibles. They can use their phones to look up verses or research some of God’s attributes.

Instruct the CREATIVE EXPRESSION group to find pictures on Google images or other online sources that show the grandeur of God’s creation, the vastness of space, heaven or Christ-focused art, or the miracles of human life.

The last group will consider ways that they can worship God through ACTS OF SERVICE. Students can write down church-sponsored ministries, individual service (such as helping a neighbor or tutoring a student), or short-term missions projects.

Depending on the time you have left, consider letting each group share their results with the others in class. When you are finished, answer these questions together.

Why should praise not be limited to a church service or set of worship songs? (God exists in all parts of our lives; He is not compartmentalized into buildings or human experiences.)
Which of these three categories is the hardest for you to practice? Why? (Let students share their thoughts.)
It’s easy to say that we are using our talents to bring honor to the Lord—but then we end up making it all about us. How can we deflect our own pride and turn attention back to Jesus? (Acknowledge how difficult this can be, even for adults. It’s more than just saying “I’m doing this for God.” It requires a humble attitude, lots of prayer, and the right perspective.)
What can you do this week to put one or more of these categories into practice? Share with a partner.

Encourage students to practice this shared action step at home and in their communities this week. Close in prayer, perhaps in small groups, thanking God for His praiseworthy attributes and divine power.

David C Cook COVID-19 Response

High School