The Necessity of Faith

High School

Lesson 3
Spring 2026
By: RLD Editorial Team
March 22, 2026

Lesson Focus:

Faith in Jesus is all you need.

Bible Basis:

John 19:28-30; Colossians 2:6-15

Materials Needed:

Step 1:

Internet access

Step 4:

Internet access
Whiteboard/markers (or screenshared document)

Summary & Links:

Students will watch a video about “zero waste living” as they consider the “stuff” they couldn’t live without and start to think about the only thing we really need—faith in Jesus.

Memory Verse:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
—Colossians 2:6-7

ECHOES: See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
—Colossians 2:8

Students will watch a video about “zero waste living” as they consider the “stuff” they couldn’t live without and start to think about the only thing we really need—faith in Jesus.

Materials Needed:

Internet access

Welcome your students to class. As everyone settles in, facilitate a conversation about what stuff your students couldn’t live without (we’ll get to the intangibles like love and family later; focus on physical things for now). Popular answers might include my smartphone, my clothes, my shoes, etc.)

Have you heard about minimalism? It’s a trend where people get rid of all the extra stuff in their lives and live with only the basics, even when they could afford a lot more. Similarly, people with a zero waste lifestyle try to live simply and minimize their waste. This video explains what products one family stopped buying to reduce their waste.

Share this video with your students [4:14]: Our Zero Waste Swaps: Things We Never Buy Now

In your opinion, what are the biggest benefits of this kind of zero waste lifestyle? (Have more money to spend in other ways such as vacations, less negative environmental impact, less financial and physical waste, etc.)
What would be the biggest drawbacks of this lifestyle? (Accept all reasonable answers, which may include the extra time and energy to do things like making cleaning supplies, time spent researching zero waste options, giving up certain conveniences, etc.)
Do you think you could live a minimalist and/or zero waste lifestyle? Would you want to? Why or why not? (Allow several answers.)

Sometimes, it can feel like our “stuff” takes control of our lives. Our minds and our faith can feel like that sometimes, too, can’t they? Keeping track of everything God, our parents, or our teachers want us to do or not do can be overwhelming. Thankfully for us, Jesus can offer us a simpler way. Faith in Him is all we need. Let’s dive in and see what that means.

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:

Internet access
Whiteboard/markers (or screenshared document)

Ask a student to read Colossians 2:6-8.

According to those verses, how are we as Christians supposed to live our lives? (Rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in faith, overflowing with thankfulness, not getting pulled into performance for tradition’s sake but rather laying hold of Jesus.)

Draw a picture of a tree on the whiteboard or ask a student to do it for you. (If your class is meeting online, you can insert an image of a tree in a screenshared document and record students’ answers around the image.) Make sure you include the roots of the tree.

If we are supposed to be living rooted in Jesus, as the verses tell us, what is it that roots us to Jesus? (The very basics of our faith: God loves us, sin keeps us from God, faith in Jesus and what He did for us through His death, burial, and resurrection restores our relationship with God.)

As the students answer, write those answers in or near the roots of your tree (or record them in a list on your screenshared document). Make sure the basics of Christian faith are covered.

Next, ask this question and write responses on the trunk of the tree.

If we continue on with this tree analogy, what do we need to be built up in Jesus and strengthened in faith? (Answers will vary but should include staying in God’s Word, fellowship with other Christians at church and elsewhere, prayer, etc.)

As students answer this final question, write these answers on the leaves of the tree.

Finally, what might it look like in our lives when we are overflowing with thankfulness? (I do good things. I try to tell the truth. I help others. I share the Gospel. I always try to be kind, etc.)

Ask your teens to pair up and look at the tree diagram you’ve just completed. (If your class is meeting online, you can use the breakout room feature of your video chat software.) Ask each student to pick an area they will commit to focusing on this week—roots, trunk, or leaves. If they’re uncertain where they stand on faith with Jesus, they might commit to the roots—studying and praying about the very basics of faith in Jesus. Or they might choose to commit to praying or reading the Bible more this week. Or they might choose to focus on the good works that come from overflowing with thankfulness for what Jesus has done for them.

Ask them to share with their partner what they’re committing to focus on this week. Encourage them to be specific. For example, “I’m not sure what I believe about Jesus. I’m going to sit down with my parent/pastor this week and ask questions.” Or “I believe in Jesus, but I want to know Him better. I commit to reading my Bible for 10 minutes every morning this week.”

Join back together as a whole group. Ask for volunteers to share about commitments for the week. Re-read Colossians 2:8 and remind your students that our pure, simple faith in Jesus will be challenged by what seems like wisdom from the world. Remind them that Jesus has finished paying the price for our sin. While the world would like to pull them away with other ideas, the only thing they truly need to remember is that “It Is Finished.” Faith in Jesus is all they need.

Close in prayer, asking God to help each of you remember that Jesus has said, “It is finished.” Pray that God would help your students stay strong in the face of opposition and that God would remind them of their faith in difficult times.

David C Cook COVID-19 Response

High School